Protestant scholasticism or Protestant orthodoxy was academic theology practiced by

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

theologians using the

scholastic method Scholasticism was a medieval school of philosophy that employed a Organon, critical organic method of philosophical analysis predicated upon the Aristotelianism, Aristotelian categories (Aristotle), 10 Categories. Christian scholasticism eme ...

during the era of

Calvinist Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Ca ...

and

Lutheran orthodoxy Lutheran orthodoxy was an era in the history of Lutheranism, which began in 1580 from the writing of the ''Book of Concord'' and ended at the Age of Enlightenment. Lutheran orthodoxy was paralleled by similar eras in Calvinism and tridentine Rom ...

from the 16th to 18th centuries. Protestant scholasticism developed out of the need to clearly define and defend church doctrine against the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

and other Protestant churches. It refers to both

Lutheran scholasticism Lutheran orthodoxy was an era in the history of Lutheranism, which began in 1580 from the writing of the ''Book of Concord'' and ended at the Age of Enlightenment. Lutheran orthodoxy was paralleled by similar eras in Calvinism and tridentine R ...

and Reformed scholasticism.

Anglicanism Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of the ...

never developed a scholastic theology; however, Anglican writers in the 1600s studied

early Christian writings Various Early Christian writers wrote gospels and other books, some of which were canonized as the New Testament canon developed. The Apostolic Fathers were prominent writers who are traditionally understood to have met and learned from Jesus' p ...

to prove that Anglicanism had faithfully followed the teachings and practices of the

early Church Early Christianity (up to the First Council of Nicaea in 325) spread from the Levant, across the Roman Empire, and beyond. Originally, this progression was closely connected to already established Jewish centers in the Holy Land and the Jewish ...

. Protestant scholasticism "became the dominant organizational approach to teaching theology in the academies" before its influence began to wane in the 17th and 18th centuries.

Martin Luther Martin Luther (; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, theologian, author, hymnwriter, and professor, and Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinian friar. He is the seminal figure of the Reformation, Protestant Refo ...

was highly critical of

Aristotelianism Aristotelianism ( ) is a philosophical tradition inspired by the work of Aristotle, usually characterized by deductive logic and an analytic inductive method in the study of natural philosophy and metaphysics. It covers the treatment of the socia ...

in medieval theology, but was mainly influenced by

William of Ockham William of Ockham, OFM (; also Occam, from la, Gulielmus Occamus; 1287 – 10 April 1347) was an English Franciscan friar, scholastic philosopher, apologist, and Catholic theologian, who is believed to have been born in Ockham, a small vill ...

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* * * * Calvinist theology Christian theological movements Lutheran theology Scholasticism {{Christian-theology-stub