Portal:Reformed Christianity

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Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the sixteenth-century Protestant Reformation, a schism in the Western Church. Today, it is largely represented by the Continental, Presbyterian, and Congregational traditions, as well as parts of the Anglican and Baptist traditions.

A foundational event that divided the Reformed from the Lutheran tradition occurred in 1529 when reformer Huldrych Zwingli of Zürich broke with Martin Luther on the topic of the Lord's Supper. A separate Reformed tradition developed over several generations, especially in Switzerland, France, Scotland and the Netherlands.

In the seventeenth century, Jacobus Arminius and the Remonstrants were expelled from the Dutch Reformed Church over disputes regarding predestination and salvation, and from that time Arminians are usually considered to be a distinct tradition from the Reformed. This dispute produced the Canons of Dort, the basis for the "doctrines of grace" or "five points" of Calvinism.

Reformed theology emphasizes the authority of the Bible, the sovereignty of God, and covenant theology, a framework for understanding the Bible based on God's covenants with people. Reformed churches have emphasized simplicity in worship. Several forms of ecclesiastical polity are exercised by Reformed churches, including presbyterian, congregational, and some episcopal. (Full article...)

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Peter Martyr Vermigli (1499 – 1562) was an Italian-born Reformed theologian. His early work as a reformer in Catholic Italy and decision to flee for Protestant northern Europe influenced many other Italians to convert and flee as well. In England, he influenced the Edwardian Reformation, including the Eucharistic service of the 1552 Book of Common Prayer. He was considered an authority on the Eucharist among the Reformed churches, and engaged in controversies on the subject by writing treatises. Vermigli's Loci Communes, a compilation of excerpts from his biblical commentaries organized by the topics of systematic theology, became a standard Reformed theological textbook.

Vermigli's best-known theological contribution was defending the Reformed doctrine of the Eucharist against Catholics and Lutherans. Contrary to the Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation, Vermigli did not believe that the bread and wine are changed into Christ's body and blood. He also disagreed with the Lutheran view that Christ's body is ubiquitous and so physically present at the Eucharist. Instead, Vermigli taught that Christ remains in Heaven even though he is offered to those who partake of the Eucharist and received by believers.

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Image 1The burning of the Guernsey Martyrs during the Marian persecutions in 1556 (from Reformed Christianity)
Image 2Moses Amyraut formulated Amyraldism, a modified Calvinist theology regarding the nature of Jesus' atonement. (from Reformed Christianity)
Image 3Calvin preached at St. Pierre Cathedral in Geneva. (from Reformed Christianity)
Image 4The Parable of the Prodigal Son, depicted in a portrait by Rembrandt, illustrates forgiveness. (from Reformed Christianity)
Image 5A Reformed church in Koudekerk aan den Rijn in the Netherlands in the 19th century (from Reformed Christianity)
Image 6The seal of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, an early American Presbyterian church founded in 1789 (from Reformed Christianity)
Image 7Early Calvinism was known for simple, unadorned churches as depicted in this 1661 portrait of the interior of the Oude Kerk, Amsterdam (from Reformed Christianity)
Image 8Dutch prime minister Abraham Kuyper initiated Neo-Calvinism. (from Reformed Christianity)
Image 9The Directory for Public Worship described what should (and shouldn't) occur in worship. (from Reformed Christianity)
Image 10The Grote Kerk in Haarlem in the Dutch Republic, c. 1665 (from Reformed Christianity)
Image 11Statues of William Farel, John Calvin, Theodore Beza, and John Knox, influential theologians in developing the Reformed faith, at the Reformation Wall in Geneva (from Reformed Christianity)
Image 12The Shield of the Trinity diagrams the classic doctrine of the Trinity. (from Reformed Christianity)
Image 13Fall of Man by Jacob Jordaens (from Reformed Christianity)
Image 14John Calvin depicted on his deathbed with church members in The last moments of Calvin, a late 19th century portrait by Lluís Domènech i Montaner (from Reformed Christianity)
Image 15Stephen Bocskai, leader of Hungarian Calvinists in the anti-Habsburg rebellion and first Calvinist prince of Transylvania (r. 1605–1606) (from Reformed Christianity)

Did you know...

... that the 1919 demolition of "one of the most costly religious edifices" in New York City, the 1906 Madison Square Presbyterian Church, was called "a distinct architectural loss"?