Order from us for quality, customized work in due time of your choice.
Christianity
Christianity is one of the largest world religions regarding the number of believers. To date, the total number of Christians has exceeded two billion. Protestantism is the most fragmented and divided in many directions among all the branches. It has more than a dozen main branches, which, in turn, are divided into a significant number of different branches and currents.
Modern and Postmodern Christianity
It is generally accepted that modern and postmodern Christianity is fundamentally opposed. The first one proclaims the triumph of Reason and movement along the path of progress. The second one speaks of the limited capabilities of man, relativity, and plurality, of the absence of the global goal of human development. Both worldviews seem to have something in common. Modernism requires the limited intervention of religion in the secular sphere. Postmodernism limits religion, locking it into the confines of the relativity of truth. In the first case, the limitation is due to the logic of historical development. The second case results from the absence of the same logic.
Reformation, Counter-Reformation, and Anabaptism
The Reformation was a mass religious, social, and political movement that swept medieval Europe in the 16th and early 17th centuries. First of all, the Reformation was aimed at changing the canons of the Catholic Church. The speech of Martin Luther on October 31, 1517, was the beginning of the reform movement. He formulated 95 theses , forming the basis of all reform movements. Martin Luther opposed the abuses of the Catholic Church and the sale of indulgences. The end of the Reformation was the signing of the Peace of Westphalia in 1648, giving rise to many Protestant movements, including Lutheranism, Calvinism, and Anabaptism.
Anabaptists are the representatives of a radical religious movement. This trend continued to exist after the Reformation. Many contemporary Baptist churches identify themselves as inheritors of the Anabaptist tradition. One of the most prominent beliefs was adult baptism because only those who truly understood and accepted Gods teachings could be legally baptized.
During the emergence and development of the Reformation, the Catholic Church and the Jesuits engaged in a reverse confrontation. These measures were commonly called the Counter-Reformation. Supporters of the Counter-Reformation tried to restore the authority of the Roman Catholic Church and increase influence in countries that were going to partially or completely break off relations with the Vatican.
The beginning of the Counter-Reformation was the Council of Trent, which started in 1545 and ended in 1563. The concept of Counter-Reformation can be divided into two components. In a narrow sense, the Counter-Reformation is a movement against Protestants and, in a broad sense, a systemic renewal of the church (Stanley, 2018). The Counter-Reformation resulted in the abolition of indulgences, the formation of new monastic orders, the opening of theological seminaries, and the introduction of the Gregorian calendar. One of the main results of the Counter-Reformation is that the Catholic Church was able to regain and even strengthen its political position.
Christianity arose at the crossroads of epochs and was able to combine the achievements of mans spiritual and practical activities and adapt them to the needs of civilization. The Christian religion had to go through a difficult adaptation path to the surrounding society during its existence. Despite numerous historical transformations and adaptations, many of the Christian movements of the Reformation and Counter-Reformation are still popular today.
Reference
Stanley, B. (2018). Christianity in the twentieth century: A world history. Princeton University Press.
Order from us for quality, customized work in due time of your choice.