Study of Denomintions 02/21/2010

A Study of Denominations
Cont. from last week

Paulicians. The Paulicians originate in Armenia in the sixth century, first associated with Nestorianism, but by the next century seen further west and demonstrably as its own movement. The Paulicians derive their name from the Apostle Paul, whose writings were held as inspired, along with the Gospels; the rest of the Bible, they claimed, came from an evil spirit. The Paulicians seem to have been heavily influenced by Marcionism, the dynamistic monarchianism of Paul of Samosata, and Gnostic/Manichaean philosophy. The group reached the height of its power in 844 with the formation of a Paulician state in modern-day Turkey, but soon after persecution from the Eastern Roman Empire intensified. In 970, many of the Paulicians of Syria were deported to the Balkan region of Europe, where they converted many of the local Bulgars to their views, who were then called the Bogomils. A group of Paulicians remained in Armenia until around the eleventh century.

Bogomils. The Bogomils were active in the area around Bulgaria beginning in around the ninth century. The Bogomils inherited a dualist theology from the Gnostics through the Manichaeans and the Paulicians. Harassed by the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches, the Bogomils were eventually wiped out by the expansion of Islam into the Balkan region in the fifteenth century. Some Bogomil missionaries, however, traveled to southern France in the twelfth century and helped to establish the Cathars there.

After the sixth century, the real schism between the western and eastern factions of the Catholic church became more and more apparent. For the next four hundred years, the two entities drifted further apart, due to linguistic and cultural differences and political boundaries. A controversy over how the Spirit was imparted, through the Father alone (which the east believed) or through either the Father or the Son (as the west believed) proved to be the final straw; in 1054, the bishop of Rome sent a bull of excommunication to the Patriarch of Constantinople, who responded in kind. This act effectively created the Roman Catholic Church in the west, and the Eastern Orthodox Church in the east.

Phase II: 1054 to 1500
Let us now examine the period from the schism between east and west to just before the period of the Reformation in the west. The Eastern Orthodox Church did not go through any major alterations after the eleventh century; the church would eventually be organized on national lines, but they all affirm the same doctrines. The Roman Catholic church was continually beset by many divisions and schisms even before the Reformation.

Waldensians. The Waldensians come from Peter Waldo, a wealthy merchant around 1175 who sold all of his property and urged a return to "apostolic poverty." The group that eventually followed him was called the Poor Men of Lyons, and were later deemed the Waldensians. The Roman Catholic church at first accepted the group, but later the preaching of the Waldensians led to persecution. The group survived, however, and in the sixteenth century agreed to combine with the Reformed Church in the Calvinist tradition.

Cathars. The Cathars, or the "Cleansed," began as a group around the same time as the Waldensians, in southern France. They were also named the Albigensians, from the city of Albi, where many such Cathars lived. The Cathars were heavily influenced by the Bogomils, and held to an essentially Gnostic theology. By 1200, the Cathars were poised to take over southern France; nevertheless, the Roman Catholic church began to persecute them heavily in the late twelfth and early thirteenth centuries with a crusade and an inquisition, and severely curtailed the movement.

It may also be noted that there is also some evidence that around the eleventh century in southern France, the truth of the Gospel was being preached.

There were also some groups that were established because of the groundbreaking work of certain individuals, known today as the "pre-Reformers." Let us examine them now:

John Wycliffe. An English priest of the fourteenth century, John Wycliffe taught that Christ is the only King of men and rested his authority in the Bible. He began the work of translating the Bible into English, and for both his preaching and his actions, he was strongly denounced by the Roman Catholic officials. The Lollards followed after him for some time, although the movement dies out within the fourteenth century. After the "heresy" of Jan Hus, Roman Catholic officials dug up Wycliffe's bones and burned them.

Jan Hus. In the Holy Roman Empire, the portion of which we now call the Czech Republic, Jan Hus also began to question the Roman Catholic church's practices in the early fifteenth century. Many of his difficulties with the Roman Catholic church would be echoed by Luther about a hundred years later. Hus was burned at the stake in 1415; his followers, the Hussites, were strongly persecuted; however, they were able to survive, and are recognized later as the Moravian Brethren, affiliated with the Pietist movement of the seventeenth century.

Phase III: 1500 to 1800
Let us now examine the time of the Reformation, beginning proper in 1519 with the beginning of Luther's quarrels with the Roman Catholic church and ending in the eighteenth century with Wesleyanism, the reformation of theology that occurred within the Church of England.

By the sixteenth century, the trials of the medieval world had faded. Western Europe was in the middle of what is deemed the Renaissance, a time of philosophical and theological regeneration. The invention of the printing press in 1450 by Johann Gutenburg allowed knowledge to be spread and read quickly and easily. Literacy rates increased, and soon after, many began to question the Roman Catholic church's positions and stances on theology. The first to question was Desiderius Erasmus, who wished to change the way the church was acting; however, it would be up to his friend Martin Luther to activate change in Europe.

Lutheranism . Lutheranism derives from Martin Luther, the original reformer. The Roman Catholic practice of indulgences (the belief that giving a specific donation to the Roman Catholic church would free one's soul from purgatory), among other things, troubled Luther. He established 95 theses about the church's practice and nailed them to the door of the church in Wittenberg, Germany, in 1519. After a debate with the local Catholic bishop on these things, Luther's ideas gained popularity. Although Luther only wished to reform the Roman Catholic church, reconciliation proved impossible in 1525 when Luther was excommunicated. Seeing no other viable alternative, Luther split from the Roman Catholic church, thus forming his own organization which came to be known as “Lutheranism”. Within the next century, Luther and his theology of "faith alone" would spread throughout many portions of the Holy Roman Empire and all of Scandinavia.

Anabaptism . Anabaptism ("baptism again") derives its name from the belief that one must be baptized as an adult believer, thus requiring many individuals who were "baptized" as infants to be baptized "again." This belief gained popularity in the Switzerland/southern Germany area in 1525 with the group named the "Swiss Brethren." Many Anabapists followed after Menno Simons who in 1536 began preaching the need to be baptized as an adult, and this group was named after him: the Mennonites. Many smaller divisions occurred in the Anabaptism movement, yet there is one that stands out: in 1697, Jacob Amman split from the Mennonite group because of his more conservative views on fellowship, thereby forming the Amish. The Anabaptists were heavily persecuted by Roman Catholic and Protestant alike, and many attempted to find refuge in parts of Russia and Germany. Many later traveled to America, where many remain in the many parts of North America today.

Calvinism . In 1536, John Calvin, a native Frenchman, established his theology in Geneva, Switzerland, with his work The Institutes of Christian Religion; it was predicated on a belief that God has already determined the fate of every man, and therefore that God's grace alone saved men. This hyper-Augustinianism persuaded many, and many of Calvin's disciples went out to spread his message. One such follower, John Knox, took Calvinism to Scotland, where the Presbyterian church was founded in the 1570s. In the seventeenth century, Calvinism took root in England in the form of Puritanism, which then took root in America. Today's Congregational church (also referred to as the United Church of Christ) is the descendant of the Puritans. Calvin's message was also taken to the area of the Netherlands in the early seventeenth century, leading to the formation of the Reformed Church.

Anglicanism . Also known as the Church of England, this church began in 1537, when King Henry VIII of England split from the Roman Catholic church since the latter would not grant an annulment to his marriage with Catherine of Aragon. After suffering persecution under Mary Tudor, the Anglican church was firmly established as England's church under Elizabeth I in the latter half of the sixteenth century. Anglicanism is still in existence in England and is known as the Episcopalian church in America.

Baptists . The Baptist movement begins in England, and in its beginning, they preached and taught the need for immersion in water for the remission of sin (hence, called the Baptists). "Officially" began by John Smythe in 1608, the movement spread quickly to America, where it took root and grew. Doctrinally, however, many moved toward Calvinistic beliefs regarding salvation and baptism, where most stand today. Many Baptists are affiliated with the Evangelical line of thinking, which represents a broad range of conservative Protestants, with uniform belief on the ideas of salvation and eschatology.

Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) . The Religious Society of Friends begins with one George Fox in England in 1648 as the result of supposed "revelations" given to him. He urged for reform in the thinking of Christians away from the concept of the "church" to a concept of a "society," a group of Christians who held each other in equal or better standing. The group's members received the term "Quakers" on account of the reports of people shaking with emotion in their assemblies. His movement was often persecuted, and is best known for its colony in Pennsylvania in America.