Untitled Flashcards Set
Judaism
Tenakh: The Hebrew Bible, a central text in Judaism.
Torah: The first five books of the Tenakh; not synonymous with the entire Tenakh.
Jewish Messiah: Belief in a future leader who will restore Israel, not to be confused with a suffering servant.
Israelite Religion vs. Judaism: Distinct evolutions of religious practices and beliefs over time.
Judaism & Babylonian Exile (586 BCE): Significant period that influenced the development of Jewish identity and religious practices.
Monotheism and sacrifice to the law
Passover: Commemorates the Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt.
Rosh Hashanah: Jewish New Year celebration.
Yom Kippur: Day of Atonement; considered the holiest day in Judaism.
Hanukkah: Celebrates the rededication of the Second Temple, popular in America possibly due to its timing near Christmas.
Jewish view on Devil and Hell: Differing perspectives compared to some other religions.
Original Sin: Generally, not a concept in Judaism.
Concept of Chosenness: The belief that Jews are chosen to uphold God’s covenant.
Jesus as Messiah: Jews reject Jesus because they do not see him fulfilling messianic prophecies.
Pharisees: Group of Jews known for interpreting the law, similar roles to Jesus in some respects.
Jewish Denominations
Orthodox Jews: Adhere strictly to traditional Jewish law and customs.
Hasidic Jews: A subset of Orthodox Jews known for mysticism and communal living.
Reform Jews: Adapt and modernize Jewish practices, originated through Isaac Wise.
Conservative Jews: Blend tradition with modernity; seek to conserve Jewish practices while allowing for change. Came into because they thought Reform Jews were too liberal.
Isaac Wise: Instrumental in founding reform movements within Judaism, advocating for change and adaptation of practices.
Trefa Banquet: Symbolic event in Reform Judaism highlighting dietary law disputes.
Christian Reforms and Denominations
Puritanism: Movement seeking to purify the Church of England.
Calvinism (TULIP): A theological system emphasizing Total depravity, Unconditional election, Limited atonement, Irresistible grace, and Perseverance of saints.
Objections to Papist Worship: Critique of rituals associated with Catholic worship practices.
Architecture and Worship: Emphasis on simplicity; no altars or ornate decorations.
Clerical Vestments: Simplified attire for clergy to remove class distinctions.
Bible in Vernacular: Advocated for the scripture to be accessible to common people.
No Transubstantiation: Opposition to the Catholic view of communion.
New Israel Concept: Belief in a fresh identity and purpose for Christians as the new chosen people.
Significant Historical Figures and Movements
Roger Williams: Advocate for religious freedom and separation of Church and State in colonial America. Created the Sewer of New England (Rhode Island)
Arminianism: Emphasizes free will and opposition to predestination in salvation.
Anne Hutchinson: Known for challenging gender roles and religious norms in her community.
Congregationalism vs. Presbyterianism: Differences in church governance and authority structures.
Salem Witch Trials: Historical events that reveal tensions between religion and social order.
Quakers
Location: Pennsylvania, established by William Penn.
Core Belief: Emphasize that everyone has the inner light of God, indicating a direct connection to the Divine for all individuals.
Progressive Social Impact: Quakers have been active in various social reforms, including:
Prisons: Advocated for humane treatment and reform for inmates.
Orphanages: Established institutions to care for orphans and vulnerable children.
Abolition: Played a key role in the abolition of slavery.
Temperance: Supported movements aimed at reducing alcohol consumption.
Pacifism: Emphasized nonviolence and opposition to war.
Feminism: Supported women's rights, including women speaking and participating in meetings.
Worship Practices: No ministers; meetings involve shared silence where anyone can speak as led by the Spirit.
Anabaptists
Positioning: Viewed as extreme liberals in the historical context of the Reformation.
Subgroups: Includes the Amish and Mennonites, who maintain traditional practices and values.
Key Beliefs:
Separation of Church and State: Strong advocacy for distinct roles for church and government.
Believer's Baptism: Only baptizing individuals who have consciously chosen their faith, rejecting infant baptism.
Governance: Emphasis on congregational government, where local congregations maintain autonomy in decision-making.
Revival Movements
First Great Awakening: Religious revival that challenged established religious authorities, shaping American religious identity.
Charles Wesley & George Whitefield: Key figures in spreading revivalism and new religious sentiments.
Second Great Awakening: A revival movement that supported existing power structures and social reforms, emphasizing personal piety.
Charles G. Finney: Prominent revivalist who introduced the 'anxious bench' concept to appeal to sinners.
Revivals: Not a Gift from God
There are differing perspectives on the origin and nature of revival movements, with some viewing them as human-initiated rather than divinely inspired.
Great Revival in the West: This revival was significantly characterized by camp meetings, which served as a platform for large gatherings aimed at spiritual renewal and engagement among diverse groups.
Camp meetings often featured passionate preaching, communal worship, and were pivotal in the spread of revivalism.
Unique Religious Groups and Practices
Mormons: Founded by Joseph Smith, focusing on unique texts like the Book of Mormon; practices include plural marriage and baptism for the dead.
Founding by Joseph Smith: Joseph Smith restored the original church through revelations, including translating the Book of Mormon from golden plates.
Unique Texts: Alongside the Bible, Mormons regard the Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, and Pearl of Great Price as sacred scriptures.
Practices: Mormons perform baptism for the dead and emphasize family prayers, scripture study, and church attendance.
Used water in communion
Plural Marriage: Early Mormons practiced polygamy, but the official church disavowed it in 1890 and it is no longer accepted.
Missionary Work: Mormons engage in extensive missionary efforts, with many young members serving missions globally to share their faith.
Beliefs: View God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost as three distinct beings, differing from traditional Christian views of the Trinity; emphasize the concept of continuing revelation.
Practices: Known for family prominence, missionary work, tithing, and communal support.
Cultural Aspects: Maintain distinct cultural practices, including annual gatherings and specific dress codes for missionary work.
Modern Day: Mormons are active in various civic duties, engaging in politics and military service; they have endeavored to gain acceptance within mainstream American culture.
Community: Strong emphasis on self-reliance and mutual support within members.
Social Stance: Historically, Mormons faced significant persecution but have since positions themselves as loyal American citizens.
Welfare System: Emphasize community support, advocating for self-sufficiency over reliance on government welfare programs.
Treasonous to Loyal: The perception of Mormons shifted from being viewed as treasonous, due to practices like polygamy and communal living, to being recognized as loyal American citizens, particularly after the church disavowed polygamy in 1890. Didn’t want to follow the prevailing norms of society, which often led to conflict with mainstream American values. Considered not loyal Americans.
Mormons engaged actively in civic duties, military service, and political processes, contributing positively to American society.
Shakers: Known for simplicity, celibacy, and unique communal living.
Mother Ann Lee: Founded the Shaker movement in the 18th century, believed to be a female incarnation of Christ.
Inventions: Shakers are known for their unique craftsmanship and innovations in furniture design, including spins of chairs and peg rails.
Lifestyle: The Shakers live communally, practicing celibacy, and emphasizing equality and cooperation in their communities.
Theological Ideas: Believed in the importance of ecstatic worship, often expressed through dance, which they saw as a way to achieve spiritual connection and joy.
Oneida Community:
Heterodox Views: Challenged mainstream beliefs on marriage and family.
Complex Marriage: Allowed members to engage in sexual relations with multiple partners, promoting communal living.
Eugenics: Practiced selective breeding to improve human qualities.
Theological Views on Sex: Reinterpreted Christian sexual ethics, promoting free love within ethical communal boundaries.
Views of Women: Women had autonomy and participated in community decisions, influenced by the community's unique marriage system.
Christian Science:
Mary Baker Eddy: Founder; emphasized spiritual healing and understanding God.
"Heart in Protest": Advocated for change through spiritual activism, not physical means.
Rise and Decline: Significant growth in the late 19th/early 20th centuries, but recent decline due to changing attitudes toward health.
Views of God: Represents both male and female qualities, emphasizing balance.
Equality in Leadership: Supported equal roles for men and women in church leadership.
No Baptism, Communion: Rejected traditional sacraments as unnecessary for spiritual growth.
Health and Cure: Defined health as a state of mind; cure involves realizing one's spiritual nature.
Spiritual Healing: Aligns with natural laws; does not contradict them.
Material World: Considered an illusion; true reality is spiritual understanding.
Christian Science Monitor: Founded by Eddy; a news organization to spread knowledge.
Adventists:
Premillennialists: Belief in Christ's return before a literal millennial reign; held even before the Civil War.
William Miller: Key figure predicting Christ's return, leading to the Great Disappointment when the predicted date passed without event.
Slavery: Believed the Second Coming would eliminate slavery.
Ellen G. White: Significant leader in the movement; contributed to its theology and practices. Had the revelation about having service on Saturday.
Seventh-Day Adventists: Observed Saturday as the Sabbath, emphasizing rest and worship on this day.
Health Perspectives: Promoted healthful living, including vegetarianism and wellness principles, significantly influenced by figures like J. Harvey Kellogg. Promoted health for women against corsets, long skirts. etc.
Adventist Blue Zone: Areas where Adventists live longer, emphasizing lifestyle choices that reflect their basic teachings.
No Hell: Belief system does not include eternal torment; they hold different eschatological views.
Pacifists: Generally advocate for peace and nonviolence.
Jehovah’s Witnesses: Distinct beliefs, including Arian theology and a focus on evangelism despite government opposition.
Arian Theology: Adheres to beliefs that deny the traditional view of the Trinity, viewing Christ as a created being.
Failed Second Coming Prediction: Made several predictions about the timing of Christ's return, none of which materialized.
Pacifist: Generally advocate for peace and refuse military service.
Blood Transfusions: Strongly oppose blood transfusions, based on their interpretation of biblical commandments.
Treatment under Nazis: Experienced persecution during the Nazi regime due to their refusal to salute the flag or serve in the military.
Fear of Education: Promote limited formal education, fearing it may lead members away from their beliefs.
Exclusivism: Believe that only Jehovah’s Witnesses will be granted entry into heaven, viewing themselves as the only true Christians.
Supreme Court - Free Speech Issues: Involved in multiple legal battles regarding free speech and religious rights in the United States.
Issue of Race - Equality: Emphasize racial equality within their organization, promoting the idea that all members are equal regardless of race.
Believed in Separation of church and state
The one faith under God in the pledge of allegiance came during the time Eisenhauer.
Pentecostalism: Emphasizes direct experience with God, including glossolalia.
Fundamentalism: Reactionary movements rooted in strict literal interpretations of the Bible, split into waves across American history.
Slave Religion:
Conjure and other African practices: Enslaved Africans often blended their traditional African religious practices with Christianity to form a unique faith that included the practice of conjure, which involved invoking spiritual powers for various purposes, including protection and healing.
Hush Arbors: Secret meeting places where enslaved people would worship, pray, and hold religious gatherings, often under the cover of night to avoid detection.
Exodus: Many enslaved people identified with the biblical Exodus story, seeing parallels in their struggle for freedom and equating figures like Harriet Tubman to Moses, who led the Israelites out of slavery.
Frederick Douglass: Abolitionist and former enslaved person who emphasized the importance of faith in the fight for freedom and equality.
Civil War & Religion:
Lincoln's Change in Attitude: Evolved views on slavery and framed the war as a moral struggle for freedom.
Slavery & Opposition to Slavery: Differing religious interpretations shaped the morality of slavery debates.
Hush Arbors & Slave Religion: Enslaved people formed secret meeting places, blending African and Christian practices.
Battle Hymn of the Republic: Became a Union rallying cry, symbolizing the moral fight against slavery.
Near Deification of Lincoln: Post-assassination, Lincoln was portrayed almost as a martyr.
After War African American Denominations
Reasons Many Were Baptists: The Baptist denomination offered a more inclusive environment that resonated with the African American experience, emphasizing personal faith and autonomy.
Many Methodists - AME (African Methodist Episcopal): The AME Church was established as a response to racial discrimination within the Methodist tradition, providing a separate space for Black worship and leadership.
Civil Rights Movement and the Black Church
The Civil Rights Movement emerged significantly from Black church communities, which provided leadership and organizational framework.
Martin Luther King Jr. and Other Ministers: Key figures in the movement, many ministers played pivotal roles in advocating for civil rights from a faith-based perspective.
Many religious groups became involved in supporting civil rights initiatives, reflecting the deep interconnection between faith and social justice within African American communities.
Social Gospel Movement:
Focused on social justice as a facet of faith in the late 19th century.
Walter Rauschenbusch: Baptist leader emphasizing social reform over individual salvation.
No Original Sin: Sin is seen as a societal issue, not an inherent human flaw.
Many Social Movements: Influenced various rights movements, including labor and civil rights.
Little Emphasis on Conversion: Social reform took precedence over traditional conversion.
Develops into Mainline Protestantism: The movement shaped the focus on social issues in Mainline Protestant denominations.
Baptist in background but not Calvinistic
Holiness Traditions:
Women Leaders: Many have significant female leadership.
Not Pentecostal: Distinguish from Pentecostalism with no glossolalia.
Wesleyan Focus: Centered on Wesleyan theology and spiritual perfection.
Concern About Wesley Theology: Fear of deviation from original teachings.
Wesleyan Methodists: Committed to upholding Wesleyan practices.
Slavery Issue: Engaged in abolition debates from a moral standpoint.
Women Ministers: Notable acceptance of female ministers.
Spiritual Perfection: Emphasis on achieving a sanctified state in spiritual life.
Salvation Army
Hierarchy and Rank: Structured organization with ranks similar to a military system.
William & Catherine Booth: Founders who emphasized social reform alongside spiritual salvation.
Special Concern for Poor and Homeless: Focused on helping the disadvantaged and providing social services.
Music: Known for its use of brass bands and hymns in worship and outreach.
Church of the Nazarene: Less conservative regarding economic advancements compared to other holiness groups.
Pentecostalism
Glossolalia: Emphasis on speaking in tongues as a sign of spiritual baptism.
Healing: Strong belief in divine healing as part of faith practice.
Slain in Spirit: Phenomenon where individuals fall to the ground during worship, believed to be under the influence of the Holy Spirit.
Racially and Ethnically Mixed: Diversity is a hallmark, with representation from various racial and ethnic backgrounds.
Women Pastors: Acceptance and support for women in pastoral roles.
Working Class Movement: Originated as a movement emphasizing the spiritual needs of the working class.
Snake Handlers: Common in the Kentucky coal area due to the belief that handling snakes demonstrates faith and protection—a practice stemming from specific interpretations of scripture.
Premillennialism and Dispensationalism in the 19th Century
Premillennialism: The belief that Christ will return before a literal thousand-year reign (the Millennium) on Earth.
Dispensationalism: A theological framework popularized in the 19th century, particularly through the Scofield Reference Bible, which emphasizes a division of time into distinct epochs or dispensations. Each dispensation is characterized by specific divine revelations and responsibilities placed upon humanity.
Central tenet includes the Rapture, during which believers are taken up to heaven before a period of tribulation on Earth.
Time is divided into epochs: the current age (the Church Age), followed by the Rapture, tribulation, the Second Coming of Christ, and the Millennium.
Influence of Darwinism
Darwinism: The theory of evolution proposed by Charles Darwin, leading to significant theological debates within Christianity as some perceived it as contradicting biblical accounts of creation.
Fundamentalist Subculture
Billy Graham: A significant figure in conservative evangelicalism who, while not a fundamentalist himself, played a pivotal role in paving the way for the movement.
Second Wave Fundamentalism: This emerged as a reaction to the cultural upheaval of the 1960s, characterized by:
Renewed apocalypticism, influenced by films like Thief in the Night and book series such as Left Behind and The Late Great Planet Earth.
Thief in the Night: A 1972 film illustrating a post-Rapture scenario where those left behind face turmoil and challenges after the Rapture, emphasizing a fundamentalist perspective on end times and the urgency for repentance.
Formation of the Moral Majority by Jerry Falwell, which sought to politicize evangelical beliefs and engage in social and political issues.
Jim Wallis and the religious left founded Sojourners, advocating for social justice from a faith perspective.
Emergence of Creation non-denominational mega churches, emphasizing a literal interpretation of Genesis and ancient biblical texts.
Prosperity Gospel
The Prosperity Gospel movement has influenced mainstream Protestantism, particularly among Southern Baptists increasingly adopting fundamentalist views.
W.A. Criswell utilized premillennialism to advocate against integration and feminism; later, abortion became a significant concern.
Judge Paul Pressler: His initiatives have led to significant shifts within the Baptist frameworks, causing the formation of graduate schools (e.g., Wake Forest University, University of Richmond, Stetson University, Furman University) to break from traditional Baptist affiliations.
Christian Nationalism
The culmination of these movements has contributed to a form of Christian Nationalism, intertwining faith with national identity and political action for a more defined evangelical presence in American governance.