Rel 101 Midterm

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American Exceptionalism

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It is the belief that the US occupies a special place amongst other nations of the world do to superiority in religious/political/economic institutions. The belief has been around since colonial times, but was first used in respect to the United States by Alexis de Tocqueville in 1831 in his work "Democracy in America." It was referenced but not specifically by early colonial preachers such as John Winthrop who mentioned it in a sermon saying "We must think of ourselves as a city on a hill." This type of exceptionalism is supernatural exceptionalism, emphasizing the idea that G-d chose the US to serve as an example for other nations. The idea of American Exceptionalism is closely related to the idea of Manifest Destiny, which states that "the US was divinely ordained to spread across the North American continent" and was how the US expanded all the way to the West coast.

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Anti-Semitism

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It is a prejudice/hostility against Jews. It is typically rooted in a hatred of their ethical background/history/religious beliefs. The term was coined in late 19th century Germany as a better term for "Judenhass (Jew Hatred)." It has caused persecution throughout all of history. It manifested in the US as discrimination of Jews by WASPs, who exclude Jews from their elite circles. It also has cause more serious persecution.

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Benevolent Empire

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The "Benevolent Empire" was a conglomerate effort of various American Protestant denominations with the aim of developing missionary organizations to christianize America and the world at large. This movement was born in the early 19th century out of early American revivalism.

The "Benevolent Empire" had two ideological pillars:
1. The concept of "disinterested benevolence". If self-love is the root of all sin than it must be fought by seeking to serve and love others without any desire for material or spiritual recompense. The purpose was to be doing the Lord's work for its own sake and the sake of others. Samuel Hopkins was the great promoter of "disinterested benevolence".
2. The concept of "perfectionism". Adapted by Charles Finney from John and Charles Wesley, "perfectionism" taught that a sinner converted to the Lord, once sanctified, becomes perfect in motive and will, though not in fact.

A great amount of Protestant institutions and organizations, especially those in the mainstream, adopted these ideas thus aggrandizing the "Benevolent Empire" and giving it great influence and reach.

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Catholic Ghetto

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A Catholic Ghetto is an area dominated by Catholic people. They evangelize within the ghetto, but fail to branch out and evangelize in other locations. They tended to form the ghettos based upon nationality, and would fight based upon nationality within the ghettos. This began in the 1880's, but continued until WWI.

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de jure/de facto

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De Jure is a Latin term that means "concerning law." It refers to practices enforced because of a law. De Facto is a latin term that means "by the fact." It refers to situations that are followed based up fact/common idea rather than law.

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Denominationalism

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The division of a religion into separate groups or sects. It came about as an important word during the Second Great Awakening. It showed that all Churches stood on their own as denominations, not enjoying a privileged status in the USA, but sharing a common Christian heritage. They could cooperate or compete as circumstances dictated. The burden was on the churches to attract and retain members, and with them their support in energy, time and money.

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Evangelical Protestantism

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A Protestant Christian theological stream that began in Great Britain in the 1730's. The main tenets of belief are a belief in the need for personal conversion, some expression of the gospel in "effort, high regard for biblical authority and an emphasis on the death/resurrection of Jesus. Evangelicals advocate for revivals, and conversion. They played into the missionary ideals, wanting to evangelize as many unsaved souls as possible.

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First Amendment

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The first amendment to the constitution, calls for freedom of religion. The establishment clause prohibits the establishment of a national religion. The free exercise clause prohibits the restriction of the exercise of any religion.

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Fundamentalism

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It refers to a belief in a strict adherence to a set of basic principles (often religious in nature), sometimes as a reaction to perceived doctrinal compromises with modern social and political life. The term was originally coined to describe a narrowly defined set of beliefs that developed into a movement within the Protestant community of the United States in the early part of the 20th century, and that had its roots in the Fundamentalist-Modernist Controversy of that time. Fundamentalist Christians see the bible as both infallible and historically accurate. They believe in the bible as a literal document, when there is nothing proven contrary. Fundamentalism in Christianity refers to those who believe in the 5 foundations, coming from different denominations, rather than fundamentalism as a denomination itself.

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George Whitefield

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He was an Aglican minister who helped spread the great awakening in Great Britain and the US colonies. He was a priest of the Church of England and subscribed to the Calvinist theology. He was closely aligned with his friend John Wesley in his approach to religion as something to be experienced intensely and personally. He is considered by many to be the founder of the evangelical movement.

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The Great Awakening

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The Great Awakening refers to the first great rapid, dramatic revival of religion in the United States. It took place in the 1730's/40's. It was characterized by widespread revivals led by evangelical Protestant ministers, a sharp increase in religious interest, a profound sense of guilt and redemption on the part of those affected, a jump in evangelical church membership, and the formation of new religious movements and denominations. The Great Awakening was sparked by George Whitefield. The fervor lasted about a generation before dying down. It greatly influenced preaching style, as pre-awakening preachers preached in a dense, theological style. The Great Awakening caused preaching more focused on eliciting an emotional response.

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John Carroll

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He was the first Roman Catholic bishop and archbishop in the US. He played a very important role in the formation of Catholicism in the States, being chosen as the Vatican's representative. He strongly supported the American ideals of Democracy and separation of Church and State. He spent his life establishing Catholic structure and institutions, particularly in educational environments. He established the first Catholic college.

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Issac Mayer Wise

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He was an American Reform rabbi, living from 1819 - 1900. He moved to the US in 1843, becoming a rabbi of an Albany congregation that year. He advocated for reforms in the service, introducing family pews, a mixed choir, confirmation and even counted women in Minyan. He was the leader of the American Reform Movement, and took the lead in developing an institutional infrastructure for Jewish life in the US. He formed the first Jewish University in Cincinnati in 1875.

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John Calvin

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He was a French pastor and theologian, that formed the Christian theology now known as Calvinism. Calvinism believes in 5 main points: total depravity (original sin), unconditional election (predestination of individuals to go to Heaven), limited atonement (Jesus atones for the sins only of those elected to go to Heaven), Irresistible Grace (Those elected to go to Heaven will eventually be overcome by G-d's grace and call), and Perseverance of Saints (those G-d has set aside will never tire of being faithful and preaching. Those who fall away aren't real saints.) Calvin fled to Switzerland and was asked to help reform the Church of Geneva. Calvin helped form the Presbyterian and other Reform churches of today.

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John Winthrop

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He obtained a royal charter, along with other wealthy Puritans, from King Charles for the Massachusetts Bay Company and led a group of English Puritans to the New World in 1630. He led the people on a ship called the Arbella, where he gave his famous "City on a Hill" sermon, saying that they must regard the New World of America as a city on a hill. He said that the Puritan "errand into the wilderness" of New England was a journey equal to Calvin's journey in Geneva. It was their moral and religious duty to create a world with a government that operated upon the basis of their religion. They had to oder simultaneously all aspects of life - the individual, church, political and social - according to biblical dictates and prototypes. They believed there was biblical support for all actions.

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John Edwards

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He was a preacher, theologian, and missionary to Native Americans. He "is widely acknowledged to be America's most important and original philosophical theologian,"[3] and one of America's greatest intellectuals.[4] His theological work is very broad in scope, but he is often associated with his defense of Reformed theology, the metaphysics of theological determinism, and the Puritan heritage. He played a critical role in shaping the First Great Awakening, and oversaw some of the first fires of revival in 1733-1735 at his church in Northampton, Massachusetts.[5] His sermon "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God," is considered a classic of early American literature, which he delivered during another wave of revival in 1741, following George Whitefield's tour of the Thirteen Colonies.[6] He is widely known for his many books: The End For Which God Created the World; The Life of David Brainerd, which served to inspire thousands of missionaries throughout the nineteenth century; and Religious Affections, which many Reformed Evangelicals read even today. He developed the "new Divinity" and was followed by men like Joseph Bellamy, Nathanael Emmons, Samuel Hopkins and Jonathan Edwards, Jr. who attempt to continue the Calvinist tradition, but simultaneously reconcile it with the Awakening's revivals.

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Lyman Beecher

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He was a Presbyterian minister, temperance movement Founder (American Temperance Society) Co-founder[1] and leader, and a leader of the Second Great Awakening. He began preaching Calvinism, but began to focus on preaching against Unitarianism. He advocated for slavery, and for a Protestant claim of the West. He was anti-Cathcolicism. Later in his career, he advocated for new measures of Evangelism that ran counter to Calvinism. Joshua Wilson accused him of heresy, and though he was exonerated by the Presbyterian church, he resigned shortly after, moving to NY to spend the rest of his life.

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Mainline Protestantism/“Seven Sisters”

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They are those that comprised the vast majority of American Christianity from the colonial era until the early 1900s. Most were brought to America by their respective historic immigrant groups.[2] Today, most are rooted in the Northern United States. As a group they have maintained moderate theologies that stress social justice concerns together with personal salvation and evangelism.[3] They have been credited with leading the fight for social causes such as racial justice and civil rights, equality for women, rights for the disabled and other key issues. Nearly each of their issues has been embraced by American law and society, but at the same time mainline denominations have been somewhat marginalized.In typical usage, the term mainline is contrasted with evangelical. Mainline churches tend to be more liberal in terms of theology and political issues.[5] This places them to the ideological left of the evangelical and fundamentalist churches. The groups comprising these "Seven Sisters" are United Methodist Church, ELCA, Presbyterian, Episcopal, American Baptist, United Church of Christ and Disciples of Christ. While generally more liberal, they have a variety of beliefs from liberal to moderate to conservative.

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Massachusetts Bay Puritans

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They fled England due to persecution for the Puritan beliefs, and came to the US to form a colony. The Reverand John White of England went so far as to secure a royal charter for the colony. The Colony was the only one to have governors outside of England. The first 400 of these Puritans set sail in 1629, led by John Winthrop. The Puritans of Massachusetts Bay were Calvinists, but with their own points of emphasis. They held the traditional belief that all mankind merited eternal damnation, but a merciful God had graciously granted salvation to a few, the Elect. However, they believed that salvation came at a price — God’s chosen people were bound by a covenant (contract) to see to the enforcement of God’s laws in society.

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Nativism

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It favors the interests of certain established inhabitants of an area or nation as compared to claims of newcomers or immigrants.[1] It may also include the re-establishment or perpetuation of such individuals or their culture.It has become a general term for 'opposition to immigration' based on fears that the immigrants will distort or spoil existing cultural values. It was bound with anti-catholicism in the US because many immigrants were catholic.

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Religious Right

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It is a term used predominantly in the United States of America to describe a spectrum of right-wing Christian political and social movements and organizations characterized by their strong support of conservative social and political values. The politically active social movement of the Christian right includes individuals from a wide variety of conservative theological beliefs, ranging from traditional movements within Baptist, Mormon, and Calvinist organizations that are theologically conservative. The Christian right became prominent due to a variety of developments, including the "shift in gravity" (the movement of the Christian population) to the South and West, both in regards to population movements and to rising leaders in the "anti-establishment" of the West, which consequently led to more power in electoral votes. The Religious Right has formed organizations such as Moral Majority, Christian Voice (USA), Christian Coalition of America, Eagle Forum, and The Family (Christian political organization). Moral Majority, formed by Jerry Falwell, is considered by many to be the beginning of the religious right.

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Scopes Trial

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It was an American legal case that tested the Butler Act which made it unlawful "to teach any theory that denies the story of the Divine Creation of man as taught in the Bible, and to teach instead that man has descended from a lower order of animals" in any Tennessee state-funded school and university.[1]
The trial drew intense national publicity, with modernists pitted against traditionalists over the teaching of evolution in the schools and a Fundamentalist interpretation of the Bible. The trial proved a critical turning point in the American creation-evolution controversy. William Bell Riley, head of the World's Christian Fundamentals Association, lobbied state legislatures to pass anti-evolution laws, succeeding in Tennessee when the Butler Act was passed.[3] In response, the American Civil Liberties Union financed a test case where John Scopes, a Tennessee high school teacher, intentionally violated the Act. Scopes was charged on 5 May 1925 with teaching evolution from a chapter in a textbook that showed ideas developed from Charles Darwin's book On the Origin of Species. The trial involved two celebrity lawyers, William Jennings Bryan for the prosecution and Clarence Darrow for the defense, and was followed on radio transmissions throughout America.[4]. Scopes was found guilty and fined $100, but on appeal the Tennessee Supreme Court set aside the guilty verdict due to a legal technicality. The trial revealed the growing chasm between Creation and Evolution.

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Second Great Awakening

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It was a period of great religious revival that extended into the antebellum period of the United States, with widespread Christian evangelism and conversions. It was named for the Great Awakening, a similar period which had transpired about half a century beforehand. It generated excitement in church congregations throughout New England, the mid-Atlantic, Northwest and the South. Individual preachers such as Charles Grandison Finney, Lyman Beecher, Barton Stone, Peter Cartwright, and Asahel Nettleton became very well known as a result. Evangelical participation in social causes was fostered that changed American life in areas such as prison reform, abolitionism, and temperance. The Second Great Awakening added two words to the American religious vocabulary, voluntaryism and denominationalism. This Awakening was due to a fallen membership in churches and a national desire to increase membership and decrease secular enthusiasms.

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Vatican II

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It was the twenty-first Ecumenical Council of the Catholic Church. It opened under Pope John XXIII on 11 October, 1962 and closed under Pope Paul VI on 21 November, 1965. At least four future pontiffs took part in the council's opening session: Giovanni Battista Cardinal Montini, who on succeeding Pope John XXIII took the name of Paul VI; Bishop Albino Luciani, the future Pope John Paul I; Bishop Karol Wojtyła, who became Pope John Paul II; and Father Joseph Ratzinger, present as a theological consultant, who became Pope Benedict XVI. Allowed eating meat on Fridays except during Lent, ended the ritual of Latin mass, women don't have to wear hats anymore, eliminated 200 saints. It encouraged greater Lay participation in the Church.

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Voluntaryism

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It is the idea that religious life from now on had to be conducted on a voluntary basis. Informal social pressure might still exist, but no official government action could either support or hinder particular groups. The burden was now on the churches to attract and retain members. The main engine of voluntaryism had already been set in place by the Great Awakening: revivalism.

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Zionism

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It the international nationalist[1] political movement that originally supported the reestablishment of a homeland for the Jewish people in the Land of Israel (Hebrew: Eretz Yisra'el), the historical homeland of the Jews. Since the establishment of the State of Israel, the Zionist movement continues primarily to support it. Zionism is based on historical ties and religious traditions linking the Jewish people to the Land of Israel.[2] Almost two millennia after the Jewish diaspora, the modern Zionist movement, beginning in the late 19th century, was mainly founded by secular Jews, largely as a response by Ashkenazi Jews to antisemitism and the Anti-Jewish pogroms in the Russian Empire. The multi-national, worldwide Zionist movement is structured on representative democractic principles. Congresses are held every four years (they were held every two years before the Second World War) and delegates to the congress are elected by the membership. In the 1920s and 1930s Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook (the first Chief Rabbi of Palestine) and his son Rabbi Zevi Judah Kook saw great religious and traditional value in many of Zionism's ideals, while rejecting its anti-religious undertones. They taught that Orthodox (Torah) Judaism embraces and mandates Zionism's positive ideals, such as the ingathering of exiles, and political activity to create and maintain a Jewish political entity in the Land of Israel. In this way, Zionism serves as a bridge between Orthodox and secular Jews.
While other Zionist groups have tended to moderate their nationalism over time, the gains from the Six-Day War have led religious Zionism to play a significant role in Israeli political life. Now associated with the National Religious Party and Gush Emunim, religious Zionists have been at the forefront of Jewish settlement in the West Bank and efforts to assert Jewish control over the Old City of Jerusalem.