 |
A church covenant is a declaration, which some churches draw up and call their members to sign, in which their duties as church members towards God and their fellow believers are outlined. It is a fraternal agreement, freely endorsed, that establishes what are, according to the Holy Scriptures, the duties of a Christian and the responsibilities which each church member pledges themselves to honour.
The idea of a church covenant is an expression of the free-church ecclesiology and it issues from within the context of the English Puritanism, becoming afterwards one of the characteristic traits of the Baptist churches.
In the 16th century, the Church in England, confronted with the teaching of the Bible under the impulse of continental Protestantism, engaged itself in a reformation which disconnected it from many persuasions, practices and traditions of Roman Catholicism. In particular, from the time of Henry VIII's divorce from Catherine of Aragon and subsequent marriage to Queen Anne Boleyn, it reflected on the meaning, structure and function of being a church and was involved in heated discussions on the measure according to which this reformation must occur.
To the end of the reign of Edward VI the model of the Reformed Genevan ecclesiology prevailed. After the parenthesis of Mary I, in which Roman Catholicism was restored, with Elizabeth I a line of compromise prevailed and lasted until the time of Charles I when, caused by the English Civil War, Calvinist Presbyterianism was reintroduced. With Charles II, the Elizabethan settlement was reconfirmed and again imposed a compromise line between Catholicism and Protestantism.
This Elizabethan compromise was opposed by many theologians and preachers who exerted considerable pressure so that, courageously, the church was finally purified from all Roman Catholic doctrines and practices unsupported by the Bible (from this the term Puritanism is mainly drawn). The resistance and refusal, nevertheless, of the institution to carry forward these reforms, considered by now unsupportable for the population, led some to force the situation and establish independent Christian congregations (from this the term Separatism is created) which, eventually will gave birth to the churches which are now known as Congregationalist and Baptist.
A new ecclesiology thus matured in this context. It was different from the traditional one, the one used to the concept of territorial churches subdivided in parishes, "people's church", confused and allied with the state and governed by clerical hierarchies (episcopacy). It was "the free-church ecclesiology", in which the church is mainly a free and voluntary local association of committed Christians, democratically self-managed, distinct and independent from the State. They are Christians bound one to the others on the basis of a covenant and affirming a Confession of faith. In the case of the Baptist movement, believers' baptism is understood as the seal of such a commitment towards God and one to the other. This movement, consequently, gets closer and closer to the doctrines and experiences first of the Anabaptists, then of Mennonites.
The concept of the church as God's people bound by a covenant, although not new in the history of Christianity, was developed extensively by the Strasbourg reformer Martin Bucer (1491–1551) and taken up in Puritanism by Richard Fitz (1570), who established in London by 1567 a Christian congregation separated from the officially sanctioned Anglican church. He expressed the aspiration, shared by many, to establish a church free from the State interference, characterised by what are understood by the signs of a true church: biblical preaching, New Testament sacraments, and ordered by a serious discipline. This church must be formed, Fitz wrote, on the basis of a voluntary covenant:
Being thoroughly persuaded in the conscience by the working and by the word of the almighty, that these relics of Antichrist be abominable before the Lord our God. And also for that by the power and mercy, strength and goodness of the lord my God only, I am escaped from the filthiness and pollution of these detestable traditions, through the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. And last of all, inasmuch as by the workings also of the lord Jesus his holy spirit, I have joined in prayer and in hearing God's word with those that have not yielded to this idolatrous trash, notwithstanding the danger of not coming to my parish church etc. Therefore I come not back again to the preachings etc. of them that have received these marks of the Romish beast. [1]
Robert Browne (1540–1630) theorized how God's faithful people are called to separate themselves from the unfaithful ones, and that the only way to form a true church is, for believers, to agree together in a covenant, the signing of which is expected by all those who wish to be part of it. This way God's people would submit to the authority of Christ, becoming a real church. Signing this contract would become the sign of the genuine Christian [2] Henry Barrowe (1550–1593) took up and further elaborated on Browne's ideas, linking the local church covenant to the eternal covenant of God, emphasizing the consistent application of church discipline for those who infringe this covenant. In the Separatist Confession of Faith of 1596, article 33, the church is thus described:
That beeing come forth of this antichristian estate vnto the freedom and true profession of Christ, besides the instructing and vvell guyding of their ovvn Families, they areu vvillingly to ioyne together in christian communion and orderly couenant, and by confession of Faith and obedience of Christ, to vnite themselues into peculiar Congregatios; vvherin, as members of one body vvherof Christ is the only head, they are to vvorship and serue God according to his vvord, remembring to keep holy the Lords day. [3]
Records being rather scarce, we do not know how much the separatist ideas in fact do influence John Smyth's thought, main inspirer of the Baptist movement in England. Through great part of his career, Smyth believes that a local church covenant is the most appropriate answer to God's offer of the covenant of grace. He writes "to be debtor, in these ideas, to the separatist "ancient brothers". [4] Smyth declares that the true church members are "the saints only" and that these must convene in a local church through a fraternal covenant. From this perspectyive, Smyth has much in common with the Anabaptist persuasion that the best way to relate to God is through a community of believers. Later, as Smyth gets closer to the Mennonites, he does not any more emphasize this concept.
The idea of church covenant becomes prominent among the puritans that settle in America. In 1648, in Cambridge (Massachusetts) John Cotton, Richard Mather, e Ralph Partridge draw out "a model for the government of the church" in which the reasoning thus follows: "this visible union cannot be established by mere 'faith,' for that is invisible; nor by a 'bare profession' of faith, for that does not make a person part of one particular church or another; nor by 'cohabitation' (i.e., living in the same community), for "atheists and Infidels may dwell together with believers"; nor by "baptism," since baptism by itself does not make a person a part of a particular church. What establishes the visible union of a group of believers into a church is that they make a covenant with each other to be the church". [5]
Arminianism is a branch of Protestantism based on the theological ideas of the Dutch Reformed theologian Jacobus Arminius (1560–1609) and his historic supporters known as Remonstrants. Dutch Arminianism was originally articulated in the Remonstrance (1610), a theological statement submitted to the States General of the Netherlands. This expressed an attempt to moderate the doctrines of Calvinism related to its interpretation of predestination. The Synod of Dort (1618–19) was called by the States General to consider the Five Articles of Remonstrance.
Anabaptism is a Protestant Christian movement which traces its origins to the Radical Reformation.
Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only, and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul competency, sola fide, sola scriptura and congregationalist church government. Baptists generally recognize two ordinances: baptism and communion.
Baptism is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost invariably with the use of water. It may be performed by sprinkling or pouring water on the head, or by immersing in water either partially or completely, traditionally three times, once for each person of the Trinity. The synoptic gospels recount that John the Baptist baptised Jesus. Baptism is considered a sacrament in most churches, and as an ordinance in others. Baptism according to the Trinitarian formula, which is done in most mainstream Christian denominations, is seen as being a basis for Christian ecumenism, the concept of unity amongst Christians. Baptism is also called christening, although some reserve the word "christening" for the baptism of infants. In certain Christian denominations, such as the Lutheran Churches, baptism is the door to church membership, with candidates taking baptismal vows. It has also given its name to the Baptist churches and denominations.
The Westminster Confession of Faith 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.
Anabaptist theology, also known as Anabaptist doctrine, is a theological tradition reflecting the doctrine of the Anabaptist Churches. The major branches of Anabaptist Christianity agree on core doctrines but have nuances in practice. While the adherence to doctrine is important in Anabaptist Christianity, living righteously is stressed to a greater degree.
English Dissenters or English Separatists were Protestant Christians who separated from the Church of England in the 17th and 18th centuries.
John Smyth was an English Anglican, Baptist, then Mennonite minister and a defender of the principle of religious liberty.
Thomas Helwys, an English minister, was one of the joint founders, with John Smyth, of the General Baptist denomination. In the early seventeenth century, Helwys was principal formulator of demand that the church and the state be kept separate in matters of law, so that individuals might have a freedom of religious conscience. Helwys was an advocate of religious liberty at a time when to hold to such views could be dangerous. He died in prison as a consequence of the religious persecution of Protestant Dissenters under King James I.
Memorialism is the belief held by some Christian denominations that the elements of bread and wine in the Eucharist are purely symbolic representations of the body and blood of Jesus Christ, the feast being established only or primarily as a commemorative ceremony. The term comes from the Gospel of Luke 22:19: "Do this in remembrance of me", and the attendant interpretation that the Lord's Supper's chief purpose is to help the participant remember Jesus and his sacrifice on the Cross.
John Spilsbury was an English cobbler and Particular Baptist minister who set up a Calvinist Baptist church in London in 1638.
Radical Pietism are those Christian churches who decided to break with denominational Lutheranism in order to emphasize certain teachings regarding holy living. Radical Pietists contrast with Church Pietists, who chose to remain within their Lutheran denominational settings. Radical Pietists distinguish between true and false Christianity and hold that the latter is represented by established churches. They separated from established churches to form their own Christian denominations.
Baptist beliefs are not completely consistent from one church to another, as Baptists do not have a central governing authority. However, Baptists do hold some common beliefs among almost all Baptist churches.
An ordinance is a term used by certain Christian denominations for a religious ritual that was instituted by Jesus for Christians to observe.
The expression "one true church" refers to an ecclesiological position asserting that Jesus gave his authority in the Great Commission solely to a particular visible Christian institutional church—what is commonly called a denomination. This view is maintained by the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Oriental Orthodox communion, the Assyrian Church of the East, the Ancient Church of the East, the Christian Churches/Churches of Christ, the Churches of Christ, and the Lutheran Churches, as well as certain Baptists. Each of them maintains that their own specific institutional church (denomination) exclusively represents the one and only original church. The claim to the title of the "one true church" relates to the first of the Four Marks of the Church mentioned in the Nicene Creed: "one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church". As such, it also relates to claims of both catholicity and apostolic succession: asserting inheritance of the spiritual, ecclesiastical and sacramental authority and responsibility that Jesus Christ gave to the apostles.
Believer's baptism or adult baptism is the practice of baptizing those who are able to make a conscious profession of faith, as contrasted to the practice of baptizing infants. Credobaptists believe that infants incapable of consciously believing should not be baptized.
Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to be growing errors, abuses, and discrepancies within it.
In Reformed theology, baptism is a sacrament signifying the baptized person's union with Christ, or becoming part of Christ and being treated as if they had done everything Christ had. Sacraments, along with preaching of God's word, are means of grace through which God offers Christ to his elect. Sacraments are believed to have their effect through the Holy Spirit, but these effects are only believed to accrue to those who have been predestined to have faith in Christ.
Protestant theology refers to the doctrines held by various Protestant traditions, which share some things in common but differ in others. In general, Protestant theology, as a subset of Christian theology, holds to faith in the Christian Bible, the Holy Trinity, salvation, sanctification, charity, evangelism, and the four last things.