Reformed Christianity

Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. Today, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed, Presbyterian, and Congregational traditions, as well as parts of the Anglican (known as "Episcopal" in some regions), Baptist and Waldensian traditions.

Reformed theology emphasizes the authority of the Bible and the sovereignty of God, as well as covenant theology, a way of understanding the Bible based on God's promises to people. Reformed churches focus on simple worship. They have different ways of organizing their churches, including presbyterian, congregational, and some episcopal styles.

The Reformed tradition developed over several generations, especially in areas of Switzerland, Scotland and the Netherlands. It had a big influence on social, economic, and political life by encouraging hard work, trade, and wealth accumulation within ethical limits. This helped lay the groundwork for modern capitalism, especially in Northern Europe and the United States. It also inspired early democratic practices, separation of powers, and protections for religious minorities, shaping colonies in North America and liberal political thought in England.

Definition and terminology

Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, started during the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century. It began in Switzerland and Germany and later spread to the Dutch Republic. The name Calvinism comes from John Calvin, a famous theologian from Geneva, Switzerland. Some people argue that using the term Calvinism can be confusing.

Reformed Christianity began with Huldrych Zwingli in Zürich, Switzerland. After disagreements with Martin Luther's followers, Zwingli's group became known as Reformed Christians. They believed in a spiritual presence of Christ during special church meals, unlike Lutherans who believed in a physical presence.

Over time, Reformed ideas spread to other groups, including some Anglicans in England. While these groups kept some old traditions, they also shared many beliefs with Reformed Christians. Some Baptists who agreed with Reformed ideas are also sometimes included, though not all agree on this.

History

Main article: History of Reformed Christianity

Reformed Christianity started in the 1500s during a big change in the Christian church called the Protestant Reformation. Important early leaders like Zwingli, Martin Bucer, and John Calvin believed the Bible was the most important guide for faith. They taught that God chooses who will be saved and that people are saved by God's kindness, not by their own actions.

John Calvin wrote a very important book called Institutes of the Christian Religion, which helped shape Reformed beliefs. These ideas spread across Europe. Calvin’s teachings became popular in places like Scotland, the Netherlands, and parts of Germany. Over time, Reformed Christianity also grew in places like North America, South Africa, and Korea.

Calvin’s writings shared his ideas about how a church should be run correctly, reaching many parts of Europe. In Switzerland, some areas still follow Reformed traditions today. Calvinism became the main belief in Scotland, the Dutch Republic, and parts of Germany near the Netherlands. It also found a home in eastern Hungary and Transylvania.

Though Calvinism began in Geneva, it spread to many countries. In places like Poland and France, it grew but later faced challenges. Many people from Europe, including those from Britain and France, brought Calvinist ideas to the Thirteen Colonies in America and to South Africa. Today, Reformed Christianity continues to be strong, especially in countries like South Korea, where many people belong to Presbyterian churches.

Demography

A report from 2011 by the Pew Forum on Religious and Public Life says that about 56 million people, or 7% of all Protestants, belong to Presbyterian or Reformed churches.

In 2020, there were around 65 million Presbyterian and Reformed Christians, and about 5 million Congregationalists, making a total of nearly 71 million people. This group makes up less than 1% of the world's population. There were also about 78 million people in United Churches, many of which were formed by combining Reformed churches with other Protestant groups.

World Communions

The World Communion of Reformed Churches has 80 million members and is the fourth largest group of Christian churches. It includes some United Churches. There are also other groups of Reformed churches, such as the World Reformed Fellowship and the International Conference of Reformed Churches, which focus on more traditional beliefs.

Theology

Reformed Christianity, also known as Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. Today, it is mainly represented by Continental Reformed, Presbyterian, and Congregational traditions, as well as parts of the Anglican, Baptist, and Waldensian traditions.

Reformed theology emphasizes the authority of the Bible and the sovereignty of God. It also focuses on covenant theology, which is a way of understanding the Bible based on God's promises and agreements with people. This includes ideas about how God communicates with people and the importance of the Bible in learning about God.

Reformed Christians believe that God made a promise with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, and later offered salvation to those who believe in God. They also believe in the Trinity — that God is one but exists as three persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

The theology also discusses Jesus' life and work, explaining how his death and resurrection allow people to be forgiven and reconciled with God. It teaches that because of human imperfection, people need God's help to live right, and that God chooses who will be saved.

Finally, Reformed Christians think about the church as a community of believers and have specific ways of worship and practices like baptism and the Lord's Supper.

Branches

The Reformed tradition is historically represented by the Continental, Presbyterian, Reformed Anglican, Congregationalist, Calvinistic Methodist and Reformed Baptist denominational families.

Reformed churches practice several forms of church government, primarily presbyterian and congregational, but some adhere to episcopal polity. The largest interdenominational association is the World Communion of Reformed Churches with more than 100 million members in 211 member denominations around the world. Smaller, conservative Reformed associations include the World Reformed Fellowship and the International Conference of Reformed Churches.

Continental

Main article: Continental Reformed Protestantism

"Continental" Reformed churches originate in continental Europe, a term used by English speakers to distinguish them from traditions from the British Isles. Many uphold the Helvetic Confessions and Heidelberg Catechism, which were adopted in Zurich and Heidelberg, respectively. In the United States, immigrants belonging to the continental Reformed churches joined the Dutch Reformed Church there, as well as the Anglican Church.

Presbyterian

Main article: Presbyterianism

Presbyterian churches are named for their order of government by assemblies of elders, or presbyters. They are especially influenced by John Knox, who brought Reformed theology and polity to the Church of Scotland after spending time on the continent in Calvin's Geneva. Presbyterians historically uphold the Westminster Confession of Faith.

Congregational

Main article: Congregationalism

Congregationalism originates in Puritanism, a sixteenth-century movement to reform the Church of England. Unlike the Presbyterians, Congregationalists consider the local church to be rightfully self-ruled by their own officers, not higher ecclesiastical courts. The Savoy Declaration, a revision of Westminster, is the primary confession of historic Congregationalism. Evangelical Congregationalists are internationally represented by the World Evangelical Congregational Fellowship. Christian denominations in the Congregationalist tradition include the United Church of Christ, the National Association of Congregational Christian Churches and the Conservative Congregational Christian Conference in the United States, Evangelical Congregational Church in Argentina and Evangelical Fellowship of Congregational Churches in the United Kingdom, among others.

Anglican

Main article: Reformed theology in Anglicanism

Though Anglicanism today is often described its own branch of Protestantism, historic Anglicanism is a part of the wider Reformed tradition. The foundational documents of the Anglican church "express a theology in keeping with the Reformed theology of the Swiss and South German Reformation." The Most Rev. Peter Robinson, presiding bishop of the United Episcopal Church of North America, writes:

Cranmer's personal journey of faith left its mark on the Church of England in the form of a Liturgy that remains to this day more closely allied to Lutheran practice, but that liturgy is couple to a doctrinal stance that is broadly, but decidedly Reformed. ... The 42 Articles of 1552 and the 39 Articles of 1563, both commit the Church of England to the fundamentals of the Reformed Faith. Both sets of Articles affirm the centrality of Scripture, and take a monergist position on Justification. Both sets of Articles affirm that the Church of England accepts the doctrine of predestination and election as a 'comfort to the faithful' but warn against over much speculation concerning that doctrine. Indeed a casual reading of the Wurttemburg Confession of 1551, the Second Helvetic Confession, the Scots Confession of 1560, and the XXXIX Articles of Religion reveal them to be cut from the same bolt of cloth.

Reformed Methodist

Reformed Methodists, also known as Calvinistic Methodists, form a minority of the Methodist tradition. The majority of Methodism falls outside the Reformed faith, being Wesleyan Methodism, which subscribes to Wesleyan-Arminian theology. Calvinistic Methodists adhere to Reformed theology codified in the "Confession of Faith of the Calvinistic Methodists" (1823). In the United Kingdom, the Calvinistic Methodist Church is also known as the Presbyterian Church of Wales. Calvinistic Methodists are characterized by their emphasis on Methodist worship distinctives—preaching, hymn singing, lovefeasts, revival services, and camp meetings, as well as the Methodist doctrines of the New Birth and growth in grace. Reformed Methodist divines include George Whitefield and Howell Harris.

Reformed Baptist

Main article: Reformed Baptists

Reformed Baptists or Calvinistic Baptists, unlike other Reformed groups, exclusively practice believer's baptism. They observe a more congregational polity, taken from the Congregationalists. Their primary confession is the Second London Confession of Faith of 1689, a revision of the Savoy Declaration from the Congregationalists, and the Westminster Confession of Faith, from the Presbyterians, but other Baptist confessions like the First London Confession are also used. Not all Baptists are Particular Baptists, and, in fact, the Baptist tradition didn't start Particular Baptist, but General Baptist.^{[citation needed]} Many Reformed Baptists accept Reformed theology, especially soteriology, and a covenantal theology, named the Baptist covenant theology.

Variants in Reformed theology

Amyraldism

Main article: Amyraldism

Amyraldism is a belief that God first decided that Christ's atonement would be for everyone who believes. Because no one can believe on their own, God then chooses those he will help to believe in Christ. This keeps the idea that God chooses people without their help.

Hyper-Calvinism

Main article: Hyper-Calvinism

Hyper-Calvinism is a belief that God is so powerful in choosing who will be saved that it says people do not need to repent or believe the good news. This idea became known among some early English Particular Baptists in the 1700s. Some leaders like John Gill supported it, but others like Andrew Fuller and William Carey argued that everyone should still be told the good news.

Neo-Calvinism

Main article: Neo-Calvinism

Neo-Calvinism began in the 1880s in the Netherlands, started by Abraham Kuyper. He wanted to remind people that Christ is important in every part of life. He famously said that no part of life should be kept separate from Christ.

Christian Reconstructionism

Main article: Christian Reconstructionism

Christian Reconstructionism is a movement started by R. J. Rushdoony. It believes in following old rules very strictly and has influenced some groups in the United States. It became most known in the 1990s and still exists in small groups today.

New Calvinism

Main article: New Calvinism

New Calvinism is a modern way of following the old beliefs of Calvinism from the 1500s. It tries to fit these ideas into today’s world. In 2009, a magazine called Time said it was one of the important ideas changing the world. Some leaders in this movement include John Piper, Mark Driscoll, Al Mohler, Mark Dever, C. J. Mahaney, and Tim Keller.

Social and economic influences

See also: Protestant work ethic

In a letter from 1545, a religious leader talked about charging interest on loans. He believed some old rules about this topic didn’t apply anymore and that it was okay to charge a small amount of interest, like 5%, unless someone really needed help and couldn’t pay back much.

Later, a writer named Max Weber suggested that the ideas from this religious group helped shape modern business and trade, especially in parts of Europe. These ideas encouraged people to work hard, start their own businesses, and build wealth for future investments. Some people even say that the early history of the United States was influenced by these same ideas.

Politics and society

After Calvin's death, his ideas began to shape politics and society. In the Netherlands, after winning independence from Spain in 1579, leaders allowed people with different beliefs to live safely. This included groups like the French Huguenots, English Independents, and Jews from Spain and Portugal.

These ideas also helped create modern democracy in places like England and North America. Leaders believed that government and religious groups should stay separate. They thought ordinary people should have rights and freedoms, and they created systems to prevent any one group from having too much power.

In the United States, early leaders like the Pilgrims and others created colonies with democratic governments. They believed that allowing different religious views was important, even if they did not agree with everyone. These colonies became safe places for people who were treated unfairly in their home countries.

Later, churches inspired by Calvin's teachings helped improve society. They worked to end slavery, support women's rights, and improve conditions for people in prison. They also started groups to help poor communities and founded hospitals and schools. Even today, many important universities and art movements were influenced by these ideas.