scholarly journals The reformed confessions and church membership ethically appraised

2007 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Herm J.G. Zandman
Keyword(s):  
Traditional Approach ◽  
Church Membership ◽  
Reformed Churches ◽  
Church Councils ◽  
The Church ◽  
Church Government

The reformed churches historically call themselves confessional churches, with the confessions adopted by church councils being the yardstick according to which membership is either permitted or refused. The reformed churches consequently consider it necessary for all members of the church to express agreement with the confessions. The reason why the confessions are held as the summary standard of belief is founded in the conviction that they are faithful expressions of the teachings handed down from the apostles.  These confessions have been attributed a twofold purpose regarding their function in the reformed churches. Firstly, they protect believers and congregations from error, and secondly, they help attain unity of faith among the believers in the reformed churches – both at the congregational and denominational level.   Currently this view is under siege from those who hold the conviction that the traditional approach of giving the confessions such prominence is too narrow and binding in terms of who may or may not be awarded membership of the reformed churches.   This article seeks to consider the place of the confessions and to evaluate the claim that de-emphasis on the confessions is desirable in order to celebrate the unity of all believers. Furthermore, the article seeks to demonstrate that ethical integrity is contingent on seeking to exercise church government within the demarcation of the confessional framework.

scholarly journals Regspraak volgens artikel 31 van die kerkorde van die GKSA ’n skriftuurlike beoordeling

1992 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
M. A. Kruger
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Insufficient Attention ◽  
Reformed Churches ◽  
Church Law ◽  
The Church ◽  
Church Government

Due to a number of reasons judicature in the Reformed Churches of South Africa (GKSA) has developed into a system which has been formed not so much by scriptural norms as by other factors. Among these factors where the influence of democracy, inadequate distinction between church government and church judicature, a dichotomy between the acceptance of norms for church judicature and so-called secular judicature, insufficient attention to biblical norms and the development of a tradition among scholars of church law. Experience in plenary meetings of the church has indicated that church judicature should be put on a sounder scriptural foundation.

scholarly journals Kerkreg? Die plek van Kerkreg en Kerkregering

2007 ◽  
Vol 63 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Barry J. Van Wyk
Keyword(s):  
Jesus Christ ◽  
Close Relation ◽  
John Calvin ◽  
Church Polity ◽  
The World ◽  
Reformed Churches ◽  
The Church ◽  
Church Government

Church polity? The position of church polity and church government It is generally accepted that John Calvin can be referred to as the founder of the presbyterial-synodal form of church government which is found in the Reformed Churches. It would therefore be appropriate to focus on his views and to indicate to what extent he influenced the notion that Jesus Christ is Head of the Church and Lord of the world. If it can once again be concluded that there is a close relation between Church, Confession and Church Ordinance, then it is quite evident that Church polity occupies a fundamental place in the Reformed Churches which must be treated with greater concern.

scholarly journals A pastoral evaluation on the issue of ‘vat en sit’ with special reference to the Black Reformed Churches of South Africa

2016 ◽  
Vol 72 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
David K. Semenya
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Special Reference ◽  
Family Structures ◽  
The Family ◽  
Practical Guidelines ◽  
Reformed Churches ◽  
Church Councils ◽  
The Church

This article attempts to investigate and give practical guidelines to the church councils of the mainly Black Reformed Churches in South Africa and also to the couples and families involved in vat en sit relationship. Vat en sit is now becoming a common thing in South Africa. This however does not only affect the black members in the Reformed Churches in South Africa but moreover affect the family structures of the society. Therefore the aim of this article is to find out why in most cases couples opt for vat en sit relationship and also how the church councils could be assisted in dealing with the issue of vat en sit.   The Biblical overview regarding the issue of vat en sit will be discussed and thereafter the practical guidelines be given in order to help both the church councils; the couples in the vat en sit relationship and also their families.

A Further Dilemma for British Divines

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jay T. Collier
Keyword(s):  
Church Of England ◽  
International Trends ◽  
Narrow Definition ◽  
Reformed Churches ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The Church

Chapter 5 continues to investigate the Montagu affair by surveying adjacent doctrines related to the perseverance debate. For instance, Dort’s more narrow definition of perseverance caused difficulties for those holding a more traditionalist view of baptism and regeneration. After looking at Montagu’s baptismal argument against perseverance of the saints, the chapter evaluates published responses to Montagu’s advocacy of baptismal regeneration as well as more private debates where John Davenant and Samuel Ward tried to reconcile a form of baptismal regeneration with Dort’s determination on perseverance. This survey shows division on the efficacy of baptism even within the pro-Dortian party, with readings and receptions of Augustine factoring in. It also reveals further evidence of how a broad-church approach to being Reformed set the Church of England at odds with the international trends of the Reformed churches.

‘The Substance of the Faith’ A Clarification of the Concept in the Church of Scotland

1983 ◽  
Vol 36 (3) ◽  
pp. 327-338
Author(s):  
Thomas F. Torrance
Keyword(s):  
Church Of Scotland ◽  
Catholic Faith ◽  
Scottish Parliament ◽  
Reformed Churches ◽  
Nicene Creed ◽  
Articles Of Faith ◽  
The Church

In determining the meaning of the expression ‘the substance of the Faith’, it seems right to go back to the act of the Scottish Parliament in 1690 which ratified the Westminster Confession of Faith ‘as the publick and avowed Confession of this Church, containing the summe and substance of the doctrine of the Reformed Churches.’ There the WCF was regarded as containing the sum and substance of some thirty Reformed Confessions, including the Scots Confession, the First and Second Helvetic Confessions. These confessions expressly acknowledged the ancient Catholic Creeds and Conciliar Statements of the Church, the Apostles Creed, the Nicene Creed, the Formulations of Ephesus and Chalcedon, and the so-called ‘Athanasian Creed’, and embodied all their main statements as essential articles of belief. This was true of the WCF which, as James Denney once pointed out, ‘contains everything that is in the Nicene Creed’ (Jesus and the Gospel, p. 39If). That is to say, there was no move away from what the Athanasian Creed and the Second Helvetic Confession called ‘the Catholic Faith’, although the basic articles of faith handed down through the Creeds were set within a confessional frame of distinctively Reformed character. It was inevitable, therefore, that a distinction was made between what Samuel Rutherford called (Due Right Presbyteries, p. 13) ‘a confession dejure, what everyman ought to believe, as the Nicene Creed, and the Creed of Athanasius’, and a wider summation of teaching common to ‘true Reformed Protestant religion’.

Tracing the Theological Development of the South African Baptismal Rites: The Journey to An Anglican Prayer Book 1989 and Beyond

2017 ◽  
Vol 99 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-64
Author(s):  
Andrew-John Bethke
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Source Material ◽  
Church Membership ◽  
The South ◽  
Valuable Source ◽  
Prayer Book ◽  
Church Unity ◽  
Common Prayer ◽  
The Church

This essay analyzes the theological changes which are reflected in successive revisions of Southern Africa's Anglican liturgy from 1900 to 1989. The following liturgies are examined: A Book of Common Prayer—South Africa (1954); Proposals for the Revision of the Rites of Baptism and Confirmation (1967); the Church Unity Commission's ecumenical liturgies in the 1970s; Birth and Growth in Christ (1984); and An Anglican Prayer Book 1989. The article also includes valuable source material which influenced the revised liturgies, including two official reports on the theology of baptism and confirmation. The author finds that theological uncertainty surrounding the underpinning of current rites brings into question whether full church membership is actually granted during baptism.

Non-Geographic Classes? Reformed Geography

2013 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-68
Author(s):  
Leon van den Broeke
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
Reformed Church ◽  
Reformed Church In America ◽  
Theological Perspective ◽  
Reformed Churches ◽  
The Church

Abstract The Reformed Church in America is wrestling with an interesting question in ecclesiology and church order: is there a place within the church for so-called non-geographic classes. Non-geographic classes are classes which are not formed around a geographic regional principal, but by agreement in theological perspective or a peculiar way that a congregation is shaped. The question central to this article is then: is there a place in Reformed churches for non-geographical classes? In answering this question, the following will be considered: a similar proposal from the Gereformeerde Bond in the Netherlands Reformed Church in 1998; the geographic-regional principle; the Walloon Classis; the Classis of Holland; the Reformed Church in America; Flying, diocesan and titular bishops and finally a conclusion.

scholarly journals Kerk en burgerlike owerheid: Die Nederlandse geloofsbelydenis en drie kerkordes

2021 ◽  
Vol 77 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Piet J. Strauss
Keyword(s):  
Church And State ◽  
Church History ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Dynamic Relationship ◽  
Ten Commandments ◽  
Church Life ◽  
Reformed Churches ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Church

Church and state authorithy: The Confessio Belgica and three church orders. In reformed churches the Bible is regarded as the norm of the norms. The confessions of faith of these churches are the second norm and subjected to the Bible. The church order is less powerful than the Bible and the confessions but of a higher status than the normal decisions of church assemblies. Therefore, the influence of the Belgic Confession on three church orders is an important issue in these churches.The author recommends four principles to understand the relation between the church and the state authority in article 36 of the Belgic Confession: both should honour God in their activities; both are guided by the Ten Commandments; both have their own internal law to fulfil the purpose as an institution; and both should respect and co-operate with one another. Although they are not in agreement on every aspect, these principles give the guidance to understand the main issue in all four documents which are investigated. The theme of this article is of a theological and church historical nature and a contribution on a well-discussed topic in reformed churches.Contribution: It should be important for the reformed churches in the Dutch tradition that a dynamic relationship exists between their confessions of faith and their church orders. While the Bible is the first and most important norm for church life, the confessions are the second most important. Church history shows that the relationship between the church and state is of utmost importance for the church, the quality of the confessions and the order of the church.

Introduction

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-18
Author(s):  
Rebecca Maloy
Keyword(s):  
Primary Sources ◽  
Isidore Of Seville ◽  
History Of ◽  
Central Argument ◽  
Cultural Project ◽  
Church Councils ◽  
The Church ◽  
Christian Society

Provides an introduction to the book’s central objectives, to the Old Hispanic rite, and to the Visigothic cultural program. The book argues that much of the Old Hispanic chant was created as part of an intellectual and cultural project initiated by Iberian bishops in the late sixth and seventh centuries. A central part of this project was the education of clergy, and through this, the formation of a Nicene Christian society. Chant was a central part of this endeavor. The chapter examines primary sources related to the history of the Old Hispanic liturgy and chant, such as the church councils and the works of Isidore of Seville, and traces, in summary form, the later developments of the tradition. The author also provides an overview of each chapter’s central argument.

The bishops and the dissenters

2019 ◽  
pp. 40-49
Author(s):  
Maijastina Kahlos
Keyword(s):  
Religious Diversity ◽  
Imperial Power ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Church Councils ◽  
The Church

This chapter discusses the various ways in which bishops and church councils coped with religious diversity, attempting to enforce conformity of beliefs and rituals within Christianity. In their struggle to achieve religious unity, bishops enhanced the notion of religious unity, whether it was meant to exclude the option of other religions or the option of other Christian inclinations. In the relationship between imperial and ecclesiastical powers, there was both collaboration and rivalry. Emperors and bishops had shared interests as well as conflicting ones. The bishops made ample use of the means that the imperial power had at its disposal in disciplining and chastising religious dissidents through coercion, whether they were pagans outside the church or heretics within it. This does not mean that the emperors always fell neatly under the influence of bishops. The different aims frequently led to collisions of interests between the imperial government and the ecclesiastical establishment.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document