|
The Christian Connection or Christian Connexion was a Christian movement in the United States of America that developed in several places during the late 18th and early 19th centuries; it was made up of secessions from several different religious denominations. It was influenced by settling the frontier as well as the formation of the new United States and its separation from Great Britain. The Christian Connection claimed to have no creed, instead professing to rely strictly on the Bible. In practice, members tended to cluster around various shared theological concepts, such as an Arminian theological anthropology (i.e. doctrine of human nature), a rejection of the Calvinist doctrine of election, and an autonomous form of church government. The Connexion's periodical, the ''Herald of Gospel Liberty'' (first published on September 1, 1808), was among the first religious journals published in the United States.〔Mark Fackler and Charles H. Lippy, eds., Popular Religious Magazines of the United States (Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1995), 263-268.〕 ==Predecessor groups== James O'Kelly was an early advocate of seeking unity through a return to New Testament Christianity.〔Jeff McFadden, ''One Baptism'', published by Lulu.com, 2006, ISBN 1-84728-381-0, ISBN 978-1-84728-381-8, 248 pages〕 In 1792, dissatisfied with the role of bishops in the Methodist Episcopal Church, he separated from that body. O'Kelly's movement, centering in Virginia and North Carolina, was originally called the Republican Methodist Church. In 1794 they adopted the name Christian Church.〔Thomas H. Olbricht, ("Who Are the Churches of Christ? )〕 During the same period, Elias Smith of Vermont and Abner Jones of New Hampshire led a movement espousing views similar to those of O’Kelly.〔〔Douglas Allen Foster and Anthony L. Dunnavant, ''The Encyclopedia of the Stone-Campbell Movement: Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Christian Churches/Churches of Christ, Churches of Christ'', Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2004, ISBN 0-8028-3898-7, ISBN 978-0-8028-3898-8, 854 pages, entry on ''Christian Connection''〕 They believed that members could, by looking to scripture alone, simply be Christians without being bound to human traditions and the denominations that had been brought over from Europe.〔〔 Working independently at first, Jones and Smith joined together in their efforts and began exclusively using the name ''Christian''. In 1801, the Cane Ridge Revival led by Barton W. Stone in Kentucky would plant the seed for a movement in Kentucky and the Ohio River valley to disassociate from denominationalism. Stone and five other ministers published ''The Last Will and Testament of the Springfield Presbytery'' in 1804, giving up denominational ties to the Presbyterian Church and preferring to be known simply as ''Christians''. Stone was influenced by his earlier involvement with O'Kelly and knew of the Republican Methodist practice of simply using the name ''Christian''. Ideologically, the New England movement displayed an extreme form of republicanism. Convinced that the American Revolution demanded a thorough and utter break with European modes of operation, members tended to demand radical reform of politics, the legal system, medicine and religion. Elias Smith's career particularly emphasized medical and spiritual reform. All visible forms of church government were to be rejected, he argued, because they were inherently “British”. The movement’s nativist approach to theology and church polity imparted a unique flavor to the movement, placing them distinctly on the fringe of early nineteenth-century North American spirituality. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Christian Connection」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|