bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
What's New in the History of Christianity?
Authors: Thayer Anne T 
Published: January 2012

AbstractTwo overarching themes guide current research in the history of Christianity. First, the geographical range of Christianity has expanded. New churches around the globe and old churches in places new to western scholarly attention are being studied and are telling their own histories. Historiography will itself expand and change as these stories are incorporated into the overall history of Christianity. Second, new interests are complexifying standard narratives. Scholars are becoming increasingly aware of the diversities that exist and have existed among those who identify themselves as Christians. Minority traditions and the history of groups not previously included are receiving focused attention. Studies of “lived religion” proliferate. Within these themes, methodological diversity is embraced as historians stress the multiple layers of interaction shaping lives of faith.
Christian Humanism
Authors: Doyle Dominic 
Published: January 2012

Abstract

Throughout the history of theological reflection, this term has acquired various and complex meanings. The basic idea, however, derives from the claim in the Hebrew scriptures that God created the human person in God's image, “a little less than God, crowned with glory and honor” (Ps. 8). This dignity accorded to the human person deepens through the Christian belief in the Incarnation, the claim that God became human in Jesus Christ out of love for the world. Consequently, Christian humanism claims that the more one comes to understand and love humanity, the more one will resonate with Christianity as good news, because God is a lover of humanity. Indeed, it believes Jesus Christ embodies this love so perfectly that, in him, God and humanity are intimately united. These basic convictions find theological expression in various ways: Irenaeus's claims about deification (paraphrased as “Christ became human, so that humans might become what He is Himself,”
Against Heresies
, bk. V, preface); his positive assessments of the theological significance of the
humanum
(“the glory of God is the human person fully alive,”
Against Heresies
, bk. IV, ch. 20, pt. 7); and medieval appropriations of Aristotle's account of friendship to describe humanity's union with God (Thomas Aquinas'
Summa theologiae
, which includes the important Christian humanist slogan “grace does not destroy nature, but perfects it,” [I.1.8 ad 2]).
Christian Identity
Authors: Rhee Helen 
Published: January 2012

AbstractWhat makes an individual a Christian and what does it mean to be a Christian? Answers to these questions of Christian identity are not as simple as they might first appear to be. The concept of identity is a 20th century notion typically associated with modern individualism, and scholars tend to qualify its usage when speaking of the “emergence of Christian identity” in the first two centuries. Nevertheless, it is still possible to speak of “Christian identity” in constructing a sense of Christian continuity and common boundaries in relation to (or in terms of) otherness and differentiation; boundaries of Christian identity “involve selection out of both similarity and difference, and promote interchange as well as distancing” (Lieu 2002: 311). This identity is constructed in constant social interactions with the surrounding societies and cultures, “others,” and defines and redefines those “others,” such as Jews, pagans, heretics, etc. Therefore, as with other identities, Christian identity is “contextualized and contingent” (Lieu 2004: 18) in history, yet it also presents and projects Christian ideals and universal claims through the selective process of self‐definition (Rhee 2005: 7). Christians in the last two millennia have wrestled to define and live out their Christian identities in the changing contexts of culture, time, and space. In this age of globalization and postmodern world, the question of Christian identity is all the more poignant and complex. The following section offers not comprehensive but representative Christian identity markers throughout history that display both extensive diversity and manifestations of contextualization of Christianity and its universal ideals and claims in broad categories.
Literature,ChristianArabic
Authors: Amar Joseph P. 
Published: January 2012

AbstractThis body of literature comprises works written by Christians in Arabic after the rise of Islam, most of which originate in the Chalcedonian (Melkite) monasteries of Palestine. While Christianity existed among certain tribes prior to the rise of Islam, it has left no textual evidence. The emergence of Christian literature in Arabic signaled the fact that Arabic had become the language of daily life even among Christians throughout Dār al‐Islām fromad750, following the establishment of the Abbasid Caliphate in Baghdad.
Christian Political Parties
Authors: Harold Philip J. 
Published: January 2012

AbstractModern political parties first developed in the 19th century in Europe and North America. During that century Christian political participation in democratic states on the European continent was problematic, as the advance of liberalism was coupled with hostility to Christianity, and Christians themselves were very distrustful of democracy up until World War II. Liberal freedoms and social organization eventually came to be accepted by Christians and used as the means by which they could keep their institutions and engage the political order with a Christian perspective. For most of the 19th century this problem of how to keep liberalism at arm's length was mainly a Catholic one, but in its last two decades Protestants, particularly in Germany, saw the need for an independent political force.
Christianity and the Turks
Authors: Faroe Charles E. 
Published: January 2012

Abstract

A thorough discussion of Christian civilization should include the Turks. Muslim Turks conquered the birthplace of Christianity, ended the Eastern Christian Empire and ruled over Christians for centuries. The Reformation was born against the terrifying backdrop of Ottoman Turkish armies advancing within Europe. (Luther wrote treatises entitled
On War Against the Turk
and
Exhortation to Pray Against the Turk
.) Further, the role of Christians contributed to both the flourishing and the demise of the 600 year Ottoman Empire. Likewise, the Ottoman Empire profoundly affected the churches under its rule and left a lasting imprint on the Christians of the Balkans and the Middle East.
I
ndian and
P
akistani
C
hristianity
Authors: Schirrmacher Thomas 
Published: January 2012

Abstract

Following Hinduism and Islam, Christianity is India's third‐largest religion. Its presence goes back to the Thomas Christians probably since the 1st century
ad
, then followed by European contacts from the 16th century on, then by intense mission work in the time of the British rule in the 19th and 20th centuries, but it has undergone a major transformation in recent decades, becoming totally indigenous and independent from abroad.
Christianity's Contribution to Science
Authors: Schmidt Alvin J. 
Published: January 2012

Abstract
Alfred North Whitehead, the renowned philosopher of science, once remarked that “faith in the possibility of science, generated antecedently to the development of modern scientific theory, is an unconscious derivative from medieval theology.” Similarly, Lynn White, the historian of medieval science, has stated that “the [medieval] monk was an intellectual ancestor of the scientist.” And the German physicist Ernst Mach once said, “Every unbiased mind must admit that the age in which the chief development of the science of mechanics took place was an age of predominantly theological cast.”
Christological Cults
Authors: Bigalke Ron J. 
Published: January 2012

Abstract
Scripture warns about belief in another Jesus (2 Cor. 11:4). Belief in another Jesus is a false gospel (Gal. 1:6–9). Jesus Christ warned about false prophets, who appear religious, but inwardly deny the Gospel. During these last days between the first and second comings of Christ, there is warning about many false christs who will deceive many (Matt. 7:15–16, 21–23; 24:5). Whereas cults may use the same language and terminology as Christians, they always reject the person and work of Jesus Christ. They invariably deny the preexistence of Christ, in addition to denying the full deity and full humanity of Christ (i.e. the hypostatic union). Orthodox Christians believe in both the full deity and perfect humanity of Jesus Christ. As the infinite God‐man, Jesus Christ is the image of the invisible God, that is, he is himself very God, one with the Father and the Holy Spirit, the same in substance, eternally equal in glory and power; he took upon himself human nature, being conceived of the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, lived a sinless life; he died upon the cross sufficiently and efficiently as a substitutionary sacrifice; he died and arose bodily the third day in the body in which he was crucified; he ascended in that glorified body into heaven, where he is now at the right hand of the Father, as interceding High Priest of all who believe in him; he will come again bodily, personally, and visibly; and will judge the quick and the dead (Deut. 6:4; Isa. 6:8; Matt. 1:18 –25; 25:31–46; 28:19; Luke 24; Acts 1:9–11; 2:31–36; 1 Cor. 8:6; 2 Cor. 13:14; Eph. 1:3–14; Phil. 2:5–8; Col. 1:15; 1 Thess. 4:16–18; Heb. 4:14–16; 1 Pet. 2:24–25; Rev. 11:15–17; 20:4–6, 11–15). Any faith group or religious system that does not affirm these fundamental truths concerning Jesus Christ, although they may use Christian language and terminology, should be regarded as false in their beliefs and teachings, and is appropriately regarded as a cult, that is, a pseudo‐Christian or non‐Christian group.
C
hrysostom,
S
aint
J
ohn (c.349–407)
Authors: Naidu Ashish J. 
Published: January 2012

Abstract

John, better known by his title “Chrysostom,” was born in Antioch (modern Antakya, Turkey). Having spent his early years as a student of rhetoric, philosophy, and the Bible, he was ordained as a deacon in 381, and then five years later as a priest. Chrysostom subsequently became the Bishop of Constantinople in 398, outshining several key individuals to become one of the leading figures of the Eastern Church. Augustine, his slightly younger Western contemporary, described him as
eruditus et erudiens
in the Catholic faith and esteemed him as a distinguished witness and defender of the faith, placing him among the most celebrated learned men and saints (
Contra Julianum
, 1.6.22).
Church Calendar
Authors: Johnson R. Kevin 
Published: January 2012

Abstract
The church calendar (also known as the liturgical calendar and the Christian year) is designed by season to trace the life and ministry of Christ, his death, burial, and resurrection, and the hope of his coming again to redeem his people. Briefly, the church calendar should be viewed as a reflection on the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. The feasts and fasts celebrated in Roman Catholic and Orthodox traditions are omitted from Protestant church calendars; however, the basic structure of the Christian year is common to all traditions. Many churches follow a lectionary, a three‐year cycle of scriptural texts providing an Old Testament lesson, a Psalm, a New Testament lesson, and a Gospel lesson for each Sunday in the Christian year. In the Christian denominations and churches that use a lectionary, ministry is enhanced through the emphasis on the major themes of the Christian story told over the course of a calendar year.
Church Fathers
Authors: Bruce James E. 
Published: January 2012

Abstract

The period of the Church Fathers begins with those earliest Christians who were not themselves eyewitnesses to Christ's earthly ministry, yet knew eyewitnesses, and ends sometime after the 5th century — after the Council of Chalcedon and the overthrow of the Western Roman Empire by Germanic invaders — but before the 8th. The Patristic period — so called from the Greek and Latin words for
father
— thus extends from the Apostolic Age to the early Middle Ages, and
Patristics
is the study of those early Christian leaders, affectionately termed
Fathers
, who negotiated the doctrinal controversies that arose during this time. The best way to understand the controversies of the period, and the disputants in the controversies, is to consult the writings of the Fathers themselves. Considering that this age spans hundreds of years, this entry presents at best an introduction into a lively, exciting period in the history of the church, and the world.
Church Growth Movement
Authors: Rance DeLonn 
Published: January 2012

Abstract
The Church Growth Movement centers on the biblical conviction that the gospel of Jesus Christ is for every person from every culture and segment of society. People are eternally lost unless they repent of their sins, receive Christ as Savior and King and are incorporated into his body, the church. The task of the church is to seek the lost and communicate the good news to all nations. Church growth as a discipline of missiology investigates the nature, expansion, planting, multiplication, function, and health of Christian churches in relation to the effective fulfillment of the Great Commission to make disciples of all nations.
Church Mission Society
Authors: Olabimtan Kehinde 
Published: January 2012

Abstract

The Church Mission Society (CMS) is an
e
vangelical, Anglican missionary society founded in 1799 at Clapham by evangelical lay Christians of the Church of England as “the Society for Missions in Africa and the East.” In 1812 it adopted the name “The Church Missionary Society” and in 1995 modified it to the present one. The circumstances of its evolving from the popular religious awakening of 18th century England shaped its vision and threatened its legitimacy. It informed its vision to plant overseas indigenous churches that were evangelical and so distinct from the high church model being planted by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts (SPG) established in 1701. The established church viewed the society with suspicion, but under the leadership of its clerical secretaries Josiah Pratt (1802–1824) and Henry Venn (1841–1872), it gained the confidence of the church.
Cistercians
Authors: Peters Greg 
Published: January 2012

Abstract

Founded in 1098 by the Benedictine monk Robert of Molesme, the New Monastery at Cîteaux secured a lasting footing under her first abbots, Alberic and Stephen Harding. Dissatisfied with the spiritual state of his own monastic foundation of Molesme and eager to establish a more authentic observance of the Rule for Monks of Benedict of Nursia, Robert, along with a number of other monks (including Alberic and Stephen), moved to the forest in the Burgundian region of France, near Dijon. Orderic Vitalis, the English chronicler of the 12th century, writes that in time Odo, Duke of Burgundy, gave Robert and his companions a manor located at Cîteaux, on which the monks began to build a new cenobitic monastery. The
Exordium cistercii
, a brief account of the early history of the monastery up to 1115, reveals that this manor belonged to Reynard, Viscount of Beaune, and his wife, Hodierna. The text claims that it was “for the remission of their sins and those of their forebears” that Reynard and Hodierna gave their manor to Robert and his companions for “observing the Rule of Saint Benedict more strictly and faithfully than they have hitherto done” (Elder 1998: 11).
Clement ofRome (c.97)
Authors: Williams D. H. 
Published: January 2012

AbstractWritten to the Christians in Corinth, the letter known as I Clement was probably written from Rome in the closing years of the 1st century. The author of I Clement never identifies himself except for an allusion that he is one of the elders (presbuteros) of the church of Rome and is obviously familiar with Paul's letters. Association of the letter with Clement is partly due to the writer's association with a certain Clement mentioned by Paul in Phil. 4:3 (see Eusebius of Caesarea'sEcclesiastical History, III. 38, 4). The connection between the two became permanent.
Clinical Theology
Authors: Gillman John 
Published: January 2012

Abstract
Clinical Theology is a form of reflection on clinical experience that combines insights from psychology, philosophy, and theology. Frank Lake (1914–1982), a pioneer in this field, founded the Clinical Theology Association in 1962, which is a contemporary form of the British Pastoral Care movement. The theology of this movement is grounded in the love and power of God; the model used in pastoral counseling for mental health is the person of Jesus. Drawing particularly on the Gospel of John, Lake highlighted Jesus' secure sense of identity, which is anchored in God the Father, the source of his being.
Cluny
Authors: Woods Thomas E. 
Published: January 2012

Abstract
Cluny was a monastery established by William, Duke of Aquitaine, in 909 that contributed to the revitalization of religious life in Europe. William renounced all control over Cluny after establishing it, entrusting the monastery to the small group of monks who inhabited it. At a time when widespread lay control of ecclesiastical institutions had fostered spiritual laxity and corruption, Cluny's independence portended a happier outcome.
C
olenso,
J
ohn
W
. (1814–1883)
Authors: Maclean Iain S. 
Published: January 2012

Abstract

Born on January 24, 1814, in St. Austell, Corn‐wall, John William Colenso, the first Anglican bishop of the colony of Natal, South Africa, was a famed if controversial missionary to the Zulus. He was a pioneer Zulu linguist, a controversial Old Testament scholar, and political opponent of the British colonial government. The last‐mentioned earned him the names of Sobantu (Father of the People) and Sokhuleka (Father of Respectful Supplication). He married Sarah Frances Bunyon in 1846 and through her met Frederick Denison Maurice, whose ideas were to influence him. While teaching mathematics in East Anglia, he met Bishop Robert Gray of Cape Town, who was touring England to raise support and clergy for the missionary see of Natal. Accepting Gray's offer of a missionary bishopric for Natal, he was consecrated and left shortly afterwards for a visitation to Natal. Upon his return he published
Ten Weeks in Natal
(1855), which gave an outline of the colonial situation, his missionary vision, and proposals for financing the mission. The same year he also published his argument against the American missionaries in Natal, who held that baptism of polygamists was admissible.
Comparative Theology
Authors: Cheetham David 
Published: January 2012

Abstract

Comparative theology has emerged out of a broader concern with the theology of religions. Contemporary representatives (e.g. Francis Clooney and James Fredericks) propose a methodology that seeks to encourage detailed dialogue with, and study of, other faiths
before
constructing a theology. Thus, they are critical of methodologies that propose theologies entirely according to a priori principles. The grand theological metanarratives associated with theological constructs such as the “exclusivism, inclusivism, and pluralism” paradigm are seen as representative of such methodological deficiencies.
Compostela
Authors: Murray K. Sarah‐Jane 
Published: January 2012

Abstract

Situated in Galicia, in the northwest of Spain, Compostela was the third most important medieval pilgrimage destination after Jerusalem and Rome. Men and women flocked from all corners of Europe to venerate the remains of the apostle James. According to the
Veneranda Dies
sermon preserved in the
Codex Calixtinus
(a manuscript centered on the cult of St. James and preserved in the Cathedral Archives of Santiago de Compostela), St. James came to the West after Christ's death to spread the Gospel and landed in Spain. After many difficulties, he returned to Judea, where he was martyred at the hands of Herod Agrippa in
ad
44. James's disciples carried his body down to the sea port where they discovered a miraculous ship without crew or sail (and, according to some versions of the legend, made out of stone), which carried them back to Ira Flavia in Spain. They buried the apostle's body but the location of the tomb was forgotten until the hermit Pelayo and a group of shepherds — led by a bright star — discovered it in the midst of a field. (This legend resulted in the popular, but false, etymology according to which “Compostela” was thought during the Middle Ages to refer to the
campus stellae
or “field of stars” where James's body was rediscovered.)
Concordat
Authors: Essig Andrew M. 
Published: January 2012

AbstractA concordat is a mutual agreement concerning relations between the Catholic Church and a particular country. Legally it is commonly accepted as a bilateral treaty recognized under the rules of international law. As such, it delineates the rights and duties of both parties in areas of vital interest. The political authority of the state and the spiritual authority of the church, which both exercise authority over individuals in society, sometimes have to regulate the same activities from different points of view. This necessitates cooperation between church and state. It does not, however, exclude the existence of the separation of church and state, but it does presume that the church is a sovereign entity which exists and negotiates by its own right. Concordats rarely demand a change in policy by sovereign states; more often the church shows greater sensitivity to the needs of the state than vice versa.
Confession and Repentance
Authors: Smith James D. 
Published: January 2012

Abstract
Confession and repentance are rooted in the human consciousness of sin. History and literature chronicle our awareness of falling short of a standard, relational brokenness and alienation, and fear of human and/or divine judgment. Whether due to inner guilt or shameful loss of face, attitudes and acts aimed at setting things right become vital. It is a Christian distinctive that confession and repentance gain forgiveness from God, not by human work or merit, but only by the grace of Jesus Christ. This provides a model for person‐to‐person reconciliation as well.
Confirmation
Authors: Fatokun Samson Adetunji 
Published: January 2012

Abstract
The sacrament of confirmation has its historical and theological roots in the rite of water baptism in the 1st century church, accompanied by what is called “apostolic confirmation.” In Acts 8:14–17, apostles Peter and John on their apostolic visit to Samaria for the consolidation of the church newly established by Philip, one of the Seven, had as a vital part of their responsibilities the imposition of hands on the newly baptized converts of Philip for the reception of the Holy Spirit. Apostle Paul, in a similar way, demonstrated this apostolic authority by his imposition of hands on the 12 disciples of John for the reception of the Holy Spirit shortly after he had administered them Christian water baptism (Acts 19:1–7).
C
ongar,
Y
ves (1904–1995)
Authors: Werntz Myles 
Published: January 2012

Abstract
Yves Congar O.P. was born in Sedan, France to devout Catholic parents, amidst Jewish and Protestant neighbors. Trained initially under Jacques Maritain in Paris, Congar's most formative schooling came at the hands of Marie‐Dominique Chenu. This turn from the neo‐Thomism of Maritain to the historical approach of Chenu would profoundly influence Congar's career, particularly his assertion of the need for the church to continually re‐receive the tradition and to continually reform from within.