Calvinism is named after 16th century Reformer, John Calvin whose overall theology is contained in his Institutes of the Christian Religion (1559). Calvin's theology and ecclesiology provided the foundation upon which the Reformed Churches of Europe were built. It was a comprehensive and carefully expounded alternative to the doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church and was designed to expose their weaknesses and present a view of the Christian Faith that was a reformed version of the old faith. The Historical Dictionary of Calvinism relates the history of its founder John Calvin, the Reformed Church, and the impact that Calvinism has had in the modern world along with an account of modern and contemporary developments within the religious, political, and social culture it has created. This is done through a chronology, an introductory essay, an extensive bibliography, and over 300 cross-referenced dictionary entries on concepts, significant figures, places, activities, and periods. This book is an excellent access point for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about Calvinism.

The Protestant Church in China is growing very fast. However, the role of the Church in society is still fragile and marginal. The Church needs a strong ethical and structural development. This study analyses the theological, ethical and ecclesiological heritage of the Reformation and it shows how this can build the foundation for the future of the Church in China. Four models serve as orientation: the Reformers Luther and Calvin and the theologians Bonhoeffer and Barth in the 20th century, with their vision of Christian faith and a humane society. The critical analysis of the missionary heritage since the 19th century shows its contribution for the acceptance of the tradition of the Reformation for the growing Church in China. The author combines this theological and ethical perspective with the inculturation in the strong ethical tradition of the Chinese culture. He proposes the encounter between the spirituality of the Western culture and that of the traditional culture of China through the relationship with Confucianism. The book also offers elements for the dialogue around modern values such as human rights and civil society. In this dialogue, Chinese Protestantism can play more and more an important role.

How French Protestant networks worked to rescue Jews and other refugees from the Nazis. This is the story of Pierre Toureille, a French Protestant pastor whose efforts resulted in the rescue of hundreds of refugees, most of them Jewish. Inspired by his Huguenot heritage, Pastor Toureille participated in international Protestant church efforts to combat Nazism during the 1930s and headed a major refugee aid organization in Vichy France during World War II. After the war, Pastor Toureille was honored by the Jewish organization Yad Vashem as one of the "Righteous Among the Nations." In telling Toureille's story, Tela Zasloff depicts the wide-ranging network of Protestant pastors and lay people in southern French villages who participated in an aggressive rescue effort. She delves into their motivations, including their heritage as members of a religious minority. Toureille's rescue work under the Vichy regime, partly official and then increasingly clandestine as the war progressed, was a crucial part of the French non-violent "spiritual resistance" against Nazism.

As the vigorous debate over the New Perspective on Paul will only be decided by means of careful consideration of the relevant Scripture passages, Romans 4 and the New Perspective on Paul makes a significant contribution to the discussion. Interpretations by scholars promoting the New Perspective approach are reviewed in detail and contrasted with those of scholars who are critical toward this method. A detailed analysis of the context and exegesis of Romans 4 completes the work. By suggesting a more nuanced exegesis of Romans 4, this book is able to offer a careful critique of the New Perspective while still noting the positive aspects of the latter approach.

Facing the Revocation tells the story of one French Protestant (Huguenot) family, the Robillard de Champagnes, as they faced the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, issued under Louis XIV, which criminalized their religion in 1685. Carolyn Chappell Lougee challenges the way Huguenot history has been told for 300 years, ever since the Huguenots themselves set its principal interpretive lines, thereby offering new insights into the reign of Louis XIV. Denying the standard ascription of deeper faith to the Huguenots who emigrated and venal motives to those who remained in France, this study shows how complex the considerations were-at once social, familial, economic, and political, as well as religious-that impelled individuals and families either to leave the country or stay and convert to the king's religion. Lougee uses evidence elucidating Huguenot escapes from France to question how intent Louis XIV was on stopping Huguenots from leaving, and how closely he and his agents hewed to the letter of the law prescribing imprisonment for captured fugitives. Exploring the personal stories of several families among the Champagnes' social set who stayed after the Revocation, Facing the Revocation sheds new light on the possibilities for Protestant resistance in Louis XIV's late reign and on the satisfactions available to families who complied with the king's will, while demonstrating how strongly the values emigrants like Marie de La Rochefoucauld de Champagne and her children brought with them from France shaped their experiences in changed circumstances.

A consistent, indigenous English doctrine of scriptural perspicuity correlates with a commitment to the availability of the vernacular scriptures in English and supports the English roots of the Early English Reformation (EER). Although political events and figures dominate the EER, its religious component springing from John Wyclif and streaming throughout the tradition must be recognized more widely. This book critically surveys the doctrine of scriptural perspicuity from the beginning of the Church in the first century (noted as early as John Chrysostom) through the seventeenth century, examining its impact on the current debates concerning competing hermeneutical systems, reader response hermeneutics, and the debates in conservative American Presbyterianism and Reformed theology on subscription to the Westminster Confession of Faith, the length of «creation days, and other issues.

Traditional historiography has always viewed Calvin's Geneva as the benchmark against which all other Reformed communities must inevitably be measured, judging those communities who did not follow Geneva's institutional and doctrinal example as somehow inferior and incomplete versions of the original. Adaptations of Calvinism in Reformation Europe builds upon recent scholarship that challenges this concept of the 'fragmentation' of Calvinism, and instead offers a more positive view of Reformed communities beyond Geneva. The essays in this volume highlight the different paths that Calvinism followed as it took root in Western Europe and which allowed it to develop within fifty years into the dominant Protestant confession. Each chapter reinforces the notion that whilst many reformers did try to duplicate the kind of community that Calvin had established, most had to compromise by adapting to the particular political and cultural landscapes in which they lived. The result was a situation in which Reformed churches across Europe differed markedly from Calvin's Geneva in explicit ways. Summarizing recent research in the field through selected French, German, English and Scottish case studies, this collection adds to the emerging picture of a flexible Calvinism that could adapt to meet specific local conditions and needs in order to allow the Reformed tradition to thrive and prosper. The volume is dedicated to Brian G. Armstrong, whose own scholarship demonstrated how far Calvinism in seventeenth-century France had become divided by significant disagreements over how Calvin's original ideas and doctrines were to be understood.

John Knox has suffered in this century from that trick of the popular imagination that seizes on one aspect of a historical figure and elevates it into the whole man. At one time he was the foremost Scottish genius, but in our day there have been those who would have us believe that he was a ranter, an iconoclast and perhaps a hypocrite. The Author of this classic biography has sought to find the truth between these two extremes. He shows us Knox against the disturbed currents of the Continent, where mediaeval Christendom was at an end and no new order had yet emerged from the chaos of creeds and philosophies. No man could stem these currents, but John Knox in his own country gave them a direction. He became, if not the leader, at least the inciter of a revolution. He set his mark indelibly on history, and not only that of his native land; his influence upon the English court was considerable, but he also became a figure of European significance. "No grander figure can be found, in the entire history of the Reformation in this island, than that of John Knox" wrote the historian Froude. The Author has given us a balanced assessment of the life and times of this remarkable man.

Reveals a much neglected strand of puritan theology which emphasised the importance of inner happiness and personal piety. The traditional view of puritans is that they were killjoys - serious, austere, gloomy people who closed theatres and abolished Christmas. This book, based on extensive original research, presents a different view. Focusing on both the writings of the leading Independent divine, Ralph Venning, and also on his pastoral work in the 1640s and 1650s when he was successively chaplain to the Tower of London and vicar of St Olave's, Southwark, the book revealsa much neglected strand of puritan theology. This emphasised the importance of inner happiness and the development of a personal piety which, the author argues, was similar in its nature to medieval mysticism, not that differentfrom the piety promoted by earlier metaphysical preachers, and not at all driven by the predestinarian ideas usually associated with puritans, ideas liable to induce a sense of helplessness and despair. In addition, the book reassesses the role of Emmanuel College, Cambridge, where Venning was educated, in shaping puritan thought, discusses Max Weber's ideas about puritanism and capitalism especially in relation to recreation and leisure activities, and demonstrates that Venning's strand of puritanism favoured toleration, moderation and church unity to a much greater degree than is usually associated with puritans. Stephen Bryn Roberts was awarded his doctorate from theUniversity of Aberdeen and has been Adjunct Lecturer in Early Modern Church History at International Christian College, Glasgow since 2011.

Presbyterianism emerged during the sixteenth-century Protestant Reformation. It spread from the British Isles to North America in the early eighteenth century. During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, Presbyterian denominations grew throughout the world. Today, there are an estimated 35 million Presbyterians in dozens of countries. The Oxford Handbook of Presbyterianism provides a state of the art reference tool written by leading scholars in the fields of religious studies and history. These thirty five articles cover major facets of Presbyterian history, theological beliefs, worship practices, ecclesiastical forms and structures, as well as important ethical, political, and educational issues. Eschewing parochial and sectarian triumphalism, prominent scholars address their particular topics objectively and judiciously.

History occasionally produces figures whose influence on their own and successive generations is immense. Marx, Freud and Lenin had such an influence, and so, Alister McGrath argues, does John Calvin. This book provides a fresh and lucid exploration of Calvin's life and influence, his theology and his political thought, and his determining of the course of European history. It traces Calvin's remarkable impact on the development of modern Western attitudes to work, wealth, civil rights, capitalism and the natural sciences.

Published to wide critical acclaim in hardback and now available in paperback, this ground-breaking study of Calvin will be welcomed by all concerned with an understanding of the shaping of modern western culture.

This volume is a synthesis of the research articles of one of Europe's leading scholars of 16th-century exile communities. It will be invaluable to the growing number of historians interested in the religious, intellectual, social and economic impact of stranger communities on the rapidly changing nation that was Elizabethan and early Stuart England. Southern England in general, and London in particular, played a unique part in offering refuge to Calvinist exiles for more than a century. For the English government, the attraction of exiles was not so much their Reformed religion and discipline as their economic potential - the exiles were in the main skilled craftsmen and well-connected merchants who could benefit the English economy.

A comprehensive survey and analysis of the Presbyterian community in its important formative period. The Presbyterian community in Ulster was created by waves of immigration, massively reinforced in the 1690s as Scots fled successive poor harvests and famine, and by 1700 Presbyterians formed the largest Protestant community in the north of Ireland. This book is a comprehensive survey and analysis of the Presbyterian community in this important formative period. It shows how the Presbyterians formed a highly organised, self-confident community which exercised a rigorous discipline over its members and had a well-developed intellectual life. It considers the various social groups within the community, demonstrating how the always small aristocratic and gentry component dwindled andwas virtually extinct by the 1730s, the Presbyterians deriving their strength from the middling sorts - clergy, doctors, lawyers, merchants, traders and, in particular, successful farmers and those active in the rapidly growing linen trades - and among the laborious poor. It discusses how Presbyterians were part of the economically dynamic element of Irish society; how they took the lead in the emigration movement to the American colonies; and how they maintained links with Scotland and related to other communities, in Ireland and elsewhere. Later in the eighteenth century, the Presbyterian community went on to form the backbone of the Republican, separatist movement. ROBERT WHAN obtained his Ph.D. in History from Queen's University, Belfast.

In this lucid and readable study, Michael Mullet explains the historical importance of a man and a movement whose influence are still felt in the modern world. The pamphlet locates John Calvin in the context of early 16th-century France and then charts his emergence as an influential theologian and civic religious leader in the 'second generation' of reformers following Luther. After exploring the main lines of Calvin's theology, set out in the Institutes, the central section deals with the difficult process by which his authority was imposed on, or accepted by, Geneva. Finally, the long-term impact of John Calvin is evaluated, including the hypothesis that Calvinism has assisted the economic development of Europe.

eBook available with sample pages: 0203129695

Elsie Chamberlain was a leading figure in British broadcasting and religious life. She was a pioneer in many areas: the first woman chaplain to the armed forces; the first nonconformist minister to marry an Anglican clergyman; the first woman producer in the religious broadcasting dept of the BBC and the first woman to present the daily service on the radio. Her broadcasting accustomed many listeners to the idea of a woman leading public worship. And she became the first woman to occupy the chair of the Congregational Union of England and Wales and almost certainly the first woman anywhere in the world to head a major denomination. Elsie Chamberlain is the first full biography and a critical appreciation of this exceptional woman. Using original church and BBC archive sources, the book tells the story of a woman who did more than any other to change the way Christian women ministers are viewed.

A great deal has recently been written about Jonathan Edwards. Most of it, however, does not make central Edwards's own intention to speak truth about God and the human situation; his systematic theological intention is regarded merely as an historical phenomenon. In this book, Robert Jenson provides a different sort of interpretation, asking not only, "Why was Edwards great?" but also, "Was Edwards right?" As a student of the ideas of Newton and Locke, Jenson argues, Edwards was very much a figure of the Enlightenment; but unlike most other Americans, he was also a discerning critic of it, and was able to use Enlightenment thought in his theology without yielding to its mechanistic and individualistic tendencies. Alone among Christian thinkers of the Enlightenment, Edwards conceived an authentically Christian piety and a creative theology not in spite of Newton and Locke but by virtue of them. Jenson sees Edwards's understanding as a radical corrective to what commitment to the Enlightenment brought about in American life, religious and otherwise. Perhaps, Jenson proposes, recovery of Edwards's vision might make the mutual determination of American culture and American Christianity more fruitful than it has yet been.

Enchanted Calvinism's surprising central proposition is that Ghanaian Presbyterian communities have become more enchanted -- i.e., attuned to spiritual explanations of and remedies for suffering -- as they have become moreintegrated into capitalist modes of production. Enchanted Calvinism's central proposition is that Ghanaian Presbyterian communities, both past and present, have become more enchanted -- more attuned to spiritual explanations of and remedies for suffering -- as they havebecome integrated into capitalist modes of production. The author draws on a Weberian concept of religious enchantment to analyze the phenomena of spiritual affliction and spiritual healing within the Presbyterian Church of Ghana,particularly under the conditions of labor migration: first, in the early twentieth century during the cocoa boom in Ghana and, second, at the turn of the twenty-first century in their migration from Ghana to North America. Relying on extensive archival research, oral interviews, and participant-observation conducted in North America, Europe, and West Africa, this study demonstrates that the more these Ghanaian Calvinists became dependent on capitalist modes of production, the more enchanted their lives and, subsequently, their church became, although in different ways within these two migrations. One striking pattern that has emerged among Ghanaian Presbyterian labor migrants in North America, for example, is a radical shift in gendered healing practices, where women have become prominent healers while a significant number of men have become spirit-possessed. Adam Mohr is Senior Writing Fellow in Anthropology in the Critical Writing Program at the University of Pennsylvania.

Nathaniel Taylor was arguably the most influential and the most frequently misrepresented American theologian of his generation. While he claimed to be an Edwardsian Calvinist, very few people believed him. This book attempts to understand how Taylor and his associates could have counted themselves Edwardsians. In the process, it explores what it meant to be an Edwardsian minister and intellectual in the 19th century.

Elsie Chamberlain was a leading figure in British broadcasting and religious life. She was a pioneer in many areas: the first woman chaplain to the armed forces; the first nonconformist minister to marry an Anglican clergyman; the first woman producer in the religious broadcasting department of the BBC and the first woman to present the daily service on the radio. Her broadcasting accustomed many listeners to the idea of a woman leading public worship. And she became the first woman to occupy the chair of the Congregational Union of England and Wales and almost certainly the first woman anywhere in the world to head a major denomination. Elsie Chamberlain is the first full biography and a critical appreciation of this exceptional woman. Using original church and BBC archive sources, the book tells the story of a woman who did more than any other to change the way Christian women ministers are viewed.

The fascinating story of America's oldest thriving heritage language. Winner of the Dale W. Brown Book Award by the Young Center for Anabaptists and Pietist Studies at Elizabethtown College While most world languages spoken by minority populations are in serious danger of becoming extinct, Pennsylvania Dutch is thriving. In fact, the number of Pennsylvania Dutch speakers is growing exponentially, although it is spoken by less than one-tenth of one percent of the United States population and has remained for the most part an oral vernacular without official recognition or support. A true sociolinguistic wonder, Pennsylvania Dutch has been spoken continuously since the late eighteenth century despite having never been "refreshed" by later waves of immigration from abroad. In this probing study, Mark L. Louden, himself a fluent speaker of Pennsylvania Dutch, provides readers with a close look at the place of the language in the life and culture of two major subgroups of speakers: the "Fancy Dutch," whose ancestors were affiliated mainly with Lutheran and German Reformed churches, and traditional Anabaptist sectarians known as the "Plain people"-the Old Order Amish and Mennonites. Drawing on scholarly literature, three decades of fieldwork, and ample historical documents-most of which have never before been made accessible to English-speaking readers-this is the first book to offer a comprehensive look at this unlikely linguistic success story.

From a small group of devout Puritan settlers, the USA ultimately became the richest, most powerful Empire in the history of the world. Yet it is now in a process of implosion and decay. This book, inspired by Frankfurt School Critical Theory, offers a unique historical, cultural and characterological analysis of American national character and its underlying psychodynamics.