Showing papers on "Baptism published in 2010"

The Assemblies of God: Godly Love and the Revitalization of American Pentecostalism

Abstract: Acknowledgments Introduction 1 Congregational Overview 2 Charisma and Structure in the Assemblies of God Theoretical Overview 3 Pentecostal Identity and the Charismata Mixed Motivation and Religious Experience 4 Structure and Charisma Doctrine, Power, and Administration 5 Spirit Baptism and Spiritual Transformation An Exercise in Socio-Theology 6 Spiritual Empowerment Pray-ers, Prophets, and Healers in the Pews 7 Law of Love and Love of Law Beliefs, Mores, and Faces of Love 8 Ushering in the Kingdom of God Religious Values, Godly Love, and Public Affairs 9 Covenants, Contracts, and Godly Love (with Matthew T. Lee) Appendix A: Statistical Tables (Pastors Survey) Appendix B: Congregational Measurement Scales Appendix C: Statistical Tables (Congregational Survey) Notes References Index About the Author

Living Water: Images, Symbols, and Settings of Early Christian Baptism

Abstract: Chapter 1: Baptismal Iconography in Catacomb Painting Chapter 2: Baptismal Iconography on Sarcophagus and Grave Reliefs Chapter 3: Baptismal Iconography in Ivory, Glass, and Mosaic Chapter 4: Aspects of Baptism Images in Light of Early Liturgical Documents Chapter 5: The Design and Decoration of Early Christian Baptismal Spaces Chapter 6: Symbolism in Baptistery Design and Decor

The Communion of Women: Missions and Gender in Colonial Africa and the British Metropole

Abstract: Introduction: Missionary Feminism PART I: ENCOUNTERING GENDER AND CHRISTIANITY IN THE AFRICAN MISSION FIELD 1. The Pedagogy of Protection: Female Education in Madagascar, 1867-1901 2. Beyond Baptism: The Politics of Conversion in Uganda, 1895-1907 3. Christianizing Womanhood in Madagascar, 1901-1923 4. Christianizing Womanhood in Uganda, 1910-1930 PART II: EVANGELIZING AND EMANCIPATING THE METROPOLE 5. Rethinking Christianity and Colonialism in the Wake of Total War 6. Feminizing Church and State: Mission Christianity and Gender Politics, 1910-1928 7. Globalizing Christian 'Sisterhood,' 1900-1930 Conclusion

Waymarks in the mind : finding the kingdom in Langland's vulgate quotations and Bible contexts

Abstract: Scholars recognise the importance of the Vulgate quotations in Langland's Piers Plowman, but few have investigated the relevance of the context of these biblical references: discussion of the Vulgate contexts has been very limited. Research for this thesis, examining every Bible quotation, context and associated materials, revealed a series of themes: Truth& was a major instance, but Baptism& and Ordination were also of considerable importance. Part one covers structure: chapter one surveys the history of Piers' criticism on the Bible; chapter two, Langland's use of Bible. Chapter three covers how Langland considers “Truth” contextually through sequential quotations in the first quarter of Piers. Part two deals with interpretation, and examines how Langland employs Bible frames of reference to explore two Sacraments: Baptism (chapter four), waymarks for Baptism (chapter five) and Ordination (chapter six).

Bodies Bound for Circumcision and Baptism: An Intersex Critique and the Interpretation of Galatians*

Abstract: Arguments about the meaning of specific forms of embodiment resonate across a range of contexts, both theological and supposedly non-theological, ancient and contemporary. These forms are potently reconsidered in light of the modern medicalized management of intersex populations and the intersex critique in response to such management. Such a critique entails a new kind of accountability for biblical literature and interpretation, particularly as they inhabit an especially contested domain for claims about "nature" and belonging. The aim of this project, then, is to reflect upon the utility of biblical argumentation for an intersex critique, but also to demonstrate how attention to this critique challenges biblical interpretation, as it offers a new approach to religious argumentation about bodies, like Paul's in his letter to the Galatians. The ancient author and community's approaches to practices like circumcision and baptism reveal different conceptualizations of ostensibly ambiguous bodies an...

The Holy Spirit and Salvation in African Christian Theology: Imagining a More Hopeful Future for Africa

Abstract: "The Holy Spirit and Salvation in African Christian Theology" challenges the dominant understanding of the Holy Spirit in African Christian salvific discourse. The most prevalent approach in reflections on the Holy Spirit and salvation in African Christian theology insists that these doctrines be made to address the spiritualized African traditional religious cosmology. This dominant approach to the Holy Spirit and salvation have therefore led to the baptism of African traditional religious cosmology in African Christian theology. Baptizing the African cosmology has, in turn, brought about the emphasis on the miraculous in African pneumatology and soteriology. "The Holy Spirit and Salvation in African Christian Theology" further argues that such stress on the miraculous blocks other ways by which the Holy Spirit might be understood in African soteriological discourse. In addition, this study proposes that the Holy Spirit be perceived as enabling critical philosophical rationality and the development of science and technology in Africa, features that are crucial to enhancing the well-being of the continent and its peoples.

Church-of-Englandism and its catechism examined

Abstract: PART I The Catechism-a bad Substitute to the Bible-is substituted to it 1. Church of England Catechism-this perhaps the First Censorial Commentary ever applied to it 2. On Religion in a Christian Free-School, the Bible the only fit Lesson-Book 3. No substitute to the Bible should be there taught-the Catechism is made a Substitute to it 4. Badness of this Substitute in every respect: I. As to Faithfulness-No Tests of it 5. II. Badness in respect of Matter 6. III. Badness in respect of Form 7. Of the Badness of this Formulary, in respect of Matter, the Framers of it were conscious 8. Of the Badness of this Formulary, in respect of Faithfulness, Matter, and Form, the Imposers of it on the Schools are conscious 9. The Religion thus taught by the Rulers of the Church of England, is not the Religion of Jesus PART II Exclusionary system of Instruction-its Establishment-its bad Tendencies PART III Exclusionary System-Grounds for the Hope that the Approbation of it is not general PART IV National Society-Grounds for regarding the Exclusionary Acts as Spurious, and its Reports as Purposely deceptious 1. Cause and Ground of Suspicion as to Authenticity 2. Marks of Authenticity, proper and usual, in Reports of Proceedings of Public Bodies 3. Positions and Plan of Proof-Ends pursued by the Institution-Means employed 4. I. Proofs of the System of Exclusion 5. II. Proofs of the System of Imposition. General Committee-Meetings none 6. Proofs of the System of Imposition continued-II. Sub-Committees and their Meetings, none 7. Proofs of the System of Imposition continued-III. Acts spurious 8. Securities against Spuriousness-Cause of the Omission of them, Necessity and Design-not Inadvertence 9. [III.]-Authors, acting and consenting, of the combined Systems of Exclusion and Imposition 10. Authors, &c. continued-Dr. Manners Sutton, Archbishop of Canterbury 11. How to organize a Chaos-Forms of Disorder exemplified in these Reports 12. General Committee-Fraud involved in the Title thus given to the Managing Body PART V Baptism and Sponsorship proper, when instituted-Baptism useless, Sponsorship improper now APPENDIX NO I Remarks on the Object of the Church of England Religion, as avowed by the Bishop of London APPENDIX NO II LORD'S SUPPER-not designed by Jesus for general Imitation-its utter Unfitness for that Purpose APPENDIX NO III Remedies to the [Mischiefs of the] Exclusionary System as applied to Instruction APPENDIX NO IV Remedy to all Religious and much Political Mischief-Euthanasia of the Church 1. Plan of this Paper 2. Euthanasia, in Contradistinction to Cacothanasia, what?-Uti possidetis Principle-its Application to this Case 3. I. Service 4. II. Pay 5. Pay continued-Merit, whether producible by Sinecures 6. III. Discipline 7. State of Discipline, as exhibited by Authority, and elucidated by a Diocesan Secretary 8. Ulterior Information from Mr. Wright 9. Vices of Excellent Church recapitulated 10. Facienda in the way of Reform APPENDIX NO V Recent Measures of pretended Reform or Improvement-their Inutility and Mischievousness Introduction 1. I. Giving Increase to the Number of Non-Resident Incumbents 2. II. Increasing the Number of Resident Curates. III. To that End, out of the Pockets of Incumbents and Patrons, taking Money, and forcing it into the Pockets of Curates 3. IV. For Increasing the Value of English Livings, exacting from the Population of the Three Kingdoms the Annual Sum of 100,000l. 4. V. Regulating the [occupations] of Agriculture, in the case of a Parish or other Priest 5. VI. Over Incumbents and Curates, lodging despotic power in the hands of Bishops 6. VII. Announced, and remaining to be executed. From Christians, and others of all persuasions, money to be exacted, sufficient to render the number of Church-of-England Churches commensurate to the whole population

Parliament and Slavery, 1660–c.1710

Abstract: The discovery of the texts of several abortive bills that would enable the regulation of the status of slaves by Parliament at Westminster provides an opportunity for a preliminary exploration of a hitherto unknown discourse about slavery in late seventeenth-and early eighteenth-century England. The proposed legislation focused on the spiritual welfare of slaves and the associated need to eradicate the traditional belief that baptism conferred manumission. These documents suggest that slavery was recognised as legal in England as well as in the colonies but also indicate the existence of radical proposals to institute more humane treatment of slaves.

Jewish women and apostasy in the medieval crown of Aragon, c. 1300–1391

Abstract: On the basis of unpublished records from the diocesan archives of Barcelona and Girona, this essay explores why Jewish women converted to Christianity, what their alternatives were, and what happened following their baptisms in the environs of the Crown of Aragon during the century prior to the massacres and forced conversions of 1391. It suggests that Jewish women apostatized under two general sets of circumstances. Some went over to Christianity with their husbands or fathers, while others chose baptism in order to assert control over their individual fates, in defiance of communal norms. Among the latter group, some converted for love, and at least one woman threatened to apostatize in the hope of escaping an abusive husband. Following baptism, apostates often endured poverty and, when suspected of judaizing, they were prosecuted by ecclesiastical officials. The alternatives to baptism that all of these women contemplated, however, were also harsh. In examining how some medieval women negotiated the competing demands of their identities as daughters, wives, mothers, lovers, and Jews, this study also brings to light legal conundra to which apostasy gave rise and illustrates how varied and risky apostasy was in Iberia during the decades prior to 1391. Transcriptions of four documents follow the essay.

Christian Grace and Pagan Virtue: The Theological Foundation of Ambrose's Ethics

Abstract: PREFACE PROLEGOMENA: THE RITUAL CONTEXT FOR AMBROSE'S SOTERIOLOGY PART I - THE LOSS OF HARMONIC UNITY: AMBROSE'S ACCOUNT OF THE FALLEN HUMAN CONDITION 1. The Soul: Ambrose's True Self 2. Essential Unity of Soul and Body: Ambrose's Hylomorphic Theory 3. The Body of Death: The Legacy of the Fall PART II - RAISED TO NEW LIFE: AMBROSE'S THEOLOGY OF BAPTISM 4. Baptism: Sacrament of Justification 5. Resurrection and Regeneration 6. Baptismal Regeneration: Participation in the New Humanity 7. The Inner Man's New Desire EPILOGUE BIBLIOGRAPHY

The Eagle and the Dove: Roman Imperial Sonship and the Baptism of Jesus (Mark 1.9-11)

Abstract: This essay argues that the common understanding of imperial divine sonship among biblical scholars can be reframed by emphasizing the importance of adoption in Roman society and imperial ideology. A case study from the Gospel of Mark—the portrayal of Jesus' baptism—demonstrates some of the pay-off for reading the NT with a newly contextualized perspective on divine sonship. Through engagement with diverse sources from the Hellenistic and Roman eras, the dove will be interpreted as an omen and counter-symbol to the Roman eagle, which was a public portent of divine favor, election, and ascension to power.

Aliens in an alien world: paradoxes of Jewish–Christian identity in contemporary Russia

Abstract: For many centuries the attitude towards baptised Jews within Jewish society was extremely negative, as baptism was perceived as apostasy. This attitude persists to this day, even though many Jews have abandoned Judaism and a secular Jewish identity has emerged. After seven decades of Soviet rule, during which a new Soviet, wholly secular Jewish identity, was constructed, Jewish identity in the former Soviet Union (FSU) is based mainly on the ethnic principle. As a result of an almost total detachment from Judaism, some Soviet and former‐Soviet Jews have converted to Russian Orthodoxy. Moreover, we can see the formation of a paradoxical Russian Orthodox Jewish self‐identification in post‐Soviet Russia. This processes, its trends and peculiar features are poorly studied, a matter this paper intends to remedy.

Reshaping Ecumenical Theology: The Church Made Whole?

Abstract: Looking at the Church (an overview) Ecclesiology (the discipline of the theology of the Church) Rethinking ecumenical theology (affirming diversity and prioritising mission) New Paths to Christian unity (how can we combine vision and realism?) 'Reception' and the development of doctrine (a key concept restated) The struggle for authority (reclaiming the conciliar tradition - as in Beyond the Reformation?) Church and state: an inescapable connection (models of establishment) One Baptism? The waters that divide (the significance of this biblical and credal phrase) Is Baptism Complete Sacramental Initiation? (challenging a current orthodoxy) Episcopacy and the foundation and form of the Church (establishing the validity of bishops from a Reformation perspective) The Bishop as Theologian (why is the theological role of bishops neglected or played down by some major Churches?) The Reformation Confession, Confessionalism, and the confessing Church? (how can a Church be a 'confessing Church' without becoming ideologically 'confessional'?) The Hermeneutics of Unity (how we interpret one another's traditions in dialogue and are shaped by them) Ecclesiology and Communion (the theology of 'being in communion' and the imperative of preserving unity and preventing schism).

Baptism for the Dead in Early Christianity

Abstract: To help mitigate the soteriological problem of evil, that one having had no chance to hear the gospel would be sent to hell, many early Christians practiced baptism for the dead. The only reference to this in the New Testament comes in 1 Corinthians 15:29, a scripture that some scholars attempt to reinterpret or repunctuate to dismiss baptism for the dead but that most scholars defend as a legitimate reference. Further strengthening the historicity of the practice are references by early writers such as Tertullian and Ambrosiaster. The quest for authenticating the practice of baptism for the dead should rest on these and other historical references, not on retroactively applied standards of orthodoxy. Title

Sex Difference in Medieval Theology and Canon Law: A Tribute to Joan Cadden

Abstract: In order to evaluate the role and importance of sex difference in medieval theology and canon law, this article concentrates on two cases: the hermaphrodite's access to the sacraments of baptism, marriage and ordination, and the creation of the first woman. The author shows that, compared to other intellectual frameworks (Roman law, medieval muslim law), medieval theology, but especially canon law was relatively egalitarian.

The Holy Spirit as the Unction of Christ in Irenaeus

Abstract: During the second half of the last century Irenaeus' account of the baptism of Jesus by the Spirit received a great deal of consideration. Yet none of these studies has paid sufficient attention to Irenaeus' statement that the Spirit became accustomed to the human race by means of the humanity of the incarnate Word. Nor has any study explained the anointing of Jesus' humanity by the Spirit while taking into consideration the subsequent glorification of that very humanity by the same Spirit. I will argue that these neglected aspects of Irenaeus' thought help us to recognize that Jesus' humanity alone was anointed with the Holy Spirit, an anointing that resulted in a non-qualitative empowerment of his humanity for the fulfilment of the christological mission. Furthermore, in addition to this non-qualitative empowerment of Jesus' humanity, it becomes clear that his humanity underwent two qualitative changes. The first change occurred at the incarnation when it received incorruptibility as a result of its union with the Word. The second change occurred at Jesus' glorification when the incorruptibility proper to the union with the Word became communicable. It was at this moment that Jesus' flesh became the salvific principle for the rest of humanity.

Los mudéjares de Castilla cuarenta años después

Abstract: A review of publications that have appeared since 1969 and their themes: the number and geographical distribution of the Mudejars, their social and jurisdictional situation, organization of their communities, professional activities, acculturation and baptism. Bibliographical repertory.

Ministry Students Ages of Conversion with Implications for Childhood Evangelism and Baptism Practices

Abstract: In recent years, the age of conversion and baptism in North America has steadily decreased for most Christian faith traditions that practice believer's baptism. Several denominational leaders and Christian educators have expressed concerns about the possible negative effects related to these seemingly premature conversions. The findings from a national study of ministry students, however, provide some evidence that early conversions of individuals within a strong Christian environment (i.e., devout Christian parents and a high level of church involvement) do not necessarily have detrimental effects on the individual's spiritual growth or long-term faith commitment. Nevertheless, some basic guidelines should be followed to encourage the most appropriate practices related to childhood evangelism and baptism.

The Visit of Patriarch Kirill to Ukraine in 2009 and its Significance in Ukraine's Political and Religious Life

Abstract: In July 2009 Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and all Rus' paid a visit to Ukraine with ostensibly spiritual concerns to celebrate the anniversary of the baptism of St Vladimir and Rus' and the 450th anniversary of the gift of the Pochaiv icon of the Mother of God. In this article we argue that the visit was, however, of more than just pastoral significance: it served both symbolically and realistically as a means to shore up the relationship between the Ukrainian Orthodox and Russia, reinforcing the religious and political ties between the two countries. We also argue that in backing up these ties, Kirill will not allow the formation of an independent and unified Ukrainian Orthodox Church in the motherland of Russian Orthodoxy, thus perpetuating the schism that exists between the Ukrainian Orthodox Church – Kiev Patriarchate (UOC-KP), the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church (UAOC) and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church – Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP). As a result, Ukraine is left without a unified churc...

The Baptismal Revolution in the American Episcopal Church: Baptismal Ecclesiology and the Baptismal Covenant

Abstract: The Episcopal Church has come to espouse a developed form of baptismal ecclesiology, in which all laypersons are believed to be ministers by virtue of their baptism and the ordained ministry is understood as a particular form of the ministry of all the baptized. The adoption of the 1979 Book of Common Prayer was significant for this. Also included in that book was a 'Baptismal Covenant' that has come to be seen as an iconic statement of the Episcopal Church's commitment to social action and 'inclusion'. This article documents the genesis and content of this developed form of baptismal ecclesiology and of the Baptismal Covenant, highlights their relevance for the ordination of women to the priesthood, and points to their significance for the moral and ecclesiological aspects of the current crisis in the Anglican Communion. Comparison is made with the ecclesiology of the Church of England, as expressed in its liturgy and in relevant reports.

Pedagogical Conversions: From Propositions to Story and Symbol

Abstract: The Ifugao of the Philippines challenged my pedagogical preference for the use of propositions in evangelism. I soon realized that if a church-planting movement was ever going to result among this people group, some personal pedagogical conversions would be necessary. This article documents some of the discoveries along the way, two of which are the multiple and integrative roles thut stories and symbols play. After months of culture and language acquisition, medical work, and teaching literacy I was finally ready to verbally present the gospel to the Antipolo/Amduntug Ifugao,’ an animistic tribe with a Roman Catholic veneer residing in central Luzon of the Philippines. These are the people we laughed with, cried with, ate with, sweated with, and yes, shivered with from December through February, for almost eight years. They invited us into their lives, providing multiple opportunities to serve them in word, deeds, and signs (Lk. 4:16-19; 19:9-11). I began as I was taught: start with the authoritative source of the message, the Bible. Then move to God and Satan, contrasting the attributes of the two (something usually missed in most evangelism). From there, address the creation of the world, animal life, and people; then the fall and its resulting consequences -broken relationships (human, material world, spiritual world) in desperate need of restoration. When the Ifugao understand the above concepts, present the solution to the dilemma: the Restorer, Jesus Christ. To make sure the Ifugao understood each lesson, I reviewed it through a series of questions that were designed to capture the central points. Rather than relying on the oft-accepted evangelism ritual of “pray this prayer,” I looked for transformed behavior that would include an allegiance change, desire for the Word, reordered relationships and use of resources (time and finances), and the desire for public baptism (Steffen 1997a: 146). Authentic followers of Christ change beliefs and behaviors.

Baptism in the Holy Spirit: Yet Once More—Again

Abstract: James Dunn responds gratefully to the commendatory critiques of Roger Stronstad, Janet Everts, Chris omas and Max Turner. Luke depicts the first coming of the Spirit into a life as both strikingly manifest and as life-giving; he does not envisage an earlier quiet coming. Paul understands the seal of the Spirit as the beginning of the process of salvation, individuals thus baptized in the Spirit and anointed into active ministry in the body. John likewise depicts the reception of the Spirit in John 7.39 and 20.22 as life-creating, the consequence of Christ's crucifixion-glorification. The area of agreement with Max Turner far exceeds the details of difference.

Place and Power in Radical Baptism

Abstract: Studies of sixteenth-century Anabaptist baptism have taken less than adequate notice of the possibility that an understanding of ‘‘place’’ is essential for understanding this radical tradition In an effort to gain a better understanding of the singularity and peculiarity of sixteenth-century Anabaptist baptism, I develop an argument for the importance of place, theorizing a complex inter-relation between place, power, and ritual practice Much of the conflict surrounding the right form for baptism during the sixteenth century was centered on the problem of defining, designing, building, contesting, and maintaining meaningful places Through a study of place, Anabaptist baptism is given more definite force, intelligibility, precision, and fuller embodiment in the social lattice of sixteenth-century life

Identity, boundaries and the Eucharist. In search of the unity, catholicity and apostolicity of the church from the fringes of the Kalahari Desert

Abstract: This article will explore the relation between the aspects of unity, catholicity and apostolicity of the church within the context of South (-ern) Africa by specifically focussing on the activities of a church community bordering South Africa and Namibia on the fringes of the Kalahari Desert. This is a farming community of which existence depends on the arid land they inhabit. The historical placing of this community in this specific area can be traced back to the apartheid system and its policies and specifically the effect of these policies/systems on the people(s) of South (-ern) Africa. However, this is not just any community. It is a community of believers that has been part of the Church of all times and places manifested in the Reformed branch of the Church. They hear and live the Word, they partake in the Holy Communion and they confess their faith together with believers all over the world and across all generations. Using this as background I will explore the completeness, unity, catholicity and apostolicity of the Church. This will be done by reading the narrative of this community of believers purposefully through the lens of the Sacraments of the Baptism and Eucharist.

Jesus Our Priest: A Christian Approach to the Priesthood of Christ

Abstract: In recent years many books have been published in the area of Christology (who is Jesus in himself? ) and soteriology (what did he do as Saviour? ). A number of notable, ecumenical documents on Christian ministry have also appeared. But in all this literature there is surprisingly little reflection on the priesthood of Christ, from which derives all ministry, whether the priesthood of all the faithful or ministerial priesthood. This present work aims to fill that gap by examining, in the light of the Scriptures and the Christian tradition, what it means to call Christ our priest. Beginning with a study of the biblical material, the book then moves to the witness to Christ's priesthood coming from the fathers of the Church, Thomas Aquinas, Luther and Calvin, the Council of Trent, the seventeenth-century 'French School', John Henry Newman, Tom Torrance and the Second Vatican Council. The two concluding chapters describe and define in twelve theses the key characteristics of Christ's priesthood and what sharing in that priesthood, through baptism and ordination, involves.

Balthasar Hubmaier's Use of the Church Fathers: Availability, Access and Interaction

Abstract: While scholarship during the past half-century has provided insights into the reception of the Church fathers among the magisterial reformers, little attention has been given to Anabaptist altitudes toward the patristics Yet Balthasar Hubmaier exhibited an impressive familiarity with the Church fathers, especially given his short-lived Anabaptist career and imposed itinerancy The arrival of patristic manuscripts from Byzantium into Italy, where they were translated into Latin for a wider readership, expedited the preparation of monumental editions of the Church fathers, especially north of the Alps Once in Hubmaier's hands, these patristic sources functioned as historical and apologetical witnesses to the post-apostolic survival of doctrines such as believer's baptism and the freedom of the will Hubmaier embraced the fathers--in contrast to the scholastic theologians and papacy--for their faithfulness to Scripture and as co-affiliates within the one, universal Church to which he also belonged ********** In contrast to the scholarly attention devoted to the interaction of Renaissance humanists and magisterial reformers with the Church fathers, investigations into the reception of the fathers by Anabaptist leaders have been relatively sparse(1) Since 1961, when the eminent Renaissance scholar Paul Oskar Kristeller challenged historians to explore "whether or to what extent the newly diffused ideas of these Greek [Christian] authors exercised an influence on the theological discussions and controversies of the Reformation period," (2) numerous studies have appeared on the general reception of the fathers during the Reformation era along with many detailed analyses on the use of the fathers by such figures as Jacques Lefevre d'Etaples, (3) Erasmus, (4) Johannes Oecolampadius, (5) Martin Luther, (6) Huldrych Zwingli, (7) Beatus Rhenanus, (8) Martin Bucer, (9) Philip Melanchthon, (10) John Calvin, (11) Andreas Musculus (12) and Theodore Beza (13) Although nothing comparable exists yet in Anabaptist scholarship, several theologians and historians have acknowledged the value of investigating the Anabaptist reception of the Church fathers Historian Peter Erb, for example, has challenged scholars of the Radical Reformation to be attentive to "the abiding influence of the Fathers, chief among whom were Augustine and Gregory" "Trained in a society which no longer reads," Erb continues, modern scholars "are often too quick to leap to the closest chronological similarity for a source, being unaware that Augustine's monitions were much more familiar to our sixteenth-century ancestors than they are to us hat a study of early Christian literature as a source for ascetic forms for Anabaptists would be of value"(14) Jonathan Selling has also lamented the absence of "significant analysis of the Radicals' use of patristic writers either for arguments of doctrine or ordinances," (15) a sentiment echoed by theologian Chris Heubner, who notes that "Mennonite theology too often skips directly from the New Testament to the sixteenth century We should recall that patristic and medieval sources are part of our tradition too" (16) This essay begins to fill this void by examining the way in which the Anabaptist theologian Balthasar Hubmaier (c1480-1528) used the Church fathers and the conditions that shaped his exposure to patristic treatises, epistles and commentaries Hubmaier's significance within the Anabaptist movement has been a point of debate from the very beginnings of the Radical Reformation Although many of his contemporary opponents clearly identified him as a prominent Anabaptist leader, (17) later historians of the movement have been more ambivalent Baptist scholars like Henry Vedder, Torsten Bergsten, Rollin Armour and William Estep have all emphasized Hubmaier's lasting impact on the Anabaptist-and later, Baptist-tradition Bergsten, for example, called Hubmaier a "pioneer of the Anabaptist movement," one of its "most important leaders and thinkers" whose views on baptism, the Lord's Supper, church discipline and freedom of the will "exercised a considerable influence for a long time over a wide area among all Anabaptists …

An assessment of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal towards peaceful co-existence in the Roman Catholic Church

Abstract: This study concerns the Catholic Charismatic Renewal, a movement within the Catholic Church that had direct influence from the Protestant Pentecostals. Subsequently, it spread through clearly defined, pre-existing social-metric network. A small number of lay people at Duquesne University earnestly and intensely prayed for a return of the type of Christian community akin to the first Christians in Acts of the Apostles. This group in 1967 is said to have experienced baptism in the Spirit in what was to eventually become known as the “Duquesne Weekend”, which was the official beginning of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal. From this nucleus of individuals, the movement spread initially through college campuses. From these institutions, it diffused to other parts of the United States, always following previously existing social networks. Many facts attest to this growth such as an establishment of a well equipped office, rise in the number of prayer groups, numerous seminars, rallies, retreats and the way people are becoming more charismatic in worship. The research intended to investigate why the Catholic Charismatic Renewal is gaining ground. It aimed at looking at the factors that have contributed to the rise of the movement. Today many people ask if it is a cult, sect, movement, denomination in the making or a schism. The article tried to answer some of these questions among others. Key words: Catholic, charismatic, church, denomination, renewal, movement, sect.