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Reformed Christianity
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==Definition and terminology== The term Reformed Christianity is derived from the denomination's self designation of "Reformed Church", beginning in Switzerland and Germany, shortly thereafter followed by the Dutch Republic. ''Calvinism'' is the name derived from its most famous leader, [[John Calvin]] (born Jehan Cauvin), influential Reformation-era theologian from [[Geneva]], Switzerland. The term was first used by opposing [[Lutheranism|Lutherans]] in the 1550s. Calvin did not approve of the use of this term,<ref name="Cottret2003">{{cite book |first=Bernard |last=Cottret |title=Calvin, A Biography |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Nn-xAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA239 |date=22 May 2003 |publisher=A&C Black |isbn=978-0-567-53035-6 |page=239 |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref> and religious scholars have argued its use is misleading, inaccurate, unhelpful,{{sfn|Allen|2010|pp=3–4}}<ref>{{cite book |last=Hägglund|first=Bengt|title=Teologins Historia|language=de|trans-title=History of Theology|others=Translated by Gene J. Lund|edition=Fourth Revised |year=2007 |location=Saint Louis, U.S.|publisher=Concordia Publishing House}}</ref><ref>{{citation |title=Was Calvin a Calvinist? Or, Did Calvin (or Anyone Else in the Early Modern Era) Plant the 'TULIP'? |last=Muller |first=Richard A. |author-link=Richard A. Muller |year=2009 |url=https://agrammatos.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/was-calvin-a-calvinist-12-26-09.pdf|via=Agrammatos}}. An essay based on the lecture: * {{citation|last=Muller |first=Richard| title=Was Calvin a Calvinist? |work=Conferences and Lectures |date=2009 |department= [Conferences and Lectures]|id=ref. 1442 |ref=none |publisher=Calvin University – Calvin Theological Seminary|url=https://digitalcommons.calvin.edu/hh_av_conferences/1442}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=[[The Reformation: A History]] |publisher=Penguin |location=New York |last=MacCulloch|first=Diarmaid |author-link=Diarmaid MacCulloch |year=2005 |page=253}}</ref>{{sfn|Muller|2004|p=130}} and "inherently distortive."<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Jonathan |first1=Warren |title=Review of ''Calvinism: A Very Short Introduction'' |journal=Bunyan Studies |date=2017 |issue=21 |pages=134–137 }}</ref> The definitions and boundaries of the terms ''Reformed Christianity'' and ''Calvinism'' are contested by scholars. As a historical movement, Reformed Christianity began during the [[Reformation]] with [[Huldrych Zwingli]] in [[Zürich]], Switzerland. Following the failure of the [[Marburg Colloquy]] between Zwingli's followers and those of [[Martin Luther]] in 1529 to mediate disputes regarding the [[Real presence of Christ in the Eucharist|real presence of Christ in the Lord's Supper]], Zwingli's followers were defined by their opposition to Lutherans.{{sfn|MacCulloch|2005|p=174}} They also opposed [[Anabaptism|Anabaptist]] radicals{{sfn|MacCulloch|2005|p=184}} thus remaining within the [[Magisterial Reformation]].<ref name="Voorst2014">{{cite book |last1=Voorst |first1=Robert E. Van |title=Readings in Christianity |date=1 January 2014 |publisher=Cengage Learning |isbn=978-1-305-14304-3 |page=164 |language=en |quote=The Magisterial reformation denotes the Lutheran, Calvinist, and Anglican churches; this is sometimes labeled the mainstream of the Reformation. ''Magisterial'' means that secular authorities ("magistrates") had a role in the life of the church; church and state were closely tied.}}</ref><ref name= "mcgrath159">{{citation|last=McGrath|first=Alister|title=Historical Theology|year=1998|publisher=Blackwell Publishers|location=Oxford|isbn=0-63120843-7|authorlink=Alister McGrath|page=[https://archive.org/details/historicaltheolo0000mcgr/page/159 159]|url=https://archive.org/details/historicaltheolo0000mcgr/page/159}}</ref> During the 17th-century [[History of the Calvinist–Arminian debate|Arminian Controversy]], followers of [[Jacobus Arminius]] were forcibly removed from the [[Dutch Reformed Church]] for their views regarding [[predestination]] and [[salvation in Christianity|salvation]], and thenceforth [[Arminians]] would be considered outside the pale of Reformed orthodoxy,{{sfn|MacCulloch|2005|p=378}} though some use the term ''Reformed'' to include Arminians while using the term ''Calvinist'' to exclude Arminians.<ref>{{cite web |title=Reformed Churches |work=[[Christian Cyclopedia]] |url=http://cyclopedia.lcms.org/display.asp?t1=r&word=REFORMEDCHURCHES |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230528162251/http://cyclopedia.lcms.org/display.asp?t1=r&word=REFORMEDCHURCHES |archive-date= May 28, 2023 }}</ref> Reformed Christianity also has a complicated relationship with [[Anglicanism]], the branch of Christianity originating in the [[Church of England]]. The Anglican confessions are considered Protestant<ref>{{Cite web |last=Robinson |first=Peter D. |date=2020-02-14 |title=Is Anglicanism Reformed? |url=https://northamanglican.com/is-anglicanism-reformed/ |access-date=2024-04-13 |website=The North American Anglican |language=en-US |quote=If one looks at the two main confessional documents of the English Reformation, the (39) Articles of Religion, and the Book of Common Prayer, a series of propositions emerge that definitely put the Church of England into that strand of the Augustinian Theological tradition which we call 'Protestantism' and furthermore, to put it into the subset known as 'Reformed.' }}</ref> and leaders of the [[English Reformation]] were influenced by Calvinist theologians. Still the Church of England retained elements of [[Catholic Church|Catholicism]] such as [[bishops]] and [[vestments]], unlike most other Protestants, and thus was sometimes called "but halfly Reformed".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Haigh |first1=Christopher |title=The English Reformations and the Making of the Anglican Church |url=https://www.perthcathedral.org/images/stories/LectureSeries_no14.pdf |access-date=6 April 2024 |date=2006 |archive-date=6 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240406202003/https://www.perthcathedral.org/images/stories/LectureSeries_no14.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> Beginning in the 17th century, Anglicanism broadened to the extent that Reformed theology is no longer dominant in Anglicanism.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hampton |first1=Stephen |title=Anti-Arminians: The Anglican Reformed Tradition from Charles II to George I |date=29 May 2008 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-155985-3 |pages=4 |language=en}}</ref> Some scholars argue that [[Reformed Baptists]], who hold many of the same beliefs as Reformed Christians but not [[infant baptism]], should be considered part of Reformed Christianity, though this would not have been the view of early modern Reformed theologians.<ref>{{cite book|editor1=Crawford Gribben |editor2= Scott Spurlock |series=Christianities in the Transatlantic World|last1=Bingham |first1=Matthew C. |chapter='Reformed Baptist': Anachronistic Oxymoron or Useful Signpost? |chapter-url=https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-95192-8_2 |title=On Being Reformed: Debates over a Theological Identity |publisher=Springer International Publishing |pages=27–52 |language=en |doi=10.1007/978-3-319-95192-8_2 |date=2018|isbn=978-3-319-95191-1 |chapter-url-access=subscription}}</ref> Others disagree, asserting that [[Baptists]] should be considered a separate religious tradition.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hart |first1=D. G. |chapter=Baptists Are Different |chapter-url=https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-95192-8_3 |title=On Being Reformed: Debates over a Theological Identity |publisher=Springer International Publishing |pages=53–68 |language=en |doi=10.1007/978-3-319-95192-8_3 |date=2018|isbn=978-3-319-95191-1 |chapter-url-access=subscription|editor1=Crawford Gribben |editor2= Scott Spurlock |series=Christianities in the Transatlantic World}}</ref>
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