William IV (d 1592) Maurice (d 1632)
156-534: The Hessian War ( German : Hessenkrieg ), in its wider sense sometimes also called the Hessian Wars ( Hessenkriege ), was a drawn out conflict that took place between 1567 and 1648, sometimes pursued through diplomatic means, sometimes by military force, between branches of the princely House of Hesse , particularly between the Landgraviate of Hesse-Cassel and the Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt . It
312-465: A de facto official language of Namibia after the end of German colonial rule alongside English and Afrikaans , and had de jure co-official status from 1984 until its independence from South Africa in 1990. However, the Namibian government perceived Afrikaans and German as symbols of apartheid and colonialism, and decided English would be the sole official language upon independence, stating that it
468-590: A means of grace with Christ actually present, though spiritually rather than bodily as in Catholic doctrine. The document demonstrates the diversity as well as unity in early Reformed theology, giving it a stability that enabled it to spread rapidly throughout Europe. This stands in marked contrast to the bitter controversy experienced by Lutherans prior to the 1579 Formula of Concord . Due to Calvin's missionary work in France , his program of reform eventually reached
624-402: A second language , and 75–100 million as a foreign language . This would imply the existence of approximately 175–220 million German speakers worldwide. German sociolinguist Ulrich Ammon estimated a number of 289 million German foreign language speakers without clarifying the criteria by which he classified a speaker. As of 2012 , about 90 million people, or 16% of
780-612: A "commonly used" language and the Pan South African Language Board is obligated to promote and ensure respect for it. Cameroon was also a colony of the German Empire from the same period (1884 to 1916). However, German was replaced by French and English, the languages of the two successor colonial powers, after its loss in World War I . Nevertheless, since the 21st century, German has become
936-705: A campaign in the electoral lands on the left bank of the Rhine. At the Battle of Kempen Hesse-Cassel, with the support of French-Weimaran troops, dealt the Imperial forces a heavy defeat. In the wake of this defeat, large areas in the north of the Electorate, including the Duchy of Berg , and even parts of the neutral Duchy of Jülich fell under the occupation of Hesse-Cassel. Inspired by military and diplomatic successes in
1092-525: A coup, she had the Emperor and Darmstadt pay homage to her infant son who was not subject to the ban. Elisabeth Amalie proved a skilful tactician, who succeeded in spite of her extremely difficult starting position in consolidating the position of Hesse-Cassel. First she agreed an apparent truce with the Emperor and so kept Cassel from being conquered by the Imperial Croatian forces. Then she built
1248-564: A distinct tradition from the Reformed. This dispute produced the Canons of Dort , the basis for the "doctrines of grace" also known as the "five points" of Calvinism . Christianity • Protestantism Reformed Christianity is often called Calvinism after John Calvin , influential reformer of Geneva. The term was first used by opposing Lutherans in the 1550s. Calvin did not approve of the use of this term, and scholars have argued that use of
1404-559: A greater need for regularity in written conventions. While the major changes of the MHG period were socio-cultural, High German was still undergoing significant linguistic changes in syntax, phonetics, and morphology as well (e.g. diphthongization of certain vowel sounds: hus (OHG & MHG "house") → haus (regionally in later MHG)→ Haus (NHG), and weakening of unstressed short vowels to schwa [ə]: taga (OHG "days")→ tage (MHG)). A great wealth of texts survives from
1560-458: A native tongue today, mostly descendants of German colonial settlers . The period of German colonialism in Namibia also led to the evolution of a Standard German-based pidgin language called " Namibian Black German ", which became a second language for parts of the indigenous population. Although it is nearly extinct today, some older Namibians still have some knowledge of it. German remained
1716-484: A nine-month blockade of the fortress of Hanau with a victory over the imperial army commander, Lamboy . But neither side won a decisive victory. In response to his victory over the imperial troops in Hanau and his alliance with France, William V of Hesse-Cassel was outlawed on 19 August 1636 by the electors at Regensburg . His adversary from Darmstadt was appointed administrator over all of Hesse. However, because of
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#17327754574771872-497: A person's nature, including their will. This view, that sin so dominates people that they are unable to avoid sin, has been called total depravity . As a consequence, every one of their descendants inherited a stain of corruption and depravity. This condition, innate to all humans, is known in Christian theology as original sin . Calvin thought original sin was "a hereditary corruption and depravity of our nature, extending to all
2028-696: A popular foreign language among pupils and students, with 300,000 people learning or speaking German in Cameroon in 2010 and over 230,000 in 2020. Today Cameroon is one of the African countries outside Namibia with the highest number of people learning German. In the United States, German is the fifth most spoken language in terms of native and second language speakers after English, Spanish , French , and Chinese (with figures for Cantonese and Mandarin combined), with over 1 million total speakers. In
2184-535: A powerful army again based on the cadre of troops that her husband had taken to Frisia. Furthermore, in 1639 at Dorsten , she concluded an alliance with France, represented by Cardinal Richelieu , and Sweden. In 1639, with her new allies behind her, Amalie Elisabeth's troops moved in greater strength against the Electorate of Cologne in order to defend the already conquered electoral territories (promised by Sweden in return for giving up Upper Hesse), especially in
2340-528: A priest in that he intercedes to the Father on believers' behalf and offered himself as a sacrifice for sin, and a king in that he rules the church and fights on believers' behalf. The threefold office links the work of Christ to God's work in ancient Israel . Many, but not all, Reformed theologians continue to make use of the threefold office as a framework because of its emphasis on the connection of Christ's work to Israel. They have, however, often reinterpreted
2496-483: A result, the surviving texts are written in highly disparate regional dialects and exhibit significant Latin influence, particularly in vocabulary. At this point monasteries, where most written works were produced, were dominated by Latin, and German saw only occasional use in official and ecclesiastical writing. While there is no complete agreement over the dates of the Middle High German (MHG) period, it
2652-671: A reward for their support of Sweden, were not, however, fulfilled. After George II of Hesse-Darmstadt had concluded negotiations with the Swedish king, he succeeded in gaining recognition of the neutrality of Hesse-Darmstadt at the Treaty of Höchst on 29 November 1631, in exchange for giving up the fortress of Rüsselsheim, so that Darmstadt was able to keep its territories in Upper Hesse. Instead, on 28 February 1632, Gustavus Adolphus granted Hesse-Cassel several other areas outside of Hesse that
2808-446: A sacrificial payment for sin. Christ is believed to have died in place of the believer, who is accounted righteous as a result of this sacrificial payment. In Christian theology, people are created good and in the image of God but have become corrupted by sin , which causes them to be imperfect and overly self-interested. Reformed Christians, following the tradition of Augustine of Hippo , believe that this corruption of human nature
2964-671: A unification and peace treaty that was sealed in April 1648, ahead of the Treaty of Westphalia itself. Before the Westphalian Peace Treaty, Cassel fought one last time against the imperial side, winning the Battle of Wevelinghoven in the Rhineland, together with other Protestant troops. Darmstadt, however, was not involved in this battle. Under the Unification Treaty between Cassel and Darmstadt, Upper Hesse
3120-596: Is redemption , which is the gospel of salvation from condemnation which is punishment for sin. In Reformed theology, the Word of God takes several forms. Jesus Christ himself is the Word Incarnate. The prophecies about him said to be found in the Old Testament and the ministry of the apostles who saw him and communicated his message are also the Word of God. Further, the preaching of ministers about God
3276-457: Is "naturally hateful to God." In colloquial English, the term "total depravity" can be easily misunderstood to mean that people are absent of any goodness or unable to do any good. However the Reformed teaching is actually that while people continue to bear God's image and may do things that appear outwardly good, their sinful intentions affect all of their nature and actions so that they are not pleasing to God. Some contemporary theologians in
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#17327754574773432-601: Is a recognized minority language in the following countries: In France, the High German varieties of Alsatian and Moselle Franconian are identified as " regional languages ", but the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages of 1998 has not yet been ratified by the government. Namibia also was a colony of the German Empire, from 1884 to 1915. About 30,000 people still speak German as
3588-453: Is administered in different ways throughout the Old and New Testaments, but retains the substance of being free of a requirement of perfect obedience. Through the influence of Karl Barth, many contemporary Reformed theologians have discarded the covenant of works, along with other concepts of federal theology. Barth saw the covenant of works as disconnected from Christ and the gospel, and rejected
3744-612: Is also notable for its broad spectrum of dialects , with many varieties existing in Europe and other parts of the world. Some of these non-standard varieties have become recognized and protected by regional or national governments. Since 2004, heads of state of the German-speaking countries have met every year, and the Council for German Orthography has been the main international body regulating German orthography . German
3900-558: Is an Indo-European language that belongs to the West Germanic group of the Germanic languages . The Germanic languages are traditionally subdivided into three branches: North Germanic , East Germanic , and West Germanic . The first of these branches survives in modern Danish , Swedish , Norwegian , Faroese , and Icelandic , all of which are descended from Old Norse . The East Germanic languages are now extinct, and Gothic
4056-682: Is another conservative association. Church of Tuvalu is an officially established state church in the Calvinist tradition. Reformed theologians believe that God communicates knowledge of himself to people through the Word of God. People are not able to know anything about God except through this self-revelation. (With the exception of general revelation of God; "His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse" (Romans 1:20).) Speculation about anything which God has not revealed through his Word
4212-478: Is called the "German Sprachraum ". German is the official language of the following countries: German is a co-official language of the following countries: Although expulsions and (forced) assimilation after the two World wars greatly diminished them, minority communities of mostly bilingual German native speakers exist in areas both adjacent to and detached from the Sprachraum. Within Europe, German
4368-430: Is complicated by the existence of several varieties whose status as separate "languages" or "dialects" is disputed for political and linguistic reasons, including quantitatively strong varieties like certain forms of Alemannic and Low German . With the inclusion or exclusion of certain varieties, it is estimated that approximately 90–95 million people speak German as a first language , 10–25 million speak it as
4524-477: Is conditional or based on his foreknowledge of who would respond positively to God. Karl Barth reinterpreted the doctrine of predestination to apply only to Christ. Individual people are only said to be elected through their being in Christ. Reformed theologians who followed Barth, including Jürgen Moltmann , David Migliore, and Shirley Guthrie , have argued that the traditional Reformed concept of predestination
4680-559: Is found in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) 's Confession of 1967 . Those who take this view believe the Bible to be the primary source of our knowledge of God, but also that some parts of the Bible may be false, not witnesses to Christ, and not normative for the church. In this view, Christ is the revelation of God, and the scriptures witness to this revelation rather than being the revelation itself. Reformed theologians use
4836-535: Is generally seen as ending when the 1346–53 Black Death decimated Europe's population. Modern High German begins with the Early New High German (ENHG) period, which Wilhelm Scherer dates 1350–1650, terminating with the end of the Thirty Years' War . This period saw the further displacement of Latin by German as the primary language of courtly proceedings and, increasingly, of literature in
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4992-611: Is generally seen as lasting from 1050 to 1350. This was a period of significant expansion of the geographical territory occupied by Germanic tribes, and consequently of the number of German speakers. Whereas during the Old High German period the Germanic tribes extended only as far east as the Elbe and Saale rivers, the MHG period saw a number of these tribes expanding beyond this eastern boundary into Slavic territory (known as
5148-758: Is largely represented by the Continental Reformed , Presbyterian , and Congregational traditions, as well as parts of the Anglican (known as "Episcopal" in some regions) and Baptist traditions. Reformed theology emphasizes the authority of the Bible and the sovereignty of God , as well as covenant theology , a framework for understanding the Bible based on God's covenants with people. Reformed churches have emphasized simplicity in worship. Several forms of ecclesiastical polity are exercised by Reformed churches, including presbyterian , congregational , and some episcopal . Articulated by John Calvin ,
5304-565: Is less closely related to languages based on Low Franconian dialects (e.g., Dutch and Afrikaans), Low German or Low Saxon dialects (spoken in northern Germany and southern Denmark ), neither of which underwent the High German consonant shift. As has been noted, the former of these dialect types is Istvaeonic and the latter Ingvaeonic, whereas the High German dialects are all Irminonic; the differences between these languages and standard German are therefore considerable. Also related to German are
5460-414: Is not warranted. The knowledge people have of God is different from that which they have of anything else because God is infinite , and finite people are incapable of comprehending an infinite being. While the knowledge revealed by God to people is never incorrect, it is also never comprehensive. According to Reformed theologians, God's self-revelation is always through his son Jesus Christ, because Christ
5616-435: Is one of the major languages of the world . German is the second-most widely spoken Germanic language , after English, both as a first and as a second language . German is also widely taught as a foreign language , especially in continental Europe (where it is the third most taught foreign language after English and French), and in the United States. Overall, German is the fourth most commonly learned second language, and
5772-597: Is one of the three biggest newspapers in Namibia and the only German-language daily in Africa. An estimated 12,000 people speak German or a German variety as a first language in South Africa, mostly originating from different waves of immigration during the 19th and 20th centuries. One of the largest communities consists of the speakers of "Nataler Deutsch", a variety of Low German concentrated in and around Wartburg . The South African constitution identifies German as
5928-401: Is partly derived from Latin and Greek , along with fewer words borrowed from French and Modern English . English, however, is the main source of more recent loanwords . German is a pluricentric language ; the three standardized variants are German , Austrian , and Swiss Standard German . Standard German is sometimes called High German , which refers to its regional origin. German
6084-513: Is sometimes given less importance out of ecumenical concerns. People are not on their own able to fully repent of their sin or prepare themselves to repent because of their sinfulness. Therefore, justification is held to arise solely from God's free and gracious act. Sanctification is the part of salvation in which God makes believers holy, by enabling them to exercise greater love for God and for other people. The good works accomplished by believers as they are sanctified are considered to be
6240-436: Is speculative and have proposed alternative models. These theologians claim that a properly trinitarian doctrine emphasizes God's freedom to love all people, rather than choosing some for salvation and others for damnation. God's justice towards and condemnation of sinful people is spoken of by these theologians as out of his love for them and a desire to reconcile them to himself. Much attention surrounding Calvinism focuses on
6396-525: Is the Sachsenspiegel , the first book of laws written in Middle Low German ( c. 1220 ). The abundance and especially the secular character of the literature of the MHG period demonstrate the beginnings of a standardized written form of German, as well as the desire of poets and authors to be understood by individuals on supra-dialectal terms. The Middle High German period
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6552-808: Is the fourth largest Christian communion in the world, after the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Churches, and the Anglican Communion. Many conservative Reformed churches which are strongly Calvinistic formed the World Reformed Fellowship which has about 70 member denominations. Most are not part of the World Communion of Reformed Churches because of its ecumenical attire. The International Conference of Reformed Churches
6708-580: Is the largest Christian denomination. A 2011 report of the Pew Forum on Religious and Public Life estimated that members of Presbyterian or Reformed churches make up 7% of the estimated 801 million Protestants globally, or approximately 56 million people. Though the broadly defined Reformed faith is much larger, as it constitutes Congregationalist (0.5%), most of the United and uniting churches (unions of different denominations) (7.2%) and most likely some of
6864-724: Is the most spoken native language within the European Union . It is the most widely spoken and official (or co-official) language in Germany , Austria , Switzerland , Liechtenstein , and the Italian autonomous province of South Tyrol . It is also an official language of Luxembourg , Belgium and the Italian autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia , as well as a recognized national language in Namibia . There are also notable German-speaking communities in France ( Alsace ),
7020-578: Is the only language in this branch which survives in written texts. The West Germanic languages, however, have undergone extensive dialectal subdivision and are now represented in modern languages such as English, German, Dutch , Yiddish , Afrikaans , and others. Within the West Germanic language dialect continuum, the Benrath and Uerdingen lines (running through Düsseldorf - Benrath and Krefeld - Uerdingen , respectively) serve to distinguish
7176-444: Is the only mediator between God and people. Revelation of God through Christ comes through two basic channels. The first is creation and providence , which is God's creating and continuing to work in the world. This action of God gives everyone knowledge about God, but this knowledge is only sufficient to make people culpable for their sin; it does not include knowledge of the gospel. The second channel through which God reveals himself
7332-480: Is the very Word of God because God is considered to be speaking through them. God also speaks through human writers in the Bible , which is composed of texts set apart by God for self-revelation. Reformed theologians emphasize the Bible as a uniquely important means by which God communicates with people. People gain knowledge of God from the Bible which cannot be gained in any other way. Reformed theologians affirm that
7488-514: Is to be given to all those who have faith in Christ. Faith is not purely intellectual, but involves trust in God's promise to save. Protestants do not hold there to be any other requirement for salvation, but that faith alone is sufficient. Justification is the part of salvation where God pardons the sin of those who believe in Christ. It is historically held by Protestants to be the most important article of Christian faith, though more recently it
7644-485: Is understood in all areas where German is spoken. Approximate distribution of native German speakers (assuming a rounded total of 95 million) worldwide: As a result of the German diaspora , as well as the popularity of German taught as a foreign language , the geographical distribution of German speakers (or "Germanophones") spans all inhabited continents. However, an exact, global number of native German speakers
7800-463: Is untenable because it abandons the essential unity of God in favor of a community of separate beings. Reformed theologians affirm the historic Christian belief that Christ is eternally one person with a divine and a human nature . Reformed Christians have especially emphasized that Christ truly became human so that people could be saved. Christ's human nature has been a point of contention between Reformed and Lutheran Christology . In accord with
7956-689: The Ostsiedlung ). With the increasing wealth and geographic spread of the Germanic groups came greater use of German in the courts of nobles as the standard language of official proceedings and literature. A clear example of this is the mittelhochdeutsche Dichtersprache employed in the Hohenstaufen court in Swabia as a standardized supra-dialectal written language. While these efforts were still regionally bound, German began to be used in place of Latin for certain official purposes, leading to
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#17327754574778112-639: The Alamanni , Bavarian, and Thuringian groups, all belonging to the Elbe Germanic group ( Irminones ), which had settled in what is now southern-central Germany and Austria between the second and sixth centuries, during the great migration. In general, the surviving texts of Old High German (OHG) show a wide range of dialectal diversity with very little written uniformity. The early written tradition of OHG survived mostly through monasteries and scriptoria as local translations of Latin originals; as
8268-720: The Barmen Confession and Brief Statement of Faith of the Presbyterian Church (USA) have avoided language about the attributes of God and have emphasized his work of reconciliation and empowerment of people. Feminist theologian Letty Russell used the image of partnership for the persons of the Trinity. According to Russell, thinking this way encourages Christians to interact in terms of fellowship rather than reciprocity. Conservative Reformed theologian Michael Horton, however, has argued that social trinitarianism
8424-629: The Battle of Wimpfen on 6 May 1622. Tilly defeated Mansfeld on 20 June 1622, as well as Duke Christian of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel in the Hessian region at Höchst am Main in the Battle of Höchst , as a result of which the Protestant side was significantly weakened. Tilly advanced again against Hesse-Cassel and occupied all of Lower Hesse as far as the city of Cassel. As a result, he enforced the Aulic Council 's judgement of 11 April 1623, that
8580-568: The Czech Republic ( North Bohemia ), Poland ( Upper Silesia ), Slovakia ( Košice Region , Spiš , and Hauerland ), Denmark ( North Schleswig ), Romania and Hungary ( Sopron ). Overseas, sizeable communities of German-speakers are found in Brazil ( Blumenau and Pomerode ), South Africa ( Kroondal ), Namibia , among others, some communities have decidedly Austrian German or Swiss German characters (e.g. Pozuzo , Peru). German
8736-537: The Early Middle Ages . German is an inflected language , with four cases for nouns, pronouns, and adjectives (nominative, accusative, genitive, dative); three genders (masculine, feminine, neuter) and two numbers (singular, plural). It has strong and weak verbs . The majority of its vocabulary derives from the ancient Germanic branch of the Indo-European language family, while a smaller share
8892-804: The Edict of Restitution of 1629, Hesse-Cassel was also given the Imperial Abbey of Hersfeld , which had been under Lower Hessian rule since 1604. After the total defeat of the House of Hesse-Cassel had been averted by the Hauptakkord , in 1627 William V began secretly waiver, to build a new mercenary army, under the cover of his apparent renunciation. The turning point for Hesse-Cassel in the Thirty Years' War came in October 1630 when William V became
9048-435: The Emperor . In the course of the war, Hessian mercenaries fought both in the main Hessian lands as well as in Westphalia ( Prince-Bishopric of Münster and Paderborn ), in Upper Guelders , on the Lower Rhine ( Electorate of Cologne ), in the Duchy of Brunswick and other places. This conflict should not be confused with the campaign by Landgrave Philip I of Hesse , supported by Prince-Elector John of Saxony against
9204-417: The European Union 's population, spoke German as their mother tongue, making it the second most widely spoken language on the continent after Russian and the second biggest language in terms of overall speakers (after English), as well as the most spoken native language. The area in central Europe where the majority of the population speaks German as a first language and has German as a (co-)official language
9360-455: The German states . While these states were still part of the Holy Roman Empire , and far from any form of unification, the desire for a cohesive written language that would be understandable across the many German-speaking principalities and kingdoms was stronger than ever. As a spoken language German remained highly fractured throughout this period, with a vast number of often mutually incomprehensible regional dialects being spoken throughout
9516-554: The Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I , and the other being Meißner Deutsch , used in the Electorate of Saxony in the Duchy of Saxe-Wittenberg . Alongside these courtly written standards, the invention of the printing press led to the development of a number of printers' languages ( Druckersprachen ) aimed at making printed material readable and understandable across as many diverse dialects of German as possible. The greater ease of production and increased availability of written texts brought about increased standardisation in
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#17327754574779672-439: The Old High German language in several Elder Futhark inscriptions from as early as the sixth century AD (such as the Pforzen buckle ), the Old High German period is generally seen as beginning with the Abrogans (written c. 765–775 ), a Latin-German glossary supplying over 3,000 Old High German words with their Latin equivalents. After the Abrogans , the first coherent works written in Old High German appear in
9828-427: The Sprachraum in Europe. German is used in a wide variety of spheres throughout the country, especially in business, tourism, and public signage, as well as in education, churches (most notably the German-speaking Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia (GELK) ), other cultural spheres such as music, and media (such as German language radio programs by the Namibian Broadcasting Corporation ). The Allgemeine Zeitung
9984-422: The Standard German language in its written form, and the Duden Handbook was declared its standard definition. Punctuation and compound spelling (joined or isolated compounds) were not standardized in the process. The Deutsche Bühnensprache ( lit. ' German stage language ' ) by Theodor Siebs had established conventions for German pronunciation in theatres , three years earlier; however, this
10140-442: The Treaty of Westphalia which was concluded later that year and ended the Thirty Years' War ) with victory going to Hesse-Cassel. In the aftermath, Upper Hesse was divided and parts of its territory went to the now stronger Hesse-Cassel. During the Thirty Years' War, Calvinist Hesse-Cassel joined the alliance between Protestant Sweden and Catholic France , whilst despite its Lutheran beliefs, Hesse-Darmstadt, sided with
10296-400: The Upper German dialects spoken in the southern German-speaking countries , such as Swiss German ( Alemannic dialects ) and the various Germanic dialects spoken in the French region of Grand Est , such as Alsatian (mainly Alemannic, but also Central–and Upper Franconian dialects) and Lorraine Franconian (Central Franconian). After these High German dialects, standard German
10452-408: The pagan Germanic tradition. Of particular interest to scholars, however, has been the Hildebrandslied , a secular epic poem telling the tale of an estranged father and son unknowingly meeting each other in battle. Linguistically, this text is highly interesting due to the mixed use of Old Saxon and Old High German dialects in its composition. The written works of this period stem mainly from
10608-484: The real presence of Christ in the Lord's Supper , Reformed Protestants were defined by their opposition to Lutherans . The Reformed also opposed Anabaptist radicals thus remaining within the Magisterial Reformation . During the seventeenth-century Arminian Controversy , followers of Jacobus Arminius were forcibly removed from the Dutch Reformed Church for their views regarding predestination and salvation , and thenceforth Arminians would be considered outside
10764-437: The "Five Points of Calvinism" (also called the doctrines of grace ). The five points have been summarized under the acrostic TULIP. The five points are popularly said to summarize the Canons of Dort ; however, there is no historical relationship between them, and some scholars argue that their language distorts the meaning of the Canons, Calvin's theology, and the theology of 17th-century Calvinistic orthodoxy, particularly in
10920-418: The "old covenant" whom God chose, beginning with Abraham and Sarah . The church is conceived of as both invisible and visible . The invisible church is the body of all believers, known only to God. The visible church is the institutional body which contains both members of the invisible church as well as those who appear to have faith in Christ, but are not truly part of God's elect. In order to identify
11076-712: The 17th century, who became known as Boers or Afrikaners . Sierra Leone was largely colonized by Calvinist settlers from Nova Scotia , many of whom were Black Loyalists who fought for the British Empire during the American War of Independence . John Marrant had organized a congregation there under the auspices of the Huntingdon Connection . Some of the largest Calvinist communions were started by 19th- and 20th-century missionaries . Especially large are those in Indonesia , Korea and Nigeria . In South Korea there are 20,000 Presbyterian congregations with about 9–10 million church members, scattered in more than 100 Presbyterian denominations. In South Korea, Presbyterianism
11232-486: The Bible is true, but differences emerge among them over the meaning and extent of its truthfulness. Conservative followers of the Princeton theologians take the view that the Bible is true and inerrant , or incapable of error or falsehood, in every place. This view is similar to that of Catholic orthodoxy as well as modern Evangelicalism . Another view, influenced by the teaching of Karl Barth and neo-orthodoxy ,
11388-554: The Christian Religion was one of the most influential works of the era. Toward the middle of the 16th century, these beliefs were formed into one consistent creed , which would shape the future definition of the Reformed faith. The 1549 Consensus Tigurinus unified Zwingli and Bullinger's memorialist theology of the Eucharist, which taught that it was simply a reminder of Christ's death, with Calvin's view of it as
11544-648: The Church of England retained elements of Catholicism such as bishops and vestments , unlike continental Reformed churches , and thus was sometimes called "but halfly Reformed." Beginning in the seventeenth century, Anglicanism broadened to the extent that Reformed theology is no longer dominant in Anglicanism. Some scholars argue that Reformed Baptists , who hold many of the same beliefs as Reformed Christians but not infant baptism , should be considered part of Reformed Christianity, though this would not have been
11700-723: The Empire. Its use indicated that the speaker was a merchant or someone from an urban area, regardless of nationality. Prague (German: Prag ) and Budapest ( Buda , German: Ofen ), to name two examples, were gradually Germanized in the years after their incorporation into the Habsburg domain; others, like Pressburg ( Pozsony , now Bratislava), were originally settled during the Habsburg period and were primarily German at that time. Prague, Budapest, Bratislava, and cities like Zagreb (German: Agram ) or Ljubljana (German: Laibach ), contained significant German minorities. In
11856-530: The Father and the Holy Spirit eternally proceeding from the Father and Son. However, contemporary theologians have been critical of aspects of Western views here as well. Drawing on the Eastern tradition, these Reformed theologians have proposed a " social trinitarianism " where the persons of the Trinity only exist in their life together as persons-in-relationship. Contemporary Reformed confessions such as
12012-918: The French-speaking provinces of the Netherlands. Calvinism was adopted in the Electorate of the Palatinate under Frederick III , which led to the formulation of the Heidelberg Catechism in 1563. This and the Belgic Confession were adopted as confessional standards in the first synod of the Dutch Reformed Church in 1571. In 1573, William the Silent joined the Calvinist Church. Calvinism
12168-748: The Frisian languages— North Frisian (spoken in Nordfriesland ), Saterland Frisian (spoken in Saterland ), and West Frisian (spoken in Friesland )—as well as the Anglic languages of English and Scots. These Anglo-Frisian dialects did not take part in the High German consonant shift, and the Anglic languages also adopted much vocabulary from both Old Norse and the Norman language . The history of
12324-536: The German language begins with the High German consonant shift during the Migration Period , which separated Old High German dialects from Old Saxon . This sound shift involved a drastic change in the pronunciation of both voiced and voiceless stop consonants ( b , d , g , and p , t , k , respectively). The primary effects of the shift were the following below. While there is written evidence of
12480-399: The German states; the invention of the printing press c. 1440 and the publication of Luther's vernacular translation of the Bible in 1534, however, had an immense effect on standardizing German as a supra-dialectal written language. The ENHG period saw the rise of several important cross-regional forms of chancery German, one being gemeine tiutsch , used in the court of
12636-681: The Germanic dialects that were affected by the High German consonant shift (south of Benrath) from those that were not (north of Uerdingen). The various regional dialects spoken south of these lines are grouped as High German dialects, while those spoken to the north comprise the Low German and Low Franconian dialects. As members of the West Germanic language family, High German, Low German, and Low Franconian have been proposed to be further distinguished historically as Irminonic , Ingvaeonic , and Istvaeonic , respectively. This classification indicates their historical descent from dialects spoken by
12792-655: The Irminones (also known as the Elbe group), Ingvaeones (or North Sea Germanic group), and Istvaeones (or Weser–Rhine group). Standard German is based on a combination of Thuringian - Upper Saxon and Upper Franconian dialects, which are Central German and Upper German dialects belonging to the High German dialect group. German is therefore closely related to the other languages based on High German dialects, such as Luxembourgish (based on Central Franconian dialects ) and Yiddish . Also closely related to Standard German are
12948-524: The Lower Hess estates openly rebelled against him and forced his abdication in 1627. The House of Cassel also lost Hesse-Rotenburg (the so-called Rotenburger Quart ) thanks to Maurice's division of his inheritance. Thus weakened, Maurice's son and heir, William V, was forced to accept the judgment of the Aulic Council in 1623 and cede the disputed territories. On 24 September 1627 a settlement
13104-843: The Lower Hessian troops had conquered earlier on Swedish orders (including the Fulda Abbey , the Bishopric of Paderborn and Corvey Abbey ) or intended to capture (the Bishopric of Münster , later substituted by the Swedish Chancellor Oxenstierna for parts of the Duchy of Westphalia and Vest Recklinghausen ). After the Battle of Lützen in November 1632, in which the Swedish-Protestant side suffered great losses and King Gustavus Adolphus
13260-518: The MHG period. Significantly, these texts include a number of impressive secular works, such as the Nibelungenlied , an epic poem telling the story of the dragon -slayer Siegfried ( c. thirteenth century ), and the Iwein , an Arthurian verse poem by Hartmann von Aue ( c. 1203 ), lyric poems , and courtly romances such as Parzival and Tristan . Also noteworthy
13416-713: The Reformed faith holds to a spiritual (pneumatic) presence of Christ in the Lord's Supper . Emerging in the 16th century, the Reformed tradition developed over several generations, especially in Switzerland , Scotland and the Netherlands . In the seventeenth century, Jacobus Arminius and the Remonstrants were expelled from the Dutch Reformed Church over disputes regarding predestination and salvation , and from that time Arminians are usually considered to be
13572-424: The Reformed tradition, such as those associated with the Presbyterian Church (USA)'s Confession of 1967, have emphasized the social character of human sinfulness. These theologians have sought to bring attention to issues of environmental, economic, and political justice as areas of human life that have been affected by sin. Reformed theologians, along with other Protestants, believe salvation from punishment for sin
13728-503: The Rhineland and Westphalia, Landgravine Amalia Elisabeth of Hesse-Cassel felt strong enough to take up the fight for the Marburg inheritance in 1644. She had the Hauptakkord treaty of 1627, in which Hesse-Cassel had forfeited Upper Hesse, invalidated by a subsequent legal ruling and, at the end of 1645, sent her battle-hardened troops led by Johann von Geyso towards Marburg. After a short siege of Marburg and Butzbach and their surrender,
13884-599: The Swedish and French side against the Emperor and the Imperial Princes because of the uncompromising politics of the imperial court. On the opposing side, Hesse-Darmstadt had given up its neutrality and fought openly again for the Emperor. Both sides scored successes. For example, Darmstadt won the County of Isenburg-Büdingen and the Electoral Palatine Amt of Caub. On 13 June 1636, Cassel ended
14040-613: The area of Vest Recklinghausen , and to capture other domains besides. In 1641 Hesse-Cassel lost the town of Dorsten in Vest Recklinghausen, which they had seized in 1633, to troops of the Imperial Army and Electorate of Cologne after a siege lasting several weeks . This was the most important Hessian position on the right bank of Lower Rhine. But after the imperial forces partially withdrew to fight in other regions (especially Wolfenbüttel ), Hesse-Kassel embarked on
14196-461: The belief that finite humans cannot comprehend infinite divinity, Reformed theologians hold that Christ's human body cannot be in multiple locations at the same time. Because Lutherans believe that Christ is bodily present in the Eucharist , they hold that Christ is bodily present in many locations simultaneously. For Reformed Christians, such a belief denies that Christ actually became human. Some contemporary Reformed theologians have moved away from
14352-517: The concept of covenant to describe the way God enters into fellowship with people in history. The concept of covenant is so prominent in Reformed theology that Reformed theology as a whole is sometimes called "covenant theology". However, sixteenth- and seventeenth-century theologians developed a particular theological system called " covenant theology " or "federal theology" which many conservative Reformed churches continue to affirm. This framework orders God's life with people primarily in two covenants:
14508-544: The confessional standard for Presbyterians in the English-speaking world. Having established itself in Europe, the movement continued to spread to areas including North America , South Africa and Korea . While Calvin did not live to see the foundation of his work grow into an international movement, his death allowed his ideas to spread far beyond their city of origin and their borders and to establish their own distinct character. Although much of Calvin's work
14664-462: The corruption of their nature due to original sin. Reformed Christians believe that God predestined some people to be saved and others were predestined to eternal damnation. This choice by God to save some is held to be unconditional and not based on any characteristic or action on the part of the person chosen. The Calvinist view is opposed to the Arminian view that God's choice of whom to save
14820-458: The covenant of works and the covenant of grace. The covenant of works is made with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden . The terms of the covenant are that God provides a blessed life in the garden on condition that Adam and Eve obey God's law perfectly. Because Adam and Eve broke the covenant by eating the forbidden fruit , they became subject to death and were banished from the garden. This sin
14976-430: The development of non-local forms of language and exposed all speakers to forms of German from outside their own area. With Luther's rendering of the Bible in the vernacular, German asserted itself against the dominance of Latin as a legitimate language for courtly, literary, and now ecclesiastical subject-matter. His Bible was ubiquitous in the German states: nearly every household possessed a copy. Nevertheless, even with
15132-456: The dialect so as to make the work as natural and accessible to German speakers as possible. Copies of Luther's Bible featured a long list of glosses for each region, translating words which were unknown in the region into the regional dialect. Luther said the following concerning his translation method: One who would talk German does not ask the Latin how he shall do it; he must ask the mother in
15288-488: The doctrine of God is to be based on God's work in history and his freedom to live with and empower people. Reformed theologians have also traditionally followed the medieval tradition going back to before the early church councils of Nicaea and Chalcedon on the doctrine of the Trinity . God is affirmed to be one God in three persons: Father , Son , and Holy Spirit . The Son (Christ) is held to be eternally begotten by
15444-519: The eastern provinces of Banat , Bukovina , and Transylvania (German: Banat, Buchenland, Siebenbürgen ), German was the predominant language not only in the larger towns—like Temeschburg ( Timișoara ), Hermannstadt ( Sibiu ), and Kronstadt ( Brașov )—but also in many smaller localities in the surrounding areas. In 1901, the Second Orthographic Conference ended with a (nearly) complete standardization of
15600-549: The entire heritage of Hesse-Marburg (including all tax revenue from it, retroactively) should go to the Darmstadt line. Tilly also occupied several Lower Hessian offices as a security. Even the former county of Katzenelenbogen was seized from Darmstadt. Landgrave Louis V died during the campaign. His son, George II, took over the reins of power in Darmstadt and continued the fight against Cassel. Because of military defeats and abject government by Landgrave Maurice of Hesse-Cassel,
15756-759: The fact that his state embraced the Lutheran confession, he increasingly sided with the Roman Catholic emperor, whilst the Calvinist Hesse-Cassel fought with the Protestant Union . After the Protestant Duke Christian of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel had invaded Upper Hesse in 1621, Louis V openly allied himself with the emperor in the hope of receiving military support. The gamble paid off in the medium term: in 1621
15912-470: The first German Protestant prince to ally himself with King Gustavus II Adolphus of Sweden (also a great-grandson of Philip I and thus a cousin of William V). After the alliance was formally sealed on 22 August 1631 in the Treaty of Werben (in the wake of the Battle of Werben ), Hesse-Cassel placed its army in the service of the Swedish king. In return, Gustavus Adolphus held out the prospect to Cassel that they could expand their territory by conquest. With
16068-474: The fortress of Rüsselsheim . During his withdrawal from Russelsheim, however, Mansfeld was defeated on 10 June 1622 in the battle on the Lorsch Heath by imperial general, Tilly . A few weeks earlier, on 27 April 1622 in the Battle of Mingolsheim , Mansfeld had triumphed against Tilly, but achieved no great advantage from his victory. In the meantime, Tilly had grown in strength following his victory at
16224-435: The home, the children on the streets, the common man in the market-place and note carefully how they talk, then translate accordingly. They will then understand what is said to them because it is German. When Christ says ' ex abundantia cordis os loquitur ,' I would translate, if I followed the papists, aus dem Überflusz des Herzens redet der Mund . But tell me is this talking German? What German understands such stuff? No,
16380-523: The idea of covenants based on law rather than grace. Michael Horton , however, has defended the covenant of works as combining principles of law and love. For the most part, the Reformed tradition did not modify the medieval consensus on the doctrine of God . God's character is described primarily using three adjectives: eternal, infinite, and unchangeable. Reformed theologians such as Shirley Guthrie have proposed that rather than conceiving of God in terms of his attributes and freedom to do as he pleases,
16536-447: The idea that God works with people in this way. Instead, Barth argued that God always interacts with people under the covenant of grace, and that the covenant of grace is free of all conditions whatsoever. Barth's theology and that which follows him has been called "mono covenantal" as opposed to the "bi-covenantal" scheme of classical federal theology. Conservative contemporary Reformed theologians, such as John Murray , have also rejected
16692-512: The imperial Field Marshal Ambrosio Spinola occupied the Wetterau . In reply, the commander of the Protestant army, Ernst von Mansfeld , counter-attacked the Darmstadt upper county on orders of Prince-Elector Frederick of the Palatinate . In doing so, he succeeded in taking Louis V of Hesse-Darmstadt and his son, John , prisoner. In exchange for the release of the hostages , he was given
16848-481: The influence of Luther's Bible as an unofficial written standard, a widely accepted standard for written German did not appear until the middle of the eighteenth century. German was the language of commerce and government in the Habsburg Empire , which encompassed a large area of Central and Eastern Europe . Until the mid-nineteenth century, it was essentially the language of townspeople throughout most of
17004-539: The language of total depravity and limited atonement. The five points were more recently popularized in the 1963 booklet The Five Points of Calvinism Defined, Defended, Documented by David N. Steele and Curtis C. Thomas. The origins of the five points and the acrostic are uncertain, but they appear to be outlined in the Counter Remonstrance of 1611 , a lesser-known Reformed reply to the Arminians, which
17160-475: The largest concentrations of German speakers are in the states of Rio Grande do Sul (where Riograndenser Hunsrückisch developed), Santa Catarina , and Espírito Santo . Calvinism Reformed Christianity , also called Calvinism , is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the sixteenth-century Protestant Reformation , a schism in the Western Church . In the modern day, it
17316-545: The local nobility, Calvinism became a significant religion in Eastern Hungary and Hungarian-speaking areas of Transylvania . As of 2007 there are about 3.5 million Hungarian Reformed people worldwide. Calvinism was influential in France , Lithuania , and Poland before being mostly erased during the Counter Reformation . One of the most important Polish reformed theologists was John a Lasco , who
17472-537: The majority of Upper Hesse fell again under the rule of Kassel in early 1646. In 1647, an imperial army under the command of General Melander , who once stood in Cassel service until 1640, succeeded in recovering the town of Marburg - but not its castle. But because the town of Darmstadt and the Upper County was attacked in turn by French troops under the command of Marshal Turenne shortly thereafter, this success
17628-496: The matter was decided in favour of Hesse-Cassel by the Aulic Council ( Reichshofrat ), and Hesse-Marburg was divided in half. In 1605, the dispute over the Marburg inheritance flared up again after Landgrave Maurice of Hesse-Cassel, whose beliefs since his accession in 1592 increasingly moved towards the Calvinistic confession of his wife, Juliane of Nassau-Siegen , enacted several Calvinist-oriented laws in his domain and in
17784-479: The meaning of each of the offices. For example, Karl Barth interpreted Christ's prophetic office in terms of political engagement on behalf of the poor. Christians believe Jesus' death and resurrection make it possible for believers to receive forgiveness for sin and reconciliation with God through the atonement . Reformed Protestants generally subscribe to a particular view of the atonement called penal substitutionary atonement , which explains Christ's death as
17940-619: The military stalemate, the ban was initially ineffective. Because even after more than two decades, no end to the confrontation was in sight and the whole of Hesse was suffering badly from the consequences of the war, more so than almost any other region in Germany, in February 1637 the Landstände , or knightly estates, from all parts of Hesse organized a Landtag to seek a mediation between their lords. But this arbitration parliament
18096-402: The mother in the home and the plain man would say, Wesz das Herz voll ist, des gehet der Mund über . Luther's translation of the Bible into High German was also decisive for the German language and its evolution from Early New High German to modern Standard German. The publication of Luther's Bible was a decisive moment in the spread of literacy in early modern Germany , and promoted
18252-522: The necessary outworking of the believer's salvation, though they do not cause the believer to be saved. Sanctification, like justification, is by faith, because doing good works is simply living as the child of God one has become. Stemming from the theology of John Calvin , Reformed theologians teach that sin so affects human nature that they are unable even to exercise faith in Christ by their own will. While people are said to retain free will, in that they willfully sin, they are unable not to sin because of
18408-653: The ninth century, chief among them being the Muspilli , Merseburg charms , and Hildebrandslied , and other religious texts (the Georgslied , Ludwigslied , Evangelienbuch , and translated hymns and prayers). The Muspilli is a Christian poem written in a Bavarian dialect offering an account of the soul after the Last Judgment , and the Merseburg charms are transcriptions of spells and charms from
18564-556: The other Protestant denominations (38.2%). All three are distinct categories from Presbyterian or Reformed (7%) in this report. The Reformed family of churches is one of the largest Christian denominations. According to adherents.com the Reformed/Presbyterian/Congregational/United churches represent 75 million believers worldwide. The World Communion of Reformed Churches , which includes some United Churches , has 80 million believers. WCRC
18720-613: The pale of Reformed orthodoxy, though some use the term Reformed to include Arminians, while using the term Calvinist to exclude Arminians. Reformed Christianity also has a complicated relationship with Anglicanism , the branch of Christianity originating in the Church of England . The Anglican confessions are considered Protestant, and more specifically, Reformed, and leaders of the English Reformation were influenced by Calvinist, rather than Lutheran theologians. Still
18876-465: The parts of the soul." Calvin asserted people were so warped by original sin that "everything which our mind conceives, meditates, plans, and resolves, is always evil." The depraved condition of every human being is not the result of sins people commit during their lives. Instead, before we are born, while we are in our mother's womb, "we are in God's sight defiled and polluted." Calvin thought people were justly condemned to hell because their corrupted state
19032-437: The political and military support of the Protestant alliance under the leadership of the Swedish king and thanks to the skillful leadership of William V, who himself went to war as a general, in the period that followed the Lower Hessian troops achieved considerable military success. As a start, they succeeded in driving the imperial occupiers out of Hesse-Cassel. On 24 August 1631, Hersfeld was conquered and, on 9 September 1631,
19188-485: The priority of scripture as a source of authority. Scripture was also viewed as a unified whole, which led to a covenantal theology of the sacraments of baptism and the Lord's Supper as visible signs of the covenant of grace . Another shared perspective was their denial of the Real presence of Christ in the Eucharist . Each understood salvation to be by grace alone and affirmed a doctrine of unconditional election ,
19344-462: The pronunciation of the ending -ig as [ɪk] instead of [ɪç]. In Northern Germany, High German was a foreign language to most inhabitants, whose native dialects were subsets of Low German. It was usually encountered only in writing or formal speech; in fact, most of High German was a written language, not identical to any spoken dialect, throughout the German-speaking area until well into the 19th century. However, wider standardization of pronunciation
19500-525: The same year, converted to Calvinism himself. In the wake of this, many Lutheran priests moved to Hesse-Darmstadt and the Lutheran theologians of the University of Marburg went to the gymnasium illustre [ de ] in Giessen, which, in 1607 also achieved the status of a university. Because, Maurice, by his conversion to Calvinism had ended the Lutheran unity of Hesse-Marburg, he fell foul of
19656-546: The states of North Dakota and South Dakota , German is the most common language spoken at home after English. As a legacy of significant German immigration to the country , German geographical names can be found throughout the Midwest region , such as New Ulm and Bismarck (North Dakota's state capital), plus many other regions. A number of German varieties have developed in the country and are still spoken today, such as Pennsylvania Dutch and Texas German . In Brazil,
19812-694: The teaching that some people are chosen by God to be saved. Martin Luther and his successor, Philipp Melanchthon were significant influences on these theologians, and to a larger extent, those who followed. The doctrine of justification by faith alone , also known as sola fide , was a direct inheritance from Luther. The second generation featured John Calvin (1509–1564), Heinrich Bullinger (1504–1575), Thomas Cranmer (1489–1556), Wolfgang Musculus (1497–1563), Peter Martyr Vermigli (1500–1562), Andreas Hyperius (1511–1564) and John à Lasco (1499–1560). Written between 1536 and 1539, Calvin's Institutes of
19968-640: The term is misleading, inaccurate, unhelpful, and "inherently distortive." The definitions and boundaries of the terms Reformed Christianity and Calvinism are contested by scholars. As a historical movement, Reformed Christianity began during the Reformation with Huldrych Zwingli in Zürich , Switzerland. Following the failure of the Marburg Colloquy between Zwingli's followers and those of Martin Luther in 1529 to mediate disputes regarding
20124-500: The third most commonly learned second language in the United States in K-12 education. The language has been influential in the fields of philosophy, theology, science, and technology. It is the second most commonly used language in science and the third most widely used language on websites . The German-speaking countries are ranked fifth in terms of annual publication of new books, with one-tenth of all books (including e-books) in
20280-488: The town of Fritzlar that belonged to the Electorate of Mainz . The imperial troops were further weakened by their defeat in the Battle of Breitenfeld and came under pressure. By mounting diversionary attacks on Mainz positions in the Taunus , Hesse-Cassel supported the Swedish advance on Erfurt , Würzburg and Hanau to Frankfurt and Mainz . The hopes of Lower Hesse to recover their lost territories in Upper Hesse, as
20436-433: The traditional language of one person in two natures, viewing it as unintelligible to contemporary people. Instead, theologians tend to emphasize Jesus's context and particularity as a first-century Jew. John Calvin and many Reformed theologians who followed him describe Christ's work of redemption in terms of three offices : prophet , priest , and king . Christ is said to be a prophet in that he teaches perfect doctrine,
20592-483: The two Franconian prince-bishoprics of Würzburg and Bamberg in 1528, which is also referred to as the "Hessian War". The cause of the conflict was the division of inheritance following the death of Phillip the Magnanimous in 1567. According to an old house law in the House of Hesse, he had mandated in his will a division of the landgraviate amongst his four sons, whereby the inheritance of Hessian territory
20748-524: The view of early modern Reformed theologians. Others disagree, asserting that Baptists should be considered a separate religious tradition. The first wave of Reformed theologians included Huldrych Zwingli (1484–1531), Martin Bucer (1491–1551), Wolfgang Capito (1478–1541), John Oecolampadius (1482–1531), and Guillaume Farel (1489–1565). While from diverse academic backgrounds, their work already contained key themes within Reformed theology, especially
20904-507: The visible church, Reformed theologians have spoken of certain marks of the Church . For some, the only mark is the pure preaching of the gospel of Christ. Others, including John Calvin, also include the right administration of the sacraments . Others, such as those following the Scots Confession , include a third mark of rightly administered church discipline , or exercise of censure against unrepentant sinners. These marks allowed
21060-616: The whole of Hesse-Marburg continued to follow the Lutheran confession. There was initially a dispute over whether each of the two remaining lines of the family should receive exactly half the territory or whether it should be split according to the number of nephews in each case. Darmstadt would have benefited from the latter interpretation, because George of Hesse-Darmstadt had produced more sons ( Louis , Philip (III) and Frederick ) than William of Hesse-Cassel with just one heir, Maurice . Following an action for annulment by Hesse-Darmstadt,
21216-407: The will of his uncle, thus forfeiting his claim to his portion of Hesse-Marburg in the view of Hesse-Darmstadt. Darmstadt was at this point in time neither politically nor militarily strong enough to be able to pursue its claim to the whole of Hesse-Marburg. During the Thirty Years' War, or more precisely War over Electoral Palatine , Louis V of Hesse-Darmstadt initially remained neutral but, despite
21372-555: The world being published in German. German is most closely related to other West Germanic languages, namely Afrikaans , Dutch , English , the Frisian languages , and Scots . It also contains close similarities in vocabulary to some languages in the North Germanic group , such as Danish , Norwegian , and Swedish . Modern German gradually developed from Old High German , which in turn developed from Proto-Germanic during
21528-538: The written form of German. One of the central events in the development of ENHG was the publication of Luther's translation of the Bible into High German (the New Testament was published in 1522; the Old Testament was published in parts and completed in 1534). Luther based his translation primarily on the Meißner Deutsch of Saxony , spending much time among the population of Saxony researching
21684-429: Was a "neutral" language as there were virtually no English native speakers in Namibia at that time. German, Afrikaans, and several indigenous languages thus became "national languages" by law, identifying them as elements of the cultural heritage of the nation and ensuring that the state acknowledged and supported their presence in the country. Today, Namibia is considered to be the only German-speaking country outside of
21840-448: Was also involved into organising churches in East Frisia and Stranger's Church in London. Later, a faction called the Polish Brethren broke away from Calvinism on January 22, 1556, when Piotr of Goniądz , a Polish student, spoke out against the doctrine of the Trinity during the general synod of the Reformed churches of Poland held in the village of Secemin . Calvinism gained some popularity in Scandinavia , especially Sweden, but
21996-407: Was an artificial standard that did not correspond to any traditional spoken dialect. Rather, it was based on the pronunciation of German in Northern Germany, although it was subsequently regarded often as a general prescriptive norm, despite differing pronunciation traditions especially in the Upper-German-speaking regions that still characterise the dialect of the area today – especially
22152-402: Was as follows: When the Rheinfels line died out in 1583 Hessen-Rheinfels was divided amongst the three remaining brothers of Philip II. In 1604, Landgrave Louis IV of Hesse-Marburg died without issue at his castle in Marburg . His will envisaged that Hesse-Marburg would be divided equally between the sons of his late brothers, William in Cassel and George in Darmstadt, on the condition, that
22308-474: Was brought on by Adam and Eve's first sin, a doctrine called original sin . Although earlier Christian authors taught the elements of physical death, moral weakness, and a sin propensity within original sin, Augustine was the first Christian to add the concept of inherited guilt ( reatus ) from Adam whereby every infant is born eternally damned and humans lack any residual ability to respond to God. Reformed theologians emphasize that this sinfulness affects all of
22464-438: Was declared the official religion of the Kingdom of Navarre by the queen regnant Jeanne d'Albret after her conversion in 1560. Leading divines, either Calvinist or those sympathetic to Calvinism, settled in England, including Martin Bucer, Peter Martyr , and John Łaski , as did John Knox in Scotland . During the First English Civil War , English and Scots Presbyterians produced the Westminster Confession , which became
22620-427: Was established on the basis of public speaking in theatres and the media during the 20th century and documented in pronouncing dictionaries. Official revisions of some of the rules from 1901 were not issued until the controversial German orthography reform of 1996 was made the official standard by governments of all German-speaking countries. Media and written works are now almost all produced in Standard German which
22776-404: Was granted refuge by Ulrich II of East Frisia following mediation by the states-general. There, in the encampment at Leer , he died from disease on 21 September 1637. Because William's son, William VI was only eight years old at the time of his father's death, William V appointed his wife Amalie Elisabeth in his will as a guardian for his under-age heir and thus as regent of Hesse-Cassel. In
22932-492: Was in Geneva , his publications spread his ideas of a correctly Reformed church to many parts of Europe. In Switzerland, some cantons are still Reformed, and some are Catholic. Calvinism became the dominant doctrine within the Church of Scotland , the Dutch Republic , some communities in Flanders , and parts of Germany , especially those adjacent to the Netherlands in the Palatinate , Kassel , and Lippe , spread by Olevianus and Zacharias Ursinus among others. Protected by
23088-414: Was killed, the fortunes of war turned against the Protestants, including Hesse-Cassel. Following their defeat in the Battle of Nördlingen in September 1634 the Protestant Alliance crumbled. The Calvinist Hesse-Cassel could not comply with the Treaty of Prague of 1635 as a result of excessive demands from Darmstadt, which insisted on the annexation of the whole of Hesse-Cassel. Later it fought once again on
23244-431: Was not successful because, in parallel, the newly elected Emperor Ferdinand III , also King of Croatia , had already sent several regiments of Croatian troops to Lower Hesse to the enforce the ban against William V. During their campaign the Croats devastated large parts of Lower Hesse and also threatened to take Cassel. In this situation, William V fled with his family and a large part of his army to East Frisia , where he
23400-430: Was passed down to all mankind because all people are said to be in Adam as a covenantal or "federal" head. Federal theologians usually imply that Adam and Eve would have gained immortality had they obeyed perfectly. A second covenant, called the covenant of grace, is said to have been made immediately following Adam and Eve's sin. In it, God graciously offers salvation from death on condition of faith in God. This covenant
23556-459: Was permanently divided. Darmstadt had to give up a significant part of Upper Hesse to Cassel, not least Marburg and other occupied territories, including the Lower County of Katzenelnbogen and the Barony of Schmalkalden . German language German (German: Deutsch , pronounced [dɔʏtʃ] ) is a West Germanic language in the Indo-European language family , mainly spoken in Western and Central Europe . It
23712-417: Was reached, the so-called Hauptakkord . The whole of Upper Hesse, the Lower County of Katzenelnbogen and the Barony of Schmalkalden , a Hessian exclave in Thuringia, went to Hesse-Darmstadt. In addition, Hesse-Cassel and Hesse-Darmstadt were granted the same level of precedence in the German Empire. In return, Hesse-Cassel was given back the territories in Lower Hesse that had been held as a security. After
23868-450: Was rejected in favor of Lutheranism after the Synod of Uppsala in 1593. Many 17th century European settlers in the Thirteen Colonies in British America were Calvinists, who emigrated because of arguments over church structure, including the Pilgrim Fathers . Others were forced into exile, including the French Huguenots . Dutch and French Calvinist settlers were also among the first European colonizers of South Africa , beginning in
24024-400: Was short-lived. By the end of 1647, troops from Cassel had re-occupied the majority of Lower and Upper Hesse and the Lower County of Katzenelnbogen. In early 1648, Melander's troops withdrew from Marburg. The Hessian War was finally permanently settled by negotiations, that took place in parallel with the Westphalian Peace Congress mediated by Duke Ernest of Saxe-Gotha and which resulted in
24180-415: Was triggered by a division of inheritance following the death of the last landgrave of all Hesse , Philip I in 1567. The real conflict, which lasted almost 80 years and spanned three generations, escalated in the 1620s, when the line of Hesse-Marburg died out, and peaked after 1645 in the Hessian War proper. This open warfare began with the Siege of Marburg in 1645 and ended in April 1648 (but before
24336-450: Was written prior to the Canons of Dort. The acrostic was used by Cleland Boyd McAfee as early as circa 1905. An early printed appearance of the acrostic can be found in Loraine Boettner's 1932 book, The Reformed Doctrine of Predestination . Reformed Christians see the Christian Church as the community with which God has made the covenant of grace, a promise of eternal life and relationship with God. This covenant extends to those under
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