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Three Forms Of Unity
The Three Forms of Unity is a collective name for the Belgic Confession, the Canons of Dort, and the Heidelberg Catechism, which reflect the doctrinal concerns of continental Calvinism and are accepted as official statements of doctrine by many Calvinist churches. History From 1618 to 1619, the Dutch government on behalf of the Dutch Reformed Church, called and convened the Synod of Dort. Dutch delegates, along with twenty-seven Calvinist representatives from eight other countries, met at this Synod of Dort, where they collectively summarized their views in what was called the " Canons of Dort". This same Synod then added these Canons to two other documents, both of which were in common use by the Dutch Church at the time: the Heidelberg Catechism (1563) and the Belgic Confession (1561). In so doing, the Synod sought: # to formalize their understanding of the Biblical teachings on the Trinity, the incarnation, predestination, justification, and the church; # to allow m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Belgic Confession
The ''Confession of Faith'', popularly known as the Belgic Confession, is a confession to which many Reformed churches subscribe as a doctrinal standard. The Confession forms part of the Three Forms of Unity, which are the official subordinate standards of the Dutch Reformed Church. The confession's chief author was Guido de Brès, a Walloon Reformed pastor, active in the Low Countries, who died a martyr to the faith in 1567, during the Dutch Reformation. The name ''Belgic Confession'' follows the 17th-century Latin ''Confessio Belgica''. ''Belgica'' referred to the whole of the Low Countries, both north and south, which today is divided into the Netherlands and Belgium. Authorship and revisions The initial text was prepared by de Brès in 1559, and was influenced by the Gallic Confession. De Brès showed it in draft to others, including Hadrian à Saravia, Herman Moded and Godfried van Wingen (Wingius). It was revised by Franciscus Junius, who abridged the sixteenth artic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Justification (theology)
In Christian theology, justification is the event or process by which sinners are made or declared to be righteous in the sight of God. In the 21st century, there is now substantial agreement on justification by most Christian communions. The collective bodies of most of the largest Christian denominations, including Catholic, Lutheran, Reformed, Anglican and Methodist, have affirmed a 1999 Lutheran–Catholic Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification that details this consensus, noting different distinctive emphases that individual communions consider essential to state. Historically, the difference in theories on the means of justification has often been the theological fault line that divided Roman Catholicism, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox from the Lutheran, Anglican and Reformed traditions of Protestantism during the Reformation. Central issues of dispute have revolved around the nature or mechanism of the righteousness given by God when God justifies h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Philip Schaff
Philip Schaff (January 1, 1819 – October 20, 1893) was a Swiss-born, German-educated Protestant theologian and ecclesiastical historian, who spent most of his adult life living and teaching in the United States. Life and career Schaff was born in Chur, Switzerland, and educated at the gymnasium of Stuttgart. His father died when he was young and he was sent to an orphanage. At the universities of Tübingen, Halle and Berlin, he was successively influenced by Ferdinand Christian Baur and Schmid, by Friedrich August Tholuck and Julius Müller, by David Strauss and, above all, Johann August Wilhelm Neander. At Berlin in 1841 he took the degree of Bachelor of Divinity and passed examinations for a professorship. He then traveled through Italy and Sicily as tutor to Baron Krischer. In 1842, he was '' Privatdozent'' in the University of Berlin, where he lectured on exegesis and ecclesiastical history. In 1843, he was called to become Professor of Church History and Bibli ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Reformed Churches Of New Zealand
Reformed Churches of New Zealand is a Calvinist denomination in New Zealand. The denomination is constituted of 22 member churches, the first seven of which were formed in 1953. Total membership as of 2023 stands at 3,530. Form of doctrine The doctrine of the Reformed Churches of New Zealand is expressed in the four confessions of faith to which it subscribes. These are the Heidelberg Catechism (1563), Belgic Confession (1566), Canons of Dort (1619) (known collectively as the Three Forms of Unity), and the Westminster Confession of Faith (1646). Also recognised are the Apostles' Creed, Nicene Creed and Athanasian Creed, all of which summarise the churches' doctrines. The Reformed Churches of New Zealand is one of the few Calvinist churches internationally to subscribe to both the Three Forms of Unity (common among Reformed churches with origins in the European continent, especially the Netherlands) and the Westminster Confession of Faith (common among Reformed or Presbyt ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Christian Reformed Church Of Australia
The Christian Reformed Churches of Australia (CRCA), formerly known as the Reformed Churches of Australia (RCA) is a Christian denomination established in Australia belonging to the Reformed/Presbyterian tradition. Background This denomination has its roots in the European Protestant Reformation, Reformation of the 15th and 16th centuries, affirming the beliefs that God grants salvation by grace alone, in Christ alone and through faith alone.Christian Reformed Churches of Australia - accessed 22 April 2010''A Church en Route: 40 Years Reformed Churches of Australia'' by J.W. Deenick (ed), Reformed Churches Publishing House, Geelong (Vic) 1991.*''Religious Bodies in Australia: A Comprehensive Guide (3rd ed)'' by Rowland Ward and Robert Humphreys, New Melbourne Press, Melbourne (Vic) 1995 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Westminster Confession
The Westminster Confession of Faith, or simply the Westminster Confession, is a Reformed confession of faith. Drawn up by the 1646 Westminster Assembly as part of the Westminster Standards to be a confession of the Church of England, it became and remains the " subordinate standard" of doctrine in the Church of Scotland and has been influential within Presbyterian churches worldwide. In 1643, the English Parliament called upon "learned, godly and judicious Divines" to meet at Westminster Abbey in order to provide advice on issues of worship, doctrine, government and discipline of the Church of England. Their meetings, over a period of five years, produced the confession of faith, as well as a Larger Catechism and a Shorter Catechism. For more than three hundred years, various churches around the world have adopted the confession and the catechisms as their standards of doctrine, subordinate to the Bible. For the Church of Scotland and the various denominations which spr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
History Of The Calvinist-Arminian Debate
History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some theorists categorize history as a social science, while others see it as part of the humanities or consider it a hybrid discipline. Similar debates surround the purpose of history—for example, whether its main aim is theoretical, to uncover the truth, or practical, to learn lessons from the past. In a more general sense, the term ''history'' refers not to an academic field but to the past itself, times in the past, or to individual texts about the past. Historical research relies on primary and secondary sources to reconstruct past events and validate interpretations. Source criticism is used to evaluate these sources, assessing their authenticity, content, and reliability. Historians strive to integrate the perspectives of several sources to develop a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Remonstrants
The Remonstrants (or the Remonstrant Brotherhood) is a Protestant movement that split from the Dutch Reformed Church in the early 17th century. The early Remonstrants supported Jacobus Arminius, and after his death, continued to maintain his original views called Arminianism against the proponents of Calvinism. Condemned by the synod of Dort (1618–1619), the Remonstrants remained a small minority in the Netherlands. In the middle of the 19th century, the Remonstrant Brotherhood was influenced by the liberal Dutch theological movement. History Foundation In formulating Arminianism, Jacobus Arminius disagreed with Calvin, especially on predestination. He defended free examination as superior to the doctrines of established churches. In 1610, Arminius followers presented to the States of Holland and Friesland the ''Five Articles of Remonstrance'' formulating their points of disagreement with Calvinism as adopted by the Dutch Reformed Church. Supporters of Arminius were cal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ecumenical
Ecumenism ( ; alternatively spelled oecumenism)also called interdenominationalism, or ecumenicalismis the concept and principle that Christians who belong to different Christian denominations should work together to develop closer relationships among their churches and promote Christian unity. The adjective ''ecumenical'' is thus applied to any non-denominational or inter-denominational initiative which encourages greater cooperation and union among Christian denominations and churches. Ecumenical dialogue is a central feature of contemporary ecumenism. The fact that all Christians belonging to mainstream Christian denominations profess faith in Jesus, believe that the Bible is inspired by God, and receive baptism according to the Trinitarian formula is seen as being a basis for ecumenism and its goal of Christian unity. Ecumenists cite as the biblical grounds of striving for church unity, in which Jesus prays " may all be one" in order "that the world may know" and believe t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Predestination
Predestination, in theology, is the doctrine that all events have been willed by God, usually with reference to the eventual fate of the individual soul. Explanations of predestination often seek to address the paradox of free will, whereby God's omniscience seems incompatible with human free will. In this usage, predestination can be regarded as a form of religious determinism; and usually predeterminism, also known as theological determinism. History Pre-Christian period Some have argued that the Book of Enoch contains a deterministic worldview that is combined with dualism. The book of Jubilees seems to harmonize or mix together a doctrine of free will and determinism. Ben Sira affirms free will, where God allows a choice of bad or good before the human and thus they can choose which one to follow. New Testament period There is some disagreement among scholars regarding the views on predestination of first-century AD Judaism, out of which Christianity came. Josephus ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Canons Of Dort
The Canons of Dort, or Canons of Dordrecht, formally titled ''The Decision of the Synod of Dort on the Five Main Points of Doctrine in Dispute in the Netherlands'', is an exposition of orthodox Reformed soteriology against Arminianism, by the National Synod held in the Dutch city of Dordrecht in 1618–1619. At the time, Dordrecht was often referred to in English as in local dialects as ''Dort'' or Dordt. The Canons are of a similar nature to the Nicene Creed, in that they were written to settle a theological controversy (Arianism in the case of the Nicene Creed and the Arminian controversy in the case of Dort), affirming and vindicating the orthodox position. Background These canons are a judicial decision on the doctrinal points in dispute in the Arminian controversy of that day. Following the death of Jacobus Arminius (1560–1609), his followers set forth in 1610 the Five Articles of Remonstrance. The five articles formulated their points of departure from the Confessiona ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Incarnation (Christianity)
In Christian theology, the incarnation is the belief that the pre-existent divine person of Jesus Christ, God the Son, the second person of the Trinity, and the (Koine Greek for 'word'), was "made flesh" by being conceived through the power of the Holy Spirit in the womb of a woman, the Virgin Mary, who is also known as the (Greek for "God-bearer" or "Mother of God"). The doctrine of the incarnation then entails that Jesus was at the same time both fully God and fully human. In the incarnation, as traditionally defined by those Churches that adhere to the Council of Chalcedon, the divine nature of the Son was united but not mixed with human nature in one divine person, Jesus, or according to those adhering to the Council of Ephesus, the divine and human natures of Christ are fully united into one composite nature "without mixing, confusion, or separation". This is central to the traditional faith held by most Christians. Alternative views on the subject (see Ebionites ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
