The doctrine of Baptist successionism (also known as Landmarkism), which has been influential among many Baptists, "argue[s] that their history can be traced across the centuries to New Testament times" and "claim[s] that Baptists have represented the true church" that "has been, present in every period of history".[4][5][6] Baptists who uphold this ecclesiology also do not characterize themselves as being a Protestant Church due to their belief that "they did not descend from those churches that broke away in protest from the church of Rome. Rather, they had enjoyed a continuous historical existence from the time of the very first church in the New Testament days."[7]
"Private Absolution ought to be retained in the churches, although in confession an enumeration of all sins is not necessary." —Augsburg Confession, Article 11
Evangelical Lutheranism arose out of the Protestant Reformation, heralding the doctrine of justification by faith, which teaches that humans are accounted as being righteous through the merits of Jesus' sacrifice on the cross. This gift of faith is received in baptism, which regenerates the soul, according to Lutheran theology.
The Augsburg Confession, a Lutheran statement of belief contained in the Book of Concord, teaches that "the faith as confessed by Luther and his followers is nothing new, but the true catholic faith, and that their churches represent the true catholic or universal church".[14] When the Lutherans presented the Augsburg Confession to Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, they believe to have "showed that each article of faith and practice was true first of all to Holy Scripture, and then also to the teaching of the church fathers and the councils".[14]
Methodist preachers are known for promulgating the doctrines of the new birth and entire sanctification to the public at events such as tent revivals and camp meetings, which they believe is the reason that God raised them up into existence.[19]
Methodist theology (also known as Wesleyan-Arminian theology) holds that God was sent to earth in the form of Jesus Christ to redeem all of mankind. Individuals experience justification in the New Birth and then move on to sanctification, the experience in which they are made holy.[20]Good works, for Methodists, play an important role in sanctification, especially a careful keeping of the Ten Commandments, as well as practicing the Works of Piety and the Works of Mercy.[21][22][23][24] Thus, in addition to the heralding the kerygma through evangelism, Methodists have advanced the Social Gospel through the establishment of hospitals, orphanages, soup kitchens, and schools to follow Christ's command to spread the good news and serve all people.[25][26][27] Methodists believe that they can have an assurance of faith.[28]
With regard to sources on doctrine, Methodist theology teaches prima scriptura in the form of the Wesleyan Quadrilateral, which maintains that Scripture is to be the primary authority for the Church, with reason, personal experience, and Church tradition also being used to develop doctrine insofar as they agree with the Bible.[29]
Covenant theology is taught by the Methodist churches: the covenant of grace was administered through "promises, prophecies, sacrifices, and at last by circumcision" during the patriarchal ages and through "the paschal lamb, the scape goat, [and] the priesthood of Aaron" under Mosaic Law.[30] Under the Gospel, the covenant of grace is mediated through the greater sacraments, baptism and the Lord's Supper.[30] In the Methodist churches, baptism is a sacrament of initiation into the visible Church.[31] Wesleyan covenant theology further teaches that baptism is a sign and a seal of the covenant of grace:[32]
Of this great new-covenant blessing, baptism was therefore eminently the sign; and it represented "the pouring out" of the Spirit, "the descending" of the Spirit, the "falling" of the Spirit "upon men," by the mode in which it was administered, the pouring of water from above upon the subjects baptized. As a seal, also, or confirming sign, baptism answers to circumcision.[32]
Methodism teaches the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist, while allowing the details of how Christ is made manifest in the sacrament of Holy Communion to be a mystery.[33]
The Moravian Church teaches the necessity of the New Birth, piety, evangelism (especially missionary work), and doing good works. As such, the Moravian Brethren hold strongly that Christianity is a religion of the heart.[35] It emphasizes the "greatness of Christ" and holds the Bible to be the "source of all religious truths".[35] With regard to the New Birth, the Moravian Church holds that a personal conversion to Christianity is a joyful experience, in which the individual "accepts Christ as Lord" after which faith "daily grows inside the person."[35] For Moravians, "Christ lived as a man because he wanted to provide a blueprint for future generations" and "a converted person could attempt to live in his image and daily become more like Jesus."[35]
Finished Work Pentecostals teaches a progressive sanctification that begins at the New Birth, but rejects the possibility of being entirely sanctified.
The early Quakers, following Fox, taught that as a result of the New Birth through the power of the Holy Spirit, man could be free from actual sinning if he continued to rely on the inward light and "focus on the cross of Christ as the center of faith".[47] George Fox emphasized "personal responsibility for faith and emancipation from sin" in his teaching on perfectionism.[47] For the Christian, "perfectionism and freedom from sin were possible in this world".[46]
Though five additional rites are celebrated, the Reformed tradition has two sacraments, baptism and the Lord's Supper, which are signs and seals of the covenant of grace according to federalism. Reformed churches teach the real pneumatic presence with respect to the Lord's Supper.[48]
The Heidelberg Catechism, in explaining the Law and Gospel, teaches that the moral law as contained in the Ten Commandments is binding for Christians and that it instructs Christians how to live in service to God in gratitude for His grace shown in redeeming mankind.[49]John Calvin, the lead figure in establishing the Reformed tradition, deemed this third use of the Law as its primary use.[49]
^Kraybill, Donald B. (12 September 2017). Eastern Mennonite University. Penn State University Press. p. 94. ISBN9780271080581.
^Benedict, David (1848). A General History of the Baptist Denomination in America and Other Parts of the World. Lewis Colby. p. 325. It is, however, well known by the community at home and abroad, that from a very early period they have been divided into two parties, which have been denominated General and Particular, which differ from each other mainly in their doctrinal sentiments; the Generals being Arminians, and the other, Calvinists.
^Lewis, James R. (2002). The Encyclopedia of Cults, Sects, and New Religions. Prometheus Books. ISBN9781615927388.
^Manley, Ken R. (2006). From Woolloomooloo to 'Eternity': A History of Australian Baptists: Volume 1: Growing an Australian Church (1831-1914) Volume 2: A National Church in a Global Community. Wipf and Stock Publishers. ISBN978-1-59752-719-4.
^McGoldrick, James Edward (1 January 1994). Baptist Successionism: A Crucial Question in Baptist History. Scarecrow Press. pp. 1–2. ISBN9780810836815. Although the two most popular textbooks used in America to teach Baptist history cite Holland and England early in the seventeenth century as the birthplace of the Baptist churches, many Baptists object vehemently and argue that their history can be traced across the centuries to New Testament times. Some Baptists deny categorically that they are Protestants and that the history of their churches is related to the success of the Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth century. Those who reject the Protestant character and Reformation origins of the Baptists usually maintain a view of church history sometimes called "Baptist successionism" and claim that Baptists have represented the true church, which must be, and has been, present in every period of history. The popularity of the successionist view has been enhanced enormously by a booklet entitled The Trail of Blood, of which thousands of copies have been distributed since it was published in 1931.
^Johnson, Robert E. (13 September 2010). A Global Introduction to Baptist Churches. Cambridge University Press. p. 148. ISBN9781139788984. One was its belief that the Baptist Church was the only true church. Because only the Baptist Church was an authentically biblical church, all other so-called churches were merely human societies. This mean that only ordinances performed by this true church were valid. All other rites were simply rituals performed by leaders of religious societies. The Lord's Supper could correctly be administered only to members of the local congregation (closed communion). Pastors of other denominations could not be true pastors because their churches were not true churches.
^Slatton, James H. (2009). W.H. Whitsitt: The Man and the Controversy. Mercer University Press. pp. 14–15. ISBN9780881461336. Landmark Baptists insisted that Baptist churches should not be referred to as Protestant churches at all because they did not descend from those churches that broke away in protest from the church of Rome. Rather, they had enjoyed a continuous historical existence from the time of the very first church in the New Testament days.
^Wu, Dongsheng John (1 April 2012). Understanding Watchman Nee: Spirituality, Knowledge, and Formation. Wipf and Stock Publishers. p. 58. ISBN978-1-63087-573-2. D. D. Bundy notes that A. B. Simpson (1843–1919)—Presbyterian founder of the Christian and Missionary Alliance—who never accepted the Wesleyan doctrine of eradication of sin, accepted the Keswickian understanding of sanctification.
^Haffner, Paul (1999). The Sacramental Mystery. Gracewing Publishing. p. 11. ISBN9780852444764. The Augsburg Confession drawn up by Melanchton, one of Luther's disciples admitted only three sacraments, Baptist, the Lord's Supper and Penance. Melanchton left the way open for the other five sacred signs to be considered as "secondary sacraments". However, Zwingli, Calvin and most of the later Reformed tradition accepted only Baptism and the Lord's Supper as sacraments, but in a highly symbolic sense.
^Smith, Preserved (1911). The Life and Letters of Martin Luther. Houghton Mifflin. p. 89. In the first place I deny that the sacraments are seven in number, and assert that there are only three, baptism, penance, and the Lord's Supper, and that all these three have been bound by the Roman Curia in a miserable captivity and that the Church has been deprived of all her freedom.
^Hämmerli, Maria; Mayer, Jean-François (23 May 2016). Orthodox Identities in Western Europe: Migration, Settlement and Innovation. Routledge. p. 13. ISBN9781317084914.
^ abLudwig, Alan (12 September 2016), Luther's Catholic Reformation, The Lutheran Witness, When the Lutherans presented the Augsburg Confession before Emperor Charles V in 1530, they carefully showed that each article of faith and practice was true first of all to Holy Scripture, and then also to the teaching of the church fathers and the councils and even the canon law of the Church of Rome. They boldly claim, "This is about the Sum of our Doctrine, in which, as can be seen, there is nothing that varies from the Scriptures, or from the Church Catholic, or from the Church of Rome as known from its writers" (AC XXI Conclusion 1). The underlying thesis of the Augsburg Confession is that the faith as confessed by Luther and his followers is nothing new, but the true catholic faith, and that their churches represent the true catholic or universal church. In fact, it is actually the Church of Rome that has departed from the ancient faith and practice of the catholic church (see AC XXIII 13, XXVIII 72 and other places).
^Mattox, Mickey L.; Roeber, A. G. (27 February 2012). Changing Churches: An Orthodox, Catholic, and Lutheran Theological Conversation. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. p. 54. ISBN9780802866943. In this "sacramental union," Lutherans taught, the body and blood of Christ are so truly united to the bread and wine of the Holy Communion that the two may be identified. They are at the same time body and blood, bread and wine. This divine food is given, more-over, not just for the strengthening of faith, nor only as a sign of our unity in faith, nor merely as an assurance of the forgiveness of sin. Even more, in this sacrament the Lutheran Christian receives the very body and blood of Christ precisely for the strengthening of the union of faith. The "real presence" of Christ in the Holy Sacrament is the means by which the union of faith, effected by God's Word and the sacrament of baptism, is strengthened and maintained. Intimate union with Christ, in other words, leads directly to the most intimate communion in his holy body and blood.
^McNabb, Kimberlynn; Fennell, Robert C. (2019). Living Traditions: Half a Millennium of Re-Forming Christianity. Wipf and Stock Publishers. ISBN978-1-5326-5979-9. Luther's focused position on Mary has more in common with the Orthodox Christian view of the Theotokos, Mary as the Mother of God, rather than with the Roman Catholic view of her as intercessor. ... As a result, the early Lutheran Reformation had both a "biblically based Theotokos-dogma using the Mariology of the ancient church, and it had a Marian piety and devotion based on this dogma, taking its bearings from the soteriologically interpreted notion of God's condescension." ... Lutherans thus confessed in the Formula of Concord in the Solid Declaration, Article VIII.24: On account of this person union and communion of the natures, Mary, the most blessed virgin, did not conceive a mere, ordinary human being, but a human being who is truly the Son of the most high God, as the angel testifies. He demonstrated his divine majesty even in his mother's womb in that he was born of a virgin without violating her virginity. Therefore she is truly the mother of God and yet remained a virgin.
^Hillerbrand, Hans J. (2004). Encyclopedia of Protestantism: 4-volume Set. Routledge. ISBN978-1-135-96028-5. This view of the proper place of Mary and the saints in the lives of the faithful is codified for Lutherans in the BOOK OF CONCORD (1580); these confessions also include the reaffirmation of Mary's perpetual virginity (in Luther's SCHMALKALDIC ARTICLES of 1537) and her title of Theotokos, and praise her as "the most blessed virgin" (Formula of Concord, 1577).
^Divozzo, R. (2019). Mary for Protestants. Wipf and Stock Publishers. ISBN978-1-5326-7585-0.
^Peters, Ted (1 August 2015). God--The World's Future: Systematic Theology for a New Era, Third Edition. Augsburg Fortress Publishers. p. 391. ISBN9781506400419. Justification is not enough for the Methodists. The Christian life cannot get along without transformation as well. Transformation is accomplished through the process of sanctification. "The one [justification] implies what God does for us through his Son, the other [sanctification] he works in us by his Spirit." The spiritual life of the Methodist ends up reiterating what the Roman Catholics had deemed so important, namely transformation.
^ abPeters, Ted (1 August 2015). God--The World's Future: Systematic Theology for a New Era, Third Edition. Augsburg Fortress Publishers. p. 391. ISBN9781506400419. Justification is not enough for the Methodists. The Christian life cannot get along without transformation as well. Transformation is accomplished through the process of sanctification. "The one [justification] implies what God does for us through his Son, the other [sanctifiation] he works in us by his Spirit." The spiritual life of the Methodist ends up reiterating what the Roman Catholics had deemed so important, namely transformation.
^Rothwell, Mel-Thomas; Rothwell, Helen F. (1998). A Catechism on the Christian Religion: The Doctrines of Christianity with Special Emphasis on Wesleyan Concepts. Schmul Publishing Co. p. 53. ...after a man is saved and has genuine faith, his works are important if he is to keep justified. 146) James 2:20-22, "But wilt thou known, O vain main, that faith without (apart from) works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? Seest thou faith wrought with works, and by works was faith made perfect?
^Elwell, Walter A. (1 May 2001). Evangelical Dictionary of Theology (Baker Reference Library). Baker Publishing Group. p. 1268. ISBN9781441200303. This balance is most evident in Wesley's understanding of faith and works, justification and sanctification...Wesley, in a sermon entitled "Justification by Faith", makes an attempt to define the term accurately. First, he states what justification is not. It is not being made actually just and righteous (that is sanctification). It is not being cleared of the accusations of Satan, nor of the law, nor even of God. We have sinned, so the accusation stands. Justification implies pardon, the forgiveness of sins...Ultimately for the true Wesleyan salvation is completed by our return to original righteousness. This is done by the work of the Holy Spirit...The Wesleyan tradition insists that grace is not contrasted with law but with the works of the law. Wesleyans remind us that Jesus came to fulfill, not destroy the law. God made us in his perfect image, and he wants that image restored. He wants to return us to a full and perfect obedience through the process of sanctification...Good works follow after justification as its inevitable fruit. Wesley insisted that Methodists who did not fulfill all righteousness deserved the hottest place in the lake of fire.
^Campbell, Ted A. (1 October 2011). Methodist Doctrine: The Essentials, 2nd Edition. Abingdon Press. pp. 40, 68–69. ISBN9781426753473. An important aspect of the pursuit of sanctification is the careful following of God's moral law. Wesley and the Methodist doctrinal statements acknowledge, in harmony with the Reformed tradition, that the "ceremonial law" of the Hebrew Bible had passed out of use for Christians. But they insisted that the moral law remained as a guide to Christians. The content of the moral law includes preeminently the Ten Commandments. Methodist observance of the Lord's Day (see chapter 7) was grounded in their sense that the observance of Sunday as a day of rest fulfilled the commandment to sanctify the sabbath.
^Abraham, William J.; Kirby, James E. (2009). The Oxford Handbook of Methodist Studies. Oxford University Press. ISBN9780191607431. First, it is clear that 'evangelism' is primarily concerned with the evangel, the gospel, or the good news we bear in the world.
^Wilson, Charles Reagan (2005). Encyclopedia of Religion in the South. Mercer University Press. ISBN9780865547582. Both Southern Baptist and Methodist organizations engaged in evangelism and social service missions in the United States and abroad. ... However, despite their similarities in evangelism and social services, by the dawn of the 20th century the two denominational women's movements had already diverged from each other because the Methodist organizations had embraced the Social Gospel. They had embarked not only on social service in addition to evangelism but on social reform.
^Yates, Arthur S. (2015). The Doctrine of Assurance: With Special Reference to John Wesley. Wipf and Stock Publishers. ISBN9781498205047. Writing to Arthur Bedford on 4th August 1738, Wesley says: 'That assurance of which alone I speak, I should not choose to call an assurance of salvation, but rather (with the Scriptures) the assurance of faith. . . . I think the Scriptural words are ...
^ abSummers, Thomas Osmond (1857). Methodist Pamphlets for the People. E. Stevenson & F. A. Owen for the M. E. Church, South. p. 18.
^Neal, Gregory S. (19 December 2014). Sacramental Theology and the Christian Life. WestBow Press. p. 111. ISBN9781490860077. For Anglicans and Methodists the reality of the presence of Jesus as received through the sacramental elements is not in question. Real presence is simply accepted as being true, its mysterious nature being affirmed and even lauded in official statements like This Holy Mystery: A United Methodist Understanding of Holy Communion.
^Gould, James B. (4 August 2016). Understanding Prayer for the Dead: Its Foundation in History and Logic. Wipf and Stock Publishers. pp. 57–58. ISBN9781620329887. The Roman Catholic and English Methodist churches both pray for the dead. Their consensus statement confirms that "over the centuries in the Catholic tradition praying for the dead has developed into a variety of practices, especially through the Mass. ... The Methodist church ... has prayers for the dead ... Methodists who pray for the dead thereby commend them to the continuing mercy of God."
^ abcdAtwood, Scott Edward (1991). "An Instrument for Awakening": The Moravian Church and the White River Indian Mission. College of William & Mary. pp. 7, 14, 20–24.
^Stoeffler, F. Ernest (1 February 2007). Continental Pietism and Early American Christianity. Wipf and Stock Publishers. p. 156. ISBN978-1-55635-226-3.
^Tucker, Spencer; Arnold, James R.; Wiener, Roberta (30 September 2011). The Encyclopedia of North American Indian Wars, 1607–1890: A Political, Social, and Military History. ABC-CLIO. p. 331. ISBN978-1-85109-697-8.
^Schutt, Amy C. (1 March 2013). Peoples of the River Valleys: The Odyssey of the Delaware Indians. University of Pennsylvania Press. p. 172. ISBN978-0-8122-0379-0.
^Knouse, Nola Reed (2008). The Music of the Moravian Church in America. University Rochester Press. p. 34. ISBN978-1580462600. Holy Communion, of course, is a central act of worship for all Christians, and it should come as no surprise that it was also highly esteemed in the Moravian Church. Zinzendorf referred to it as the "most intimate of all connection with the person of the Saviour." The real presence of Christ was thankfully received, though, typically, the Moravians refrained from delving too much into the precise way the Savior was sacramentally present
^Veliko, Lydia; Gros, Jeffrey (2005). Growing Consensus II: Church Dialogues in the United States, 1992–2004. Bishop's Committee for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. p. 90. ISBN978-1574555578.
^Atwood, Craig D. (1 November 2010). Community of the Cross: Moravian Piety in Colonial Bethlehem. Penn State Press. p. 165. ISBN9780271047508. In the eighteenth century, the Moravians consistently promoted the Lutheran doctrine of the real presence, which they described as a "sacramental presence."
^The West Tennessee Historical Society Papers - Issue 56. West Tennessee Historical Society. 2002. p. 41. Seymour's holiness background suggests that Pentecostalism had roots in the holiness movement of the late nineteenth century. The holiness movement embraced the Wesleyan doctrine of "sanctification" or the second work of grace, subsequent to conversion. Pentecostalism added a third work of grace, called the baptism of the Holy Ghost, which is often accompanied by glossolalia.
^The Encyclopedia of Christianity. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. 1999. p. 415. ISBN9789004116955. While in Houston, Texas, where he had moved his headquarters, Parham came into contact with William Seymour (1870-1922), an African-American Baptist-Holiness preacher. Seymour took from Parham the teaching that the baptism of the Holy Spirit was not the blessing of sanctification but rather a third work of grace that was accompanied by the experience of tongues.
^ abStewart, Kathleen Anne (1992). The York Retreat in the Light of the Quaker Way: Moral Treatment Theory : Humane Therapy Or Mind Control?. William Sessions. ISBN9781850720898. On the other hand, Fox believed that perfectionism and freedom from sin were possible in this world.
^ abElwell, Walter A. (2001). Evangelical Dictionary of Theology. Baker Academic. ISBN9780801020759.
^McKim, Donald K. (1998). Major Themes in the Reformed Tradition. Wipf and Stock Publishers. ISBN978-1-57910-104-6. The Westminster Confession emphatically declares that Christ is truly present in the elements and is truly received by those partaking, "yet not carnally and corporally, but spiritually" (chap. 31, par. 7). The insistence is that while Christ's presence is not physical in nature it is no less a real and vital presence, as if it were a physical presence. ... Those of us in the Reformed tradition are under strong obligation to honour the notion of the real presence of Christ in the Lord's Supper.
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