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[English Version] . Der National Council of Churches of Christ (NCC) wurde 1950 in den USA als Zusammenschluß mehrerer bedeutender interkonfessioneller Organe, u.a. des Federal Council of Churches, International Council of Religious Education und des United Council of Church Women, gegründet. Die meisten gemäßigten prot. und orth. Konfessionen sind Mitglieder des NCC, während einige der größten rel. Gruppen der USA, u.a. die röm.-kath. Kirche, die Southern Baptist Convention und die Lutheran Churc…

[English Version] Oxnam, Garfield Bromley (14.8.1891 Sonora, CA – 12.3.1963 White Plains, NY). Nach seinem Studienabschluß an der University of Southern California (1913) und der Boston University's School of Theology (1915) wurde O. methodistischer Pastor (Methodismus). 1927 kam er als Prof. an die Bostoner Universität, 1928 als Präsident an die DePauw University, Greencastle, IN. 1936 zum methodistischen Bischof gewählt, war er bis zu seinem Ruhestand 1960 in dieser Funktion in Omaha, Boston, New York und Washington, DC, tätig. O., der unter dem Einfluß der liberalen …

[English Version] . Obwohl sich Vorstellungen, die später mit dem Unitarismus (U.) in Verbindung gebracht wurden, in den christologischen Streitigkeiten des 4.Jh., in der sozinianischen Bewegung (Sozinianer/Sozianismus) in der Reformationszeit und bei einigen Täufern finden, verdankt der moderne U. seine Entstehung liberalen Strömungen im brit. rel. Nonkonformismus (Dissenters) und im Puritanismus (Puritaner) Neuenglands des 18.Jh. Die gemäßigte Aufklärung, die die Vernünftigkeit des christl. Glau…

[English Version] (UFMCC). Die durch ihre geistl. Betreuung von Schwulen, Lesben (Homosexualität), Bisexuellen und Transsexuellen bekannt gewordene prot. Gemeinschaft entstand 1968 in Los Angeles, CA, wo sie bis heute ihren Hauptsitz hat. Ihr Begründer ist Troy Perry, ein Pfarrer der Pfingstbewegung, der aufgrund seines Bekenntnisses zu seiner Homosexualität auf die weitere Ausübung seiner pastoralen Tätigkeit verzichten mußte. Die UFMCC bejaht die hist. prot. Glaubensgrundsätze und Lehren und hat Beobachterstatus im National Council of Churches sowie…

[English Version] . Der Universalismus (U.) – der Glaube an die zukünftige Erlösung der ganzen Menschheit (Heilsuniversalismus) – etablierte sich in Nordamerika im späten 18.Jh. Dt. Einwanderer, beeinflußt von George de Benneville (1703–1793), traten für universalistische Ideen ein, ebenso liberale Puritaner wie Jonathan Mayhew (1720–1766) und Ch. Chauncy. Der Hauptimpuls ging von dem engl. Methodisten John Murray (1741–1815) im Anschluß an die Lektüre theol. Werke John Rellys (1720–1778) aus. Ein…

[English Version] Van Dusen, Henry Pitney (11.12.1897 Philadelphia, PA – 13.2.1975 Belle Meade, NJ), studierte an der Princeton University, dem Union Theological Seminary und in Edinburgh. 1924 wurde er in der presbyterianischen Kirche zum Pfarrer ordiniert, ab 1926 war er Prof. für Syst. Theol. am Union Theological Seminary. In unzähligen Büchern und Artikeln trat V.D. ausdrücklich für einen evangelikalen christozentrischen Liberalismus ein. Bei der Gründung des Ökumenischen Rates der Kirchen 1948 n…

[German Version] (Dec 11, 1897, Philadelphia, PA – Feb 13, 1975, Belle Meade, NJ) studied at Princeton University, Union Theological Seminary, and Edinburgh. He was ordained a Presbyterian minister in 1924 and became a professor of systematic theology at Union Theological Seminary in 1926. In scores of books and articles, Van Dusen advocated an evangelical, Christocentric liberalism. He was a key figure in the 1948 formation of the World Council of Churches. He served Union Theological Seminary as…

[German Version] (UFMCC). This Protestant denomination, noted for its ministry with gay, lesbian (Homosexuality), bisexual, and transgendered persons, began in 1968 in Los Angeles, California, where its headquarters remains. Its founder is Troy Perry, a Pentecostal pastor (Pentecostalism) who was forced out of his pulpit when he acknowledged his homosexuality. Affirming the historic creeds and doctrines of Protestant Christianity, UFMCC holds observer status in both the National Council of Churches and the World Council of Churches. Local congregations are known for the…

[German Version] The Christadelphians (“brothers of Christ”) are an Adventist group, whose beliefs come from the teachings of John Thomas (1805–1871), a British physician who came to the USA in 1832. In 1847 Thomas split from his earlier teacher A. Campbell and settled in Richmond, VA, which is still a Christadelphian center. He also took his message to Britain where the largest number of Christadelphians live today. The Christadelphians believe in the imminent S…

[German Version] Although ideas later associated with Unitarianism may be found in the Christological controversies of the 4th century, the Socinian movement (Socinians) in the age of the Reformation, and some Anabaptist thought, modern Unitarianism owes its genesis to liberal currents in British religious dissent (Dissenters) and in New England Puritanism (Puritans) in the 18th century. The moderate Enlightenment that stressed the reasonableness of Christianity influenced J. Priestley (who discov…

[German Version] (Aug, 14, 1891, Sonora, CA – Mar 12, 1963, White Plains, NY), became a Methodist pastor (Methodists) in California after graduating from the University of Southern California (1913) and Boston University’s School of Theology (1915). He joined the Boston faculty in 1927, leaving in 1928 to become president of DePauw University, Greencastle, IN. Elected a Methodist bishop in 1936, he served in Omaha, Boston, New York, and Washington DC, prior to retiring in 1960. ¶ Oxman, committed to a liberal social gospel perspective and ecumenism, served as president o…

[German Version] (FCC), a cooperative agency, set up in 1908 by some 28 U.S. Protestant denominations, to boost Protestant influence. Jointly producing some educational materials and coordinating home and foreign missions, member churches tried to sustain the Protestant character of American culture. Early on, the FCC adopted a social orientation and supported the concerns of the working class. The FCC emerged at a time when similar groups were forming in areas like religious education, student wo…

[German Version] The National Council of Churches of Christ (NCC) was founded in the ¶ United States in 1950 as an association of several significant interdenominational agencies, including the Federal Council of Churches, the International Council of Religious Education, and the United Council of Church Women. Most mainline Protestant and Orthodox denominations are members of the NCC, although some of the largest religious groups in the United States, including the Roman Catholic Church, the Southern Baptist …

[German Version] I. Europe – II. North America I. Europe There has been a community or “fellowship” movement (Ger. Gemeinschaftsbewegung), an organized form of pietism in practice, since the 19th century in various European countries, especially in Scandinavia, as well as in eastern and southeastern European countries, although it was or is not as important there as in the German-speaking countries (Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Alsace, as well as Holland). Its impact (with regional variations), in terms of numbers too, has been greatest in Germany. The historical roots of t…

[German Version] I. Forms – II. Law – III. Practical Theology I. Forms 1. Europe The multiplicity of churches in Europe, especially in the realm of the Reformation churches, has also brought about various forms of church membership, although the now common tendency to link church membership with baptism has had a unifying effect. Divided church membership may occur when a distinction is made between the church as a spiritual body based on its confession and its ecclesiastical principles and the church as a body constituted according …