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119-563: As early as the 2nd century AD , infant baptism had begun to gain acceptance among Christians for the spiritual purification and social initiation of infants. Normally, these sponsors were the birth parents of a child, as emphasized in 408 by St. Augustine who suggested that the sponsors could be other individuals in exceptional circumstances. Within a century, the Corpus Juris Civilis indicates that parents had been replaced in this role almost completely by those who were not

238-652: A revival known as the Erweckung , or Awakening . In 1806, Napoleon's invasion of Germany promoted Rationalism and angered German Lutherans, stirring up a desire among the people to preserve Luther's theology from the Rationalist threat. Those associated with this Awakening held that reason was insufficient and pointed out the importance of emotional religious experiences. Small groups sprang up, often in universities, which devoted themselves to Bible study, reading devotional writings, and revival meetings. Although

357-591: A century of vitality, the Pietist theologians Philipp Jakob Spener and August Hermann Francke warned that orthodoxy had degenerated into meaningless intellectualism and formalism , while orthodox theologians found the emotional and subjective focuses of Pietism to be vulnerable to Rationalist propaganda. In 1688, the Finnish Radical Pietist Lars Ulstadius ran down the main aisle of Turku Cathedral naked while screaming that

476-485: A century or millennium , as in "fourth century AD" or "second millennium AD" (although conservative usage formerly rejected such expressions). Since "BC" is the English abbreviation for Before Christ , it is sometimes incorrectly concluded that AD means After Death (i.e., after the death of Jesus ), which would mean that the approximately 33 years commonly associated with the life of Jesus would be included in neither

595-605: A confirmed Catholic who has received the Eucharist , not under any canonical penalty, and may not be the parent of the child. Someone who belongs to another Christian church cannot become a godparent but can be a 'witness' in conjunction with a Catholic sponsor. A witness does not have any religious role recognized by the Church. In 2015, the Vatican declared that transgender Catholics cannot become godparents, stating in response to

714-517: A couple's wedding. Godparents are noted features of fairy tales and folklore written from the 17th century onwards, and by extension, have found their way into many modern works of fiction. In Godfather Death , presented by the Brothers Grimm , the archetype is, unusually, a supernatural godfather. However, most are a fairy godmother as in versions of Cinderella , Sleeping Beauty , and The Blue Bird . This feature may simply reflect

833-484: A godfather and his goddaughter, and these barriers continued to multiply until the 11th century, forbidding marriage between natural and spiritual parents, or those directly related to them. As confirmation emerged as a separate rite from baptism from the 8th century, a second set of sponsors, with similar prohibitions, also emerged. The exact extent of these spiritual relationships as a bar to marriage in Catholicism

952-627: A godparent during forty-seven baptisms. The Reformed Church in Geneva , in order to ensure confessional orthodoxy, "expected parents to select Reformed godparents." Today, many Reformed churches invite parents to select godparents for their prospective neophyte, while other parishes entrust this responsibility to the whole congregation . The Catholic institution of godparenthood survived the Reformation largely unchanged. A godparent must normally be an appropriate person, at least sixteen years of age,

1071-522: A godparent to the first or all children of the marriage. In some instances, the godfather is responsible for naming the child. A godparent to a child will then act as a sponsor at the child's wedding. Godparents are expected to be in good standing in the Orthodox church, including its rulings on divorce, and aware of the meaning and responsibilities of their role. In the Reformed tradition that includes

1190-543: A reform movement beginning in 1830. He also wrote about 1,500 hymns, including God's Word Is Our Great Heritage . In Norway , Hans Nielsen Hauge , a lay street preacher, emphasized spiritual discipline and sparked the Haugean movement, which was followed by the Johnsonian Awakening within the state-church as spearheaded by its namesake, dogmatician and Pietist Gisle Johnson . The Awakening drove

1309-462: A return to the orthodox theologians of the 17th century and opposed modern Bible scholarship. As editor of the periodical Evangelische Kirchenzeitung , he developed it into a major support of Neo-Lutheran revival and used it to attack all forms of theological liberalism and rationalism. Although he received a large amount of slander and ridicule during his forty years at the head of revival, he never gave up his positions. The theological faculty at

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1428-492: A rival of orthodoxy but adopted some devotional literature by orthodox theologians, including Arndt, Christian Scriver , and Stephan Prätorius . Rationalist philosophers from France and England had an enormous impact during the 18th century, along with the German Rationalists Christian Wolff , Gottfried Leibniz , and Immanuel Kant . Their work led to an increase in rationalist beliefs, "at

1547-518: A similar theology of godparents as Catholics. They believe that godparents "help [children] with their Christian upbringing, especially if they should lose their parents". Lutherans, like Catholics, believe that a godparent must be both a baptized and confirmed Christian. Some Lutherans also follow the Catholic tradition that a Christian who is not affiliated with the Lutheran denomination may serve as

1666-624: A single child. In England, the Synod of Worcester (1240) stipulated three sponsors (two of the same sex and one of the opposite), and this has remained the norm in the Church of England . The Council of Trent attempted to limit the numbers of godparents to one or two, but practice has differed across the Catholic world. The Church of England , the mother Church of the Anglican Communion , retained godparents in baptism, formally removing

1785-454: A theological and historical defence against the historical criticism of the Bible. Dissenting Lutheran pastors were often reprimanded by the government bureaucracy overseeing them, for example, when they tried to correct Rationalist influences in the parish school. As a result of the impact of a local form of rationalism, termed Neology , by the latter half of the 18th century, genuine piety

1904-411: A transgender man's query that transgender status "reveals in a public way an attitude opposite to the moral imperative of solving the problem of sexual identity according to the truth of one's own sexuality" and that, "[t]herefore it is evident that this person does not possess the requirement of leading a life according to the faith and in the position of godfather and is therefore unable to be admitted to

2023-501: A witness rather than a godparent. The Book of Discipline stipulates that it is the duty of a godparent, also known as a sponsor, "to provide training for the children of the Church throughout their childhood that will lead to a personal commitment to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior , to an understanding of the Christian faith, and to an appreciation of the privileges and obligations of baptism and membership (¶ 225.4)." John Wesley ,

2142-606: Is Medieval Latin and means "in the year of the Lord" but is often presented using "our Lord" instead of "the Lord", taken from the full original phrase " anno Domini nostri Jesu Christi ", which translates to "in the year of our Lord Jesus Christ ". The form "BC" is specific to English , and equivalent abbreviations are used in other languages: the Latin form, rarely used in English, is ante Christum natum (ACN) or ante Christum (AC). This calendar era takes as its epoch

2261-413: Is a 27-year difference between AP and AD reference. The date of birth of Jesus of Nazareth is not stated in the gospels or in any secular text, but most scholars assume a date of birth between 6 BC and 4 BC. The historical evidence is too fragmentary to allow a definitive dating, but the date is estimated through two different approaches—one by analyzing references to known historical events mentioned in

2380-643: Is a carrier of the "Word of God", or that only the communion of the Bishop of Rome has been entrusted to interpret the "Word of God". The Reformation in Sweden began with Olaus and Laurentius Petri , brothers who took the Reformation to Sweden after studying in Germany. They led Gustav Vasa , elected king in 1523, to Lutheranism. The pope's refusal to allow the replacement of an archbishop who had supported

2499-429: Is no requirement for clergy to baptise those from outside their parishes, and baptism can be reasonably delayed so that the conditions, including suitable godparents, can be met. As a result, individual clergy have considerable discretion over the qualifications of godparents. Many "contemporary Anglican rites likewise require parents and godparents to respond on behalf of infant [baptismal] candidates." Lutherans follow

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2618-603: Is possibly an allusion to Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor , while the dog possibly refers to Peter Canisius . Another figure interpreted as a snail carrying a church tower is possibly a metaphor for the Protestant church. Also on the rock is the number 1599 and a phrase translating as "thus gets in the world". The historical period of Lutheran Orthodoxy is divided into three sections: Early Orthodoxy (1580–1600), High Orthodoxy (1600–1685), and Late Orthodoxy (1685–1730). Lutheran scholasticism developed gradually, especially for

2737-494: Is seen as God's Word because it has the same meaning as the original Hebrew and Greek. A mistranslation is not God's word, and no human authority can invest it with divine authority. Historically, Lutherans understand the Bible to present all doctrines and commands of the Christian faith clearly . In addition, Lutherans believe that God's Word is freely accessible to every reader or hearer of ordinary intelligence, without requiring any special education. A Lutheran must understand

2856-421: Is some evidence that the restored institution had lost some of its social importance as well as its universality. At present, in the Church of England, relatives can stand as godparents, and although it is not clear that parents can be godparents, they sometimes are. Godparents should be both baptised and confirmed (although it is not clear in which Church), but the requirement for confirmation can be waived. There

2975-713: The Byzantine Era . No single Anno Mundi epoch was dominant throughout the Christian world . Eusebius of Caesarea in his Chronicle used an era beginning with the birth of Abraham , dated in 2016 BC (AD 1 = 2017 Anno Abrahami). Spain and Portugal continued to date by the Spanish Era (also called Era of the Caesars ), which began counting from 38 BC, well into the Middle Ages. In 1422, Portugal became

3094-530: The Byzantine calendar in 1700 when Russia did so, with others adopting it in the 19th and 20th centuries. Although anno Domini was in widespread use by the 9th century, the term "Before Christ" (or its equivalent) did not become common until much later. Bede used the expression "anno [...] ante incarnationem Dominicam" (in the year before the incarnation of the Lord) twice. "Anno ante Christi nativitatem" (in

3213-615: The Carolingian Empire ultimately lies at the core of the system's prevalence. According to the Catholic Encyclopedia , popes continued to date documents according to regnal years for some time, but usage of AD gradually became more common in Catholic countries from the 11th to the 14th centuries. In 1422, Portugal became the last Western European country to switch to the system begun by Dionysius. Eastern Orthodox countries only began to adopt AD instead of

3332-817: The Church Ordinance , should rest was "The pure word of God, which is the Law and the Gospel". It does not mention the Augsburg Confession . The priests had to understand the Holy Scripture well enough to preach and explain the Gospel and the Epistles to their congregations. The youths were taught from Luther's Small Catechism , available in Danish since 1532. They were taught to expect at

3451-555: The Continental Reformed , Congregationalist and Presbyterian Churches, the godparents are more often referred to as sponsors , who have the role of standing with the child during infant baptism and pledging to instruct the child in the faith. In the baptismal liturgy of Reformed Geneva , "the traditional presence of godparents was retained". John Calvin , the progenitor of the Reformed tradition, himself served as

3570-630: The Council of Trent , which contends that final authority comes from both Scripture and tradition . Unlike Calvinism , Lutheranism retains many of the liturgical practices and sacramental teachings of the pre-Reformation Western Church, with a particular emphasis on the Eucharist , or Lord's Supper, although Eastern Lutheranism uses the Byzantine Rite . Lutheran theology differs from Reformed theology in Christology , divine grace ,

3689-650: The Creed , the Lord's Prayer , and the Ten Commandments , and all other things which a Christian ought to know and believe to his soul's health; and that this child be virtuously brought up, to lead a godly and a Christian life." As such, the Book of Worship states that godparents/sponsors should be "selected carefully" and "should be members of Christ's holy Church; and it is the duty of pastors to instruct them concerning

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3808-586: The Edict of Worms , in which the Diet condemned Luther and officially banned subjects of the Holy Roman Empire from defending or propagating Luther's ideas, facing advocates of Lutheranism with forfeiture of all property. Half of it would be then forfeited to the imperial government and the remaining half to the accusing party. The divide centered primarily on two points: the proper source of authority in

3927-498: The French marraine and parrain , and the archaic meaning of the English word gossip (from godsib, "godsibling"), describe these relationships. The Spanish and Portuguese words for the godparent roles are used for members of the wedding party — padrino/padrinho meaning "godfather" or " best man " and madrina/madrinha meaning "godmother" or " matron of honor ", reflecting the custom of baptismal sponsors acting in this role in

4046-739: The Inner Mission focused on renewing the situation home. Johann Gottfried Herder , superintendent at Weimar and part of the Inner Mission movement, joined with the Romantic movement with his quest to preserve human emotion and experience from Rationalism. Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg , though raised Reformed, became convinced of the truth of historic Lutheranism as a young man. He led the Neo-Lutheran Repristination School of theology, which advocated

4165-518: The Jewish circumcision ceremony that are sometimes translated as godparent . The sandek , in Orthodox Judaism a man, sits on a specially designated chair, and holds the baby boy while he is circumcised. Among Orthodox Ashkenazi , the kvater is the married couple who bring the child from his mother to where the circumcision is performed. The mother gives the baby to the woman, who gives

4284-554: The Julian or Gregorian calendars , AD 1 is immediately preceded by 1 BC, with nothing in between them (there was no year zero ). There are debates as to whether a new decade, century, or millennium begins on a year ending in zero or one. For computational reasons, astronomical year numbering and the ISO 8601 standard designate years so that AD 1 = year 1, 1 BC = year 0, 2 BC = year −1, etc. In common usage, ancient dates are expressed in

4403-751: The Prussian Union of Churches . The unification of the two branches of German Protestantism sparked the Schism of the Old Lutherans . Many Lutherans, called " Old Lutherans ", chose to leave the state churches despite imprisonment and military force. Some formed independent church bodies, or " free churches ", at home while others left for the United States, Canada and Australia. A similar legislated merger in Silesia prompted thousands to join

4522-780: The University of Erlangen in Bavaria became another force for reform. There, professor Adolf von Harless , though previously an adherent of rationalism and German idealism , made Erlangen a magnet for revival oriented theologians. Termed the Erlangen School of theology, they developed a new version of the Incarnation , which they felt emphasized the humanity of Jesus better than the ecumenical creeds. As theologians, they used both modern historical critical and Hegelian philosophical methods instead of attempting to revive

4641-532: The higher critical method. The 2008 U.S. Religious Landscape Survey conducted by the Pew Research Center surveyed 1,926 adults in the United States that self-identified as Lutheran. The study found that 30% believed that the Bible was the Word of God and was to be taken literally word for word. 40% held that the Bible was the Word of God, but was not literally true word for word or were unsure. 23% said

4760-488: The theology of Martin Luther as Lutherans. Martin Luther always disliked the term Lutheran , preferring the term evangelical , which was derived from εὐαγγέλιον euangelion , a Greek word meaning "good news", i.e. " Gospel ". The followers of John Calvin , Huldrych Zwingli , and other theologians linked to the Reformed tradition also used that term. To distinguish the two evangelical groups, others began to refer to

4879-477: The Americas usually agree to teach in harmony with the entire Lutheran confessions. Some Lutheran church bodies require this pledge to be unconditional because they believe the confessions correctly state what the Bible teaches. Others allow their congregations to do so "insofar as" the confessions are in agreement with the Bible. In addition, Lutherans accept the teachings of the first seven ecumenical councils of

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4998-572: The BC nor the AD time scales. The anno Domini dating system was devised in 525 by Dionysius Exiguus to enumerate years in his Easter table . His system was to replace the Diocletian era that had been used in older Easter tables , as he did not wish to continue the memory of a tyrant who persecuted Christians . The last year of the old table, Diocletian Anno Martyrium 247, was immediately followed by

5117-401: The Bible was the written Word of God, and the only infallible guide for faith and practice. He held that every passage of Scripture has one straightforward meaning, the literal sense as interpreted by other Scripture. These teachings were accepted during the orthodox Lutheranism of the 17th century. During the 18th century, Rationalism advocated reason rather than the authority of the Bible as

5236-518: The Bible was written by men and not the Word of God. 7% did not know, were not sure, or had other positions. Although many Lutherans today hold less specific views of inspiration , historically, Lutherans affirm that the Bible does not merely contain the Word of God, but every word of it is, because of plenary, verbal inspiration, the direct, immediate word of God. The Apology of the Augsburg Confession identifies Holy Scripture with

5355-668: The Catholic milieu in which most fairy tales were created, or at least recorded, and the accepted role of godparents as helpers from outside the family, but English historian Marina Warner suggests that they may be a form of wish fulfilment by female narrators. In the Yoruba religion Santería , godparents must have completed their santo or their Ifá . A person gets his Madrina and Yubona (co-godmother) or his Padrino and Yubon (co-godfather). A santero, aside from his co-godparents, may have an oluo (babalawo, initiate of ifa) who consults him with an ekuele (divining chain). There are two roles in

5474-509: The Julian calendar, but ISO 8601 uses the Gregorian calendar and astronomers may use a variety of time scales depending on the application. Thus dates using the year 0 or negative years may require further investigation before being converted to BC or AD. Lutheran Bible Translators Theologians Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that identifies primarily with

5593-711: The Lithuanian nobility converting to Lutheranism or Calvinism , but at the end of the 17th century Protestantism at large began losing support due to the Counter-Reformation and religious persecutions . In German-ruled Lithuania Minor , however, Lutheranism remained the dominant branch of Christianity. Lutheranism played a crucial role in preserving the Lithuanian language . Since 1520, regular Lutheran services have been held in Copenhagen . Under

5712-702: The Nativity accounts in the Gospels of Luke and Matthew and the second by working backwards from the estimation of the start of the ministry of Jesus . The Anglo-Saxon historian Bede , who was familiar with the work of Dionysius Exiguus, used anno Domini dating in his Ecclesiastical History of the English People , which he completed in AD 731. In the History he also used the Latin phrase ante [...] incarnationis dominicae tempus anno sexagesimo ("in

5831-538: The Old Lutheran movement. The dispute over ecumenism overshadowed other controversies within German Lutheranism. Despite political meddling in church life, local and national leaders sought to restore and renew Christianity. Neo-Lutheran Johann Konrad Wilhelm Löhe and Old Lutheran free church leader Friedrich August Brünn both sent young men overseas to serve as pastors to German Americans , while

5950-502: The Pietist movement's drive to right social wrongs and focus on individual conversion. The Neo-Lutheran call to renewal failed to achieve widespread popular acceptance because it both began and continued with a lofty, idealistic Romanticism that did not connect with an increasingly industrialized and secularized Europe. The work of local leaders resulted in specific areas of vibrant spiritual renewal, but people in Lutheran areas became increasingly distant from church life. Additionally,

6069-459: The Reformation era. The doctrinal positions of Lutheran churches are not uniform because the Book of Concord does not hold the same position in all Lutheran churches. For example, the state churches in Scandinavia consider only the Augsburg Confession as a "summary of the faith" in addition to the three ecumenical creeds. Lutheran pastors, congregations, and church bodies in Germany and

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6188-427: The Roman Catholic Church with regard to the authority of the institutional church , ex opere operato effectiveness of the sacraments, and the divine authority of clergy. Unlike Catholics, however, they also urged complete agreement with the Book of Concord . The Neo-Lutheran movement managed to slow secularism and counter atheistic Marxism , but it did not fully succeed in Europe. It partly succeeded in continuing

6307-435: The Word of God and calls the Holy Spirit the author of the Bible. Because of this, Lutherans confess in the Formula of Concord , "we receive and embrace with our whole heart the prophetic and apostolic Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments as the pure, clear fountain of Israel". The prophetic and apostolic Scriptures are confessed as authentic and written by the prophets and apostles. A correct translation of their writings

6426-514: The acceptance of its teaching. This teaching produces faith and obedience. Holy Scripture is not a dead letter, but rather, the power of the Holy Spirit is inherent in it. Scripture does not compel a mere intellectual assent to its doctrine, resting on logical argumentation, but rather it creates the living agreement of faith. As the Smalcald Articles affirm, "in those things which concern the spoken, outward Word, we must firmly hold that God grants His Spirit or grace to no one, except through or with

6545-434: The actual date of birth of Jesus was about 5 BC.) Terminology that is viewed by some as being more neutral and inclusive of non-Christian people is to call this the Common Era (abbreviated as CE), with the preceding years referred to as Before the Common Era (BCE). Astronomical year numbering and ISO 8601 avoid words or abbreviations related to Christianity, but use the same numbers for AD years (but not for BC years in

6664-491: The alternative abbreviations CE and BCE (sometimes written C.E. and B.C.E.) are sometimes used in place of AD and BC. The "Common/Current Era" ("CE") terminology is often preferred by those who desire a term that does not explicitly make religious references but still uses the same epoch as the anno Domini notation. For example, Cunningham and Starr (1998) write that "B.C.E./C.E. […] do not presuppose faith in Christ and hence are more appropriate for interfaith dialog than

6783-452: The baby to her husband, who then carries the baby the rest of the way. The announcement " Kvatter " is the signal for the man to walk to where he will get the baby, and also for that man's wife to walk to the lady holding the baby (usually the mother), if she is not already standing there. Kvater is etymologically derived from the archaic German Gevatter ("godfather"). Historically, the Jewish ‘Godfather’ bears responsibility for seeing that

6902-492: The beginning of this Awakening tended heavily toward Romanticism, patriotism , and experience, the emphasis of the Awakening shifted around 1830 to restoring the traditional liturgy, doctrine, and confessions of Lutheranism in the Neo-Lutheran movement. This Awakening swept through all of Scandinavia except Iceland . It developed from both German Neo-Lutheranism and Pietism. Danish pastor and philosopher N. F. S. Grundtvig reshaped church life throughout Denmark through

7021-423: The boy's parents become kirîv s in relation to each other. Kirvelik / kirîvahî comes with particular duties, responsibilities and traditions. It has been compared to compadrazgo in Latin America and kumstvo in the Balkans . Anno Domini The terms anno Domini ( AD ) and before Christ ( BC ) are used when designating years in the Gregorian and Julian calendars. The term anno Domini

7140-410: The case of astronomical years; e.g., 1 BC is year 0, 45 BC is year −44). Traditionally, English follows Latin usage by placing the "AD" abbreviation before the year number, though it is also found after the year. In contrast, "BC" is always placed after the year number (for example: 70 BC but AD 70), which preserves syntactic order. The abbreviation "AD" is also widely used after the number of

7259-425: The child is properly raised, if both parents die young. Amongst the Kvater's many responsibilities, he is also obligated to ensure that the Godmother (should one be appointed) is fully capable of discharging her duties. Should he deem her irresponsible, he can revoke her status as Godmother by proclamation. Humanists use the term guideparent for a similar concept in that worldview. Some Chinese communities practise

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7378-603: The child's birth parents. This was clarified in 813 when the Synod of Mainz prohibited natural parents from acting as godparents to their own children. By the 5th century, male sponsors were referred to as "spiritual fathers", and by the end of the 6th century, they were being referred to as "compaters" and "commaters", suggesting that these were being seen as spiritual co-parents. Around the same time, laws intended to prevent marriage between family members were extended to include marriage between god-parents and god-children. A decree of Justinian, dated to 530, outlawed marriage between

7497-425: The church , often called the formal principle of the Reformation, and the doctrine of justification , the material principle of Lutheran theology. Lutheranism advocates a doctrine of justification "by Grace alone through faith alone on the basis of Scripture alone", the doctrine that scripture is the final authority on all matters of faith. This contrasts with the belief of the Roman Catholic Church, defined at

7616-452: The clergy. While this effectively granted official sanction to Lutheran ideas, Lutheranism did not become official until 1593. At that time the Uppsala Synod declared Holy Scripture the sole guideline for faith, with four documents accepted as faithful and authoritative explanations of it: the Apostles' Creed , the Nicene Creed , the Athanasian Creed , and the unaltered Augsburg Confession of 1530. Mikael Agricola 's translation of

7735-408: The consulship of Caesar and Paullus (AD 1), but the logic behind this is also unknown. It has also been speculated by Georges Declercq that Dionysius' desire to replace Diocletian years with a calendar based on the incarnation of Christ was intended to prevent people from believing the imminent end of the world . At the time, it was believed by some that the resurrection of the dead and end of

7854-419: The conventional B.C./A.D." Upon its foundation, the Republic of China adopted the Minguo Era but used the Western calendar for international purposes. The translated term was 西 元 ( xī yuán ; 'Western Era'). Later, in 1949, the People's Republic of China adopted 公元 ( gōngyuán ; 'Common Era') for all purposes domestic and foreign. In the AD year numbering system, whether applied to

7973-406: The custom of matching a child with a relative or family friend who becomes the godmother ( yimu / ganma 義母/乾媽) or godfather ( yifu / gandie 義父/乾爹). This practice is largely non-religious in nature, but commonly done to strengthen ties or to fulfil the wish of a childless adult to have a "son/daughter". In most circumstances, an auspicious day is selected on which a ceremony takes place, involving

8092-431: The disgrace of Finnish clergymen would be revealed like his current disgrace. The last famous orthodox Lutheran theologian before the rationalist Aufklärung , or Enlightenment , was David Hollatz . Late orthodox theologian Valentin Ernst Löscher took part in the controversy against Pietism . Medieval mystical traditions continued in the works of Martin Moller , Johann Arndt , and Joachim Lütkemann . Pietism became

8211-401: The end of life: "forgiving of their sins", "to be counted as just", and "the eternal life". Instruction is still similar. The first complete Bible in Danish was based on Martin Luther's translation into German . It was published in 1550 with 3,000 copies printed in the first edition; a second edition was published in 1589. Unlike Catholicism, Lutheranism does not believe that tradition

8330-437: The end of the Thirty Years' War , the compromising spirit seen in Philip Melanchthon rose up again in the Helmstedt School and especially in theology of Georgius Calixtus , causing the syncretistic controversy . Another theological issue that arose was the Crypto-Kenotic controversy. Late orthodoxy was torn by influences from rationalism , philosophy based on reason, and Pietism , a revival movement in Lutheranism. After

8449-531: The expense of faith in God and agreement with the Bible". In 1709, Valentin Ernst Löscher warned that this new Rationalist view of the world fundamentally changed society by drawing into question every aspect of theology. Instead of considering the authority of divine revelation, he explained, Rationalists relied solely on their personal understanding when searching for truth. Johann Melchior Goeze (1717–1786), pastor of St. Catherine's Church in Hamburg , wrote apologetical works against Rationalists, including

8568-570: The final source of knowledge, but most of the laity did not accept this Rationalist position. In the 19th century, a confessional revival re-emphasized the authority of the Scriptures and agreement with the Lutheran Confessions. Today, Lutherans disagree about the inspiration and authority of the Bible. Theological conservatives use the historical-grammatical method of Biblical interpretation, while theological liberals use

8687-638: The first Finnish New Testament was published in 1548. After the death of Martin Luther in 1546, the Schmalkaldic War started out as a conflict between two German Lutheran rulers in 1547. Soon, Holy Roman Imperial forces joined the battle and conquered the members of the Schmalkaldic League , oppressing and exiling many German Lutherans as they enforced the terms of the Augsburg Interim . Religious freedom in some areas

8806-411: The first year of his new table. This method was probably the one used by ancient historians such as Tertullian , Eusebius or Epiphanius , all of whom agree that Jesus was born in 2 BC, probably following this statement of Jesus' age (i.e. subtracting thirty years from AD 29). Alternatively, Dionysius may have used an earlier unknown source. The Chronograph of 354 states that Jesus was born during

8925-425: The first year of his table, anno Domini 532. When Dionysius devised his table, Julian calendar years were identified by naming the consuls who held office that year— Dionysius himself stated that the "present year" was "the consulship of Probus Junior ", which was 525 years "since the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ". Thus, Dionysius implied that Jesus' incarnation occurred 525 years earlier, without stating

9044-658: The forms of prayers and belief, and instruct them sufficiently therein, so that they understand the same: In the early church, one sponsor seems to have been the norm, but in the early Middle Ages, there seems to have been two, one of each sex, and this practice has been largely maintained in Orthodox Christianity . In 888, the Catholic Council of Metz attempted to limit the number to one, but this limit seems not to have been observed. In early 14th-century Spain, as many as 20 godparents were being chosen for

9163-574: The founder of the Methodist Church , wrote a homily titled "Serious Thoughts Concerning Godfathers and Godmothers" in which he stated that godparents are "spiritual parents to the baptized, whether they were infants or [adults]; and were expected to supply whatever spiritual helps were wanting either through the death or neglect of the natural parents." He described the role of godparents, instructing that they should call upon their godchild "to hear sermons, and shall provide that he(/she) may learn

9282-496: The godchild paying his/her respects to his new godfather/godmother in the presence of relatives or friends. Alternatively, as it is already common in Chinese kinship to use kinship terms among people that are not related (e.g. addressing a respected coworker as "brother" or one's father's friend may be referred to as "uncle"), an older friend or family friend with a deep friendship and a sufficient age gap will also informally address

9401-640: The growth of foreign missions in Norway to non-Christians to a new height, which has never been reached since. In Sweden, Lars Levi Læstadius began the Laestadian movement that emphasized moral reform. In Finland, a farmer, Paavo Ruotsalainen , began the Finnish Awakening when he took to preaching about repentance and prayer. In 1817, Frederick William III of Prussia ordered the Lutheran and Reformed churches in his territory to unite, forming

9520-494: The invading forces opposing Gustav Vasa during the Stockholm Bloodbath led to the severing of any official connection between Sweden and the papacy in 1523. Four years later, at the Diet of Västerås  [ sv ] , the king succeeded in forcing the diet to accept his dominion over the national church. The king was given possession of all church properties, as well as the church appointments and approval of

9639-488: The language that scriptures are presented in, and should not be so preoccupied by error so as to prevent understanding. As a result of this, Lutherans do not believe there is a need to wait for any clergy, pope, scholar, or ecumenical council to explain the real meaning of any part of the Bible. Lutherans confess that Scripture is united with the power of the Holy Spirit and with it, not only demands, but also creates

9758-527: The last Catholic country to adopt the anno Domini system. The Era of Martyrs , which numbered years from the accession of Diocletian in 284, who launched the most severe persecution of Christians , was used by the Church of Alexandria and is still officially used by the Coptic Orthodox and Coptic Catholic churches. It was also used by the Ethiopian and Eritrean churches. Another system

9877-420: The last non-imperial consul, Basilius , was appointed in 541 by Emperor Justinian I , later emperors through to Constans II (641–668) were appointed consuls on the first of January after their accession. All of these emperors, except Justinian, used imperial post-consular years for the years of their reign, along with their regnal years. Long unused, this practice was not formally abolished until Novell XCIV of

9996-711: The law code of Leo VI did so in 888. Another calculation had been developed by the Alexandrian monk Annianus around the year AD 400, placing the Annunciation on 25 March AD 9 (Julian)—eight to ten years after the date that Dionysius was to imply. Although this incarnation was popular during the early centuries of the Byzantine Empire , years numbered from it, an Era of Incarnation , were exclusively used and are still used in Ethiopia . This accounts for

10115-738: The marriage barriers in 1540, but the issue of the role and status of godparents continued to be debated in the English Church. They were abolished in 1644 by the Directory of Public Worship promulgated by the English Civil War Parliamentary regime, but continued to be used in some parishes in the north of England. After the Restoration in 1660, they were reintroduced to Anglicanism, with occasional objections, but dropped by almost every dissenting church. There

10234-572: The middle of the 16th century. These finally ended with the resolution of the issues in the Formula of Concord . Large numbers of politically and religiously influential leaders met together, debated, and resolved these topics on the basis of Scripture, resulting in the Formula, which over 8,000 leaders signed. The Book of Concord replaced earlier, incomplete collections of doctrine , unifying all German Lutherans with identical doctrine and beginning

10353-402: The obscuring of the Gospel teaching of justification by grace through faith alone. The Book of Concord , published in 1580, contains 10 documents which some Lutherans believe are faithful and authoritative explanations of Holy Scripture. Besides the three Ecumenical Creeds , which date to Roman times , the Book of Concord contains seven credal documents articulating Lutheran theology in

10472-430: The only presently available sources of divinely revealed knowledge, and the only infallible source of Christian doctrine. Scripture alone is the formal principle of the faith, the final authority for all matters of faith and morals because of its inspiration, authority, clarity, efficacy, and sufficiency. The authority of the Scriptures has been challenged during the history of Lutheranism. Martin Luther taught that

10591-566: The orthodoxy of the 17th century. Friedrich Julius Stahl led the High Church Lutherans . Though raised Jewish, he was baptized as a Christian at the age of 19 through the influence of the Lutheran school he attended. As the leader of a neofeudal Prussian political party, he campaigned for the divine right of kings , the power of the nobility , and episcopal polity for the church. Along with Theodor Kliefoth and August Friedrich Christian Vilmar , he promoted agreement with

10710-464: The other as his godparent or godchild, a gesture often initiated by the older person. In some parts of Turkey , mainly in the eastern, Kurdish-majority regions, a kind of fictive kinship relationship called kirvelik exists connected with the Islamic ritual of circumcision . The man who holds a male child who is being circumcised becomes the kirîv of the child; at the same time, the kirîv and

10829-561: The people shouted; "We will stand by the holy Gospel, and do not want such bishops anymore". Frederick's son was openly Lutheran, which prevented his election to the throne upon his father's death in 1533. However, following his victory in the civil war that followed, in 1536 he became Christian III and advanced the Reformation in Denmark–Norway . The constitution upon which the Danish Norwegian Church, according to

10948-528: The period of Lutheran Orthodoxy. In lands where Catholicism was the state religion, Lutheranism was officially illegal, although enforcement varied. Until the end of the Counter-Reformation , some Lutherans worshipped secretly, such as at the Hundskirke (which translates as dog church or dog altar), a triangle-shaped Communion rock in a ditch between crosses in Paternion , Austria. The crowned serpent

11067-600: The position of godfather or godmother." In some Catholic and Orthodox countries, particularly in southern Europe, Latin America, and the Philippines, the relationship between parents and godparents or co-godparents has been seen as particularly important and distinctive. These relationships create mutual obligations and responsibilities that may be socially useful for participants. The Portuguese and Spanish compadre (literally, "co-father") and comadre ("co-mother"),

11186-634: The preceding outward Word". Lutherans are confident that the Bible contains everything that one needs to know in order to obtain salvation and to live a Christian life. There are no deficiencies in Scripture that need to be filled with by tradition, pronouncements of the Pope , new revelations, or present-day development of doctrine . Lutherans understand the Bible as containing two distinct types of content, termed Law and Gospel (or Law and Promises). Properly distinguishing between Law and Gospel prevents

11305-548: The purpose of God's Law , the concept of perseverance of the saints , and predestination , amongst other matters. The name Lutheran originated as a derogatory term used against Luther by German Scholastic theologian Johann Maier von Eck during the Leipzig Debate in July 1519. Eck and other Roman Catholics followed the traditional practice of naming a heresy after its leader, thus labeling all who identified with

11424-608: The purpose of arguing with the Jesuits , and it was finally established by Johann Gerhard . Abraham Calovius represents the climax of the scholastic paradigm in orthodox Lutheranism. Other orthodox Lutheran theologians include Martin Chemnitz , Aegidius Hunnius , Leonhard Hutter , Nicolaus Hunnius , Jesper Rasmussen Brochmand , Salomo Glassius , Johann Hülsemann , Johann Conrad Dannhauer , Johannes Andreas Quenstedt , Johann Friedrich König , and Johann Wilhelm Baier . Near

11543-534: The reign of Frederick I (1523–1533), Denmark–Norway remained officially Catholic. Although Frederick initially pledged to persecute Lutherans, he soon adopted a policy of protecting Lutheran preachers and reformers, the most significant of which was Hans Tausen . During Frederick's reign, Lutheranism made significant inroads in Denmark. At an open meeting in Copenhagen attended by King Christian III in 1536,

11662-659: The revival movements were divided by philosophical traditions. The Repristination school and Old Lutherans tended towards Kantianism, while the Erlangen school promoted a conservative Hegelian perspective . By 1969, Manfried Kober complained that "unbelief is rampant" even within German Lutheran parishes. Traditionally, Lutherans hold the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be the only divinely inspired books,

11781-560: The seven- or eight-year discrepancy between the Gregorian and Ethiopian calendars . Byzantine chroniclers like Maximus the Confessor , George Syncellus , and Theophanes dated their years from Annianus' creation of the world. This era, called Anno Mundi , "year of the world" (abbreviated AM), by modern scholars, began its first year on 25 March 5492 BC. Later Byzantine chroniclers used Anno Mundi years from 1 September 5509 BC,

11900-414: The significance of Holy Baptism, their responsibilities for the Christian training of the baptized child, and how these obligations may be fulfilled." The Orthodox institution of godparenthood has been the least affected of the major traditions by change. In some Orthodox churches ( Serbian , Greek ) usually the best man (kum, кум, koumbaros) or bridesmaid (kuma, кума, koumbara) at a couple's wedding act as

12019-464: The sixtieth year before the time of the Lord's incarnation"), which is equivalent to the English "before Christ", to identify years before the first year of this era. Both Dionysius and Bede regarded anno Domini as beginning at the incarnation of Jesus Christ , but "the distinction between Incarnation and Nativity was not drawn until the late 9th century, when in some places the Incarnation epoch

12138-424: The specific year during which his birth or conception occurred. "However, nowhere in his exposition of his table does Dionysius relate his epoch to any other dating system, whether consulate, Olympiad , year of the world , or regnal year of Augustus; much less does he explain or justify the underlying date." Bonnie J. Blackburn and Leofranc Holford-Strevens briefly present arguments for 2 BC, 1 BC, or AD 1 as

12257-432: The then- Livonian Order . Lutheran clergy became civil servants and the Lutheran churches became part of the state. Lutheranism spread through all of Scandinavia during the 16th century as the monarchs of Denmark–Norway and Sweden adopted the faith. Through Baltic-German and Swedish rule, Lutheranism also spread into Estonia and Latvia . It also began spreading into Lithuania Proper with practically all members of

12376-553: The theology of Martin Luther , the 16th-century German friar and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched the Reformation in 1517. Lutheranism subsequently became the state religion of many parts of Northern Europe , starting with Prussia in 1525. In 1521, the split between Lutherans and the Roman Catholic Church was made public and clear with

12495-410: The traditionally reckoned year of the conception or birth of Jesus. Years AD are counted forward since that epoch and years BC are counted backward from the epoch. There is no year zero in this scheme; thus the year AD 1 immediately follows the year 1 BC . This dating system was devised in 525 by Dionysius Exiguus but was not widely used until the 9th century. (Modern scholars believe that

12614-559: The two groups as Evangelical Lutheran and Evangelical Reformed . As time passed by, the word Evangelical was dropped. Lutherans themselves began to use the term Lutheran in the middle of the 16th century, in order to distinguish themselves from other groups such as the Anabaptists and Calvinists . In 1597, theologians in Wittenberg defined the title Lutheran as referring to the true church. Lutheranism has its roots in

12733-584: The work of Martin Luther , who sought to reform the Western Church to what he considered a more biblical foundation. The reaction of the government and church authorities to the international spread of his writings, beginning with the Ninety-five Theses , divided Western Christianity . During the Reformation, Lutheranism became the state religion of numerous states of northern Europe , especially in northern Germany , Scandinavia , and

12852-563: The world would occur 500 years after the birth of Jesus. The old Anno Mundi calendar theoretically commenced with the creation of the world based on information in the Old Testament . It was believed that, based on the Anno Mundi calendar, Jesus was born in the year 5500 (5500 years after the world was created) with the year 6000 of the Anno Mundi calendar marking the end of the world. Anno Mundi 6000 (approximately AD 500)

12971-578: The year Dionysius intended for the Nativity or incarnation . Among the sources of confusion are: It is not known how Dionysius established the year of Jesus's birth. One major theory is that Dionysius based his calculation on the Gospel of Luke , which states that Jesus was "about thirty years old" shortly after "the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar", and hence subtracted thirty years from that date, or that Dionysius counted back 532 years from

13090-585: The year before the birth of Christ) is found in 1474 in a work by a German monk. In 1627, the French Jesuit theologian Denis Pétau (Dionysius Petavius in Latin), with his work De doctrina temporum , popularized the usage ante Christum (Latin for "Before Christ") to mark years prior to AD. When the reckoning from Jesus' incarnation began replacing the previous dating systems in western Europe, various people chose different Christian feast days to begin

13209-543: The year: Christmas, Annunciation , or Easter. Thus, depending on the time and place, the year number changed on different days in the year, which created slightly different styles in chronology: With these various styles, the same day could, in some cases, be dated in 1099, 1100 or 1101. During the first six centuries of what would come to be known as the Christian era, European countries used various systems to count years. Systems in use included consular dating , imperial regnal year dating, and Creation dating . Although

13328-435: Was found almost solely in small Pietist conventicles. However, some of the laity preserved Lutheran orthodoxy from both Pietism and rationalism by reusing old catechisms, hymnbooks, postils , and devotional writings, including those written by Johann Gerhard , Heinrich Müller and Christian Scriver . Luther scholar Johann Georg Hamann (1730–1788), a layman, became famous for countering Rationalism and striving to advance

13447-554: Was identified with Christ's conception, i. e., the Annunciation on March 25" ("Annunciation style" dating). On the continent of Europe, anno Domini was introduced as the era of choice of the Carolingian Renaissance by the English cleric and scholar Alcuin in the late eighth century. Its endorsement by Emperor Charlemagne and his successors popularizing the use of the epoch and spreading it throughout

13566-611: Was opposed to the prohibition of marriage between god-parents and -children, Zwingli placed more emphasis on the role played by the parents and pastors, and Calvin preferred the birth parents serving as sponsors. Among French Calvinists and the residents of Geneva, it became the norm to have one godparent; other Calvinists, most notably in Scotland and the English colonies in America, did away with them entirely. The customary obligation of godfathers for Catholics (at least in Scotland)

13685-718: Was secured for Lutherans through the Peace of Passau in 1552, and under the legal principle of Cuius regio, eius religio (the religion of the ruler was to dictate the religion of those ruled) and the Declaratio Ferdinandei (limited religious tolerance ) clauses of the Peace of Augsburg in 1555. Religious disputes among the Crypto-Calvinists , Philippists , Sacramentarians , Ubiquitarians , and Gnesio-Lutherans raged within Lutheranism during

13804-524: Was stated in Nicol Burne's Of the praying in Latine (1581) in relation to Latin public prayers in church: ...if any man pray in any other tongue (i.e. than his own), it is also expedient that he understand the meaning of the words at the least. For the which cause in the catholic church the parents or godfathers are obliged to learn them (i.e. to make sure they have learned) whom they held in baptism

13923-476: Was thus equated with the end of the world but this date had already passed in the time of Dionysius. The " Historia Brittonum " attributed to Nennius written in the 9th century makes extensive use of the Anno Passionis (AP) dating system which was in common use as well as the newer AD dating system. The AP dating system took its start from 'The Year of The Passion'. It is generally accepted by experts there

14042-511: Was to date from the crucifixion of Jesus , which as early as Hippolytus and Tertullian was believed to have occurred in the consulate of the Gemini (AD 29), which appears in some medieval manuscripts. Alternative names for the anno Domini era include vulgaris aerae (found 1615 in Latin), "Vulgar Era" (in English, as early as 1635), "Christian Era" (in English, in 1652), " Common Era " (in English, 1708), and "Current Era". Since 1856,

14161-448: Was unclear until the Council of Trent , which limited it to relationships between the godparents, the child, and the parents. Luther , Zwingli , and Calvin preserved infant baptism (and the accompanying baptismal sponsors) in their respective Protestant denominations despite opposition from more radical reformers such as Anabaptists . Their respective visions of the role played by godparents differed from mainstream Catholicism. Luther

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