Calvin's Doctrine of the Church (92) : The church is one, holy, catholic, and apostolic; it is essential to Christian life; the True Church is of the predestined elect; the church is a sharing community. Calvin's Doctrine of Ministry (92) : Four offices. Pastors who preach, instruct, and administer sacraments; teachers (who are divinely appointed); elders, who watch over the moral life of the community; and deacons who manage church finances or minister to the poor and needy.
Canon of Scripture (1): Books considered sacred, authoritative. The books that a Christian can turn to for an authoritative account of the dealing of God with humankind. Canon is from the Greek and means "a rule" or "a measure".
Cappadocians (82) : Three bishops from Cappadocia, who were staunch supporters of the Nicene faith; Basil of Caesarea, Gregory of Nazianzus, and Gregory of Nyssa.
The Capuchins (96) : Reformed Franciscans, attempting to return to the early ideal. Formed by Matteo da Boscio in 1525. Friars Minor of the Eremitical Life.
William Carey (128): (1761-1834) Organizer of the Baptist Missionary Society. In 1793 he sailed for India, where, near Calcutta, he and his coworkers translated the Bible into the local languages (including Chinese) and founded a school for training Indian Christians. "Attempt great things for God; expect great things from God."
The Caroline Divines (95) : Anglican divines under Charles I; stressed Catholic elements of Anglican heritage and opposed Latitudinarians and Puritans.
Carthage (83) : Leading cultural center of North Africa around 200 A.D. Home of Cyprian and Augustine.
Casuistic Law (16): Case law. Ex 21:1-14, "When you buy a Hebrew slave, his service will last for six years...if he came single he will depart single".
Cathedral of the Twelve Apostles (79) : One of the first imperial churches in Constantinople.
Catherine of Siena (86) : (1347-1380) One of two women to be made "doctors of the Church". "Dialogue" is her crowning work, describing her religious experiences. "How foolish and blind are those who choose to cross through the water when the road has been built for them!"
Catholic Church (78) : Universal church, one ecumenical body.
Liberal Catholicism (99) : Originally part of the Ultramontanism movement, largely defined by Felicite de Lamennais (1782-1854). Main point of difference with Ultramontanism was the desire to disestablish the Church. Key points were ; complete religious liberty, educational liberty, liberty of the press, liberty of association, universal suffrage, and decentralization in the form of increased local autonomy and self-government. Chanukkah (Hanukkah) (38): Celebration in memorium of the rededication of the temple by Judas Maccabeus, December of 164 B.C.
Charisma (20): (Spiritual Gift, Gk) Possessed by the spirit of Yahweh. A leader who acts as Yahweh's own messenger.
Charlemagne (85) : (768-814) Charles the Great. First Holy Roman Emperor (December 25, 800 A.D.). Transformed the Frankish kingdom into a world power and removed the Pope from the control of the Byzantine Emperor.
Chasidim (38): Pious ones, saints. a. A quiet, pious orthodox group. b. A group devoted to the interpretation of the Torah. c. The apocalyptic writers. (43): Hebrew saints. Those who are especially close to God and have their prayers answered, sometimes miraculously.
Cherem (18): Dedication of the spoils of war to God. This meant that all the people were slain and all the property burned as an offering, except for those items specifically designated as booty.
Chesed (9): Love, in the sense of support, loyalty, concern, and trust. Gen 24:14 "...by this I shall know you have shown faithful love ...".
Christendom (79) : The domain of Christ, a social and religious complex with specific boundaries, created by Constantine. Dominant characteristic is, to identify the Gospel with the norms of the prevailing social structure.
The Chronicler (35): Writer of I and II Chronicles, Ezra, and Nehemiah. Probably an Aaronid priest.
Class Meetings (100): Wesley developed a structure of large societies broken into small "classes" of ten or twelve members. The classes would appoint a leader, and meet weekly for prayer, encouragement, and self- examination. Clement of Rome's Letter to the Corinthians (80) : Late first century. Earliest non-canonical Christian writing. An Exhortation to the Corinthians to settle their differences.
Clovis (85) : (466-511) Established the Frankish Merovingian kingdom, precursor to modern France. Baptized at 30, supported and encouraged the expansion of the Church.
Cluniac reforms (85) : (878-1049) Reforms centered at the Benedictine abbey of Cluny. Focused on restoring the monastic disciplines, encouraging art, and caring for the poor. John B. Cobb, Jr. (120): Process philosopher. Wrote "A Christian Natural Theology."
John Colet (93) : (1466-1519) Humanist, Dean of St. Paul's, London. Founded St. Paul's School as a center for humanist studies. Influenced Thomas More. Noted for lecturing on the Bible in a fresh way.
Collegia Pietatis (100): Circles of devotion. Philip Jakob Spener instituted collegia pietatis in 1666 in Frankfurt, which were small, private devotional gatherings to promote Christian fellowship and study scripture.
Base Communities (121): Religious-based communities that form for the purpose of consciousness raising.
Concordat of Worms (85) : (1122) Settled the issue of Lay Investiture. Pope Calixtus II and King Henry V of Germany agreed bishops would be invested with spiritual emblems by the Church, and with territorial emblems by the ruler.
James Cone (121): Black Liberation theologian, "American white theological thought has been 'patriotic'...[in which case] theology becomes a servant of the state."
Confession of Augsburg (90) : Written by Luther for the Augburg diet in 1530. Forms the basis for the Lutheran creed.
Confessions (83) : Book written by St. Augustine at the age of 43, an autobiography of his conversion.
Conscience (110): Due to John Henry Newman. Our capacity for discernment which allows us to know God and God's character IS our conscience.
Consciousness raising (121):The first step in liberation theology. This is the process whereby the oppressed become aware of their oppression, and aware that their oppression is the work of man, not God.
The Consiliar Theory (88) : Movement of the early 1400's that maintained that general councils had supreme authority in the Church, even over Popes. Councils of Pisa (1409), Constance (1414-1418), and Basel (1431-1439) operated this way.
Constantinople (79) : New capital of Constantine's empire, formerly Byzantium. Inaugurated in 330 AD.
Consubstantial (82) : English translation of Greek homoousios, having the same essence as.
Contextualization (128): See indigenization.
Copernicus (112): (1473-1543) Published "On the Revolution of the Heavenly Bodies" in which he expressed the idea that the Earth moved around the Sun. Added to the Index of Prohibited Books in 1616.
Corrupt Texts (1): Passages altered by copyist error or by mis-reading.
Covenant (1): An agreement, or pact between two parties. (6): A contract that may not place conditions on both parties. The very first covenant (Gen 9:8-17) God promises not to destroy the world and asks for nothing in return.
Creative Events (120): Due to Whitehead, unit of process or self-produced happening.
Creative Advance (120): Due to Whitehead, the whole process of reality is enhanced by the acceptance of the divine lure towards wholesomeness. It makes a creative advance into a beneficial future.
Criterion of Dissimilarity (58): If a statement attributed to Jesus is foreign to first century Judaism, the early Church, and the ancient world, it is probably historically accurate.
Criterion of Consistency (58): Fictional characters rarely show depth and consistency.
Critical Theory (121): Claim that Christian theology had become an abstract form of theorizing, not a critical form, until liberation theology.
Biblical Criticism (44): Science of dealing with the text, character, composition, and origin of the Bible. (99) : The process of subjecting the Bible to a relatively dispassionate and objective analysis.
Canonical Criticism (45): Tries to understand why the text is sacred, and how it relates to the rest of canon.
Historical Criticism (44): Who wrote the Bible, why, when, where, and for whom. Critical efforts focused on the historical character of the Bible stories.
Literary Criticism (45): Older phrase for source criticism.
Redaction Criticism (45): Assumes that the material is edited, and tries to understand why various parts were included or excluded, or edited in other ways.
Source Criticism (44): What were the sources used in writing a book?
Structural Criticism (45): Tries to understand how the text affects us, regardless of original intent.
Textual Criticism (44): What was actually written? Critical efforts focused on developing the most accurate texts and translations possible.
Oliver Cromwell (95) : (1599-1658) Became general of the New Model Army, formed to oppose Charles I and support Parliament. From 1653-1658 he ruled England as Lord Protector and Head of State.
Thomas Cromwell (93) : Vicar general for Henry VIII. He worked to insure Henry's dominance, dissolved the monasteries, and built an alliance with Germany (via Henry's marriage to Anne of Cleves) to counteract Spain and France. Was executed.
Cultural Anthropology (112): The study of other races, cultures, and religions. Began in the late nineteenth century.
Cursillo (127): A renewal movement that began in the Roman Catholic church in 1949, and spread to the Episcopal church in 1972. It is focused on providing an experiential witness of Christian love to help participants to make a real, emotional commitment to Christ. It also provides for a lasting, and continuing support structure after the initial intense experience.
Cyprian (83) : Born about 200 in Carthage. Became Bishop of Carthage and served during the persecution of Decius. Wrote "On the Unity of the Church". Emphasized "there is no salvation outside the Church", salus extra ecclesiam non est. Martyred in 258.
Cyril (79) : Bishop of Jerusalem in the fourth century. His twenty-four Lenten and Easter lectures describing the church rites were transcribed and survived to this day.
Cyrus (34): Conquerer of Babylon who sent the Hebrews back to Israel and Jerusalem. Around 550 B.C.