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Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the sixteenth-century Protestant Reformation, a schism in the Western Church. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental, Presbyterian, and Congregational traditions, as well as parts of the Anglican and Baptist traditions.
Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the liturgical year in Christianity, it follows the season of Advent or the Nativity Fast, and initiates the season of Christmastide, which historically in the West lasts twelve days and culminates on Twelfth Night. Christmas Day is a public holiday in many countries, is celebrated religiously by a majority of Christians, as well as culturally by many non-Christians, and forms an integral part of the holiday season surrounding it.
Easter, also called Pascha or Resurrection Sunday, is a Christian festival and cultural holiday commemorating the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, described in the New Testament as having occurred on the third day of his burial following his crucifixion by the Romans at Calvary c. 30 AD. It is the culmination of the Passion of Jesus Christ, preceded by Lent, a 40-day period of fasting, prayer, and penance.
The Last Supper is the final meal that, in the Gospel accounts, Jesus shared with his apostles in Jerusalem before his crucifixion. The Last Supper is commemorated by Christians especially on Holy Thursday. The Last Supper provides the scriptural basis for the Eucharist, also known as "Holy Communion" or "The Lord's Supper".
In Christianity, worship is the act of attributing reverent honour and homage to God. In the New Testament, various words are used to refer to the term worship. One is proskuneo which means to bow down to God or kings.
The Feast of the Transfiguration is celebrated by various Christian communities in honor of the transfiguration of Jesus. The origins of the feast are less than certain and may have derived from the dedication of three basilicas on Mount Tabor. The feast was present in various forms by the 9th century, and in the Western Church was made a universal feast celebrated on 6 August by Pope Callixtus III to commemorate the raising of the siege of Belgrade (1456).
The reformed confessions of faith are the confessional documents of various Reformed churches. These express the doctrinal views of the churches adopting the confession. Confessions play a crucial part in the theological identity of reformed churches, either as standards to which ministers must subscribe, or more generally as accurate descriptions of their faith. Most confessions date to the 16th and 17th century.
In Western Christianity, Lectio Divina is a traditional monastic practice of scriptural reading, meditation and prayer intended to promote communion with God and to increase the knowledge of God's word. In the view of one commentator, it does not treat Scripture as texts to be studied, but as the living word.
The Feast of the Circumcision of Christ is a Christian celebration of the circumcision of Jesus in accordance with Jewish tradition, eight days after his birth, the occasion on which the child was formally given his name.
Exclusive psalmody is the practice of singing only the biblical Psalms in congregational singing as worship. Today it is practised by several Protestant, especially Reformed denominations. Hymns besides the Psalms have been composed by Christians since the earliest days of the church, but psalms were preferred by the early church and used almost exclusively until the end of the fourth century. During the Protestant Reformation, Martin Luther and many other reformers, including those associated with the Reformed tradition, used hymns as well as psalms, but John Calvin preferred the Psalms and they were the only music allowed for worship in Geneva. This became the norm for the next 200 years of Reformed worship. Hymnody became acceptable again for the Reformed in the middle of the nineteenth century, though several denominations, notably the Reformed Presbyterians, continue the practice of exclusive psalmody.
Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ, which, in Western Christian churches, is held annually on 25 December. For centuries, it has been the subject of several reformations, both religious and secular.
Advent Sunday, also called the First Sunday of Advent or First Advent Sunday, among the Western Christian Churches, is the first day of the liturgical year and the start of the season of Advent.
Reformed Christianity originated with the Reformation in Switzerland when Huldrych Zwingli began preaching what would become the first form of the Reformed doctrine in Zürich in 1519.
Philip Benedict is an American historian of the Protestant Reformation in Europe, currently holding the title of Professor Emeritus at the University of Geneva’s Institute for Reformation History.
Reformed worship is religious devotion to God as conducted by Reformed or Calvinistic Christians, including Presbyterians. Despite considerable local and national variation, public worship in most Reformed and Presbyterian churches is governed by the Regulative principle of worship.
Hughes Oliphant Old was an American theologian and academic. Until his retirement in 2014 he was the John H. Leith Professor of Reformed Theology and Worship at Erskine Theological Seminary. Previously he had taught at Princeton Theological Seminary.
Family worship, sometimes simply family prayer, is prayer, bible reading, and singing of psalms and hymns conducted in private homes usually by Reformed Christians. During the Protestant Reformation, daily mass services were simplified in order to allow wider participation by laypeople. In the seventeenth century, it became more common especially in England and Scotland to emphasize daily morning and evening services in the home led by fathers to replace the morning and evening prayer services. Puritan minister Richard Baxter gave lengthy instructions in his Christian Directory for family worship. The General Assembly of the Church of Scotland added a chapter to the 1647 Westminster Directory for Worship on family prayer shortly after adoption. Matthew Henry also wrote on family worship in his A Method for Prayer, as well as a collection of psalms and canticles for family use called Family Hymns. James W. Alexander, son of Princeton theologian Archibald Alexander wrote Thoughts on Family Worship in the nineteenth century. The rise of pietism saw a decline in the importance placed on the unity of the family, and family devotions were by and large replaced with private devotions, which were significantly shorter than traditional family worship. Small group activities are also sometimes considered a replacement for family worship. In the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church, the Book of Common Prayer or Shehimo is used by the families for daily prayers outside of church.
Hubert Duifhuis was a Dutch Reformed pastor. He carried out a reformation in the Jacobikerk in 1578, but did not establish a consistory or use a catechism, and he admitted to communion anyone who presented himself. Werner Helmichius (Werner Helmichius opposed open communion, and the church in Utrecht became divided between the Reformed of the Consistory and the Preachers of the Old and New Testament.
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 people. Sacraments are believed to have their effect through the Holy Spirit, but these effects are only believed to accrue to those who have faith in Christ.
Stanley P. Saunders is a New Testament scholar, whose particular research interest includes eschatology, creation and the Gospel of Matthew. He is also involved in issues of social justice particularly pertaining to the American criminal justice system and creation care.
References
- ↑ Old, Hughes Oliphant (2002). Worship: Reformed According to Scripture. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press. p. 164. ISBN 978-0664225797.
- ↑ Benedict, Philip (2002). Christ's Churches Purely Reformed . New Haven: Yale University Press. p. 495. ISBN 978-0300105070.
- ↑ Rice, Howard L.; Huffstutler, James C. Reformed Worship. Louisville, KY: Geneva Press. p. 142.
- ↑ Benedict, Philip (2002). Christ's Churches Purely Reformed . New Haven: Yale University Press. p. 495. ISBN 978-0300105070.
- ↑ Rice, Howard L.; Huffstutler, James C. Reformed Worship. Louisville, KY: Geneva Press. p. 142.
