Search

[German Version] As the result of moral, economic, political and religious factors, Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries in England and Wales in the 1530s. Assisted by T. Cromwell, the process continued intermittently. In 1536, Parliament passed an act – the co-called “Dissolution of the Monasteries Act” – that led to the closure of around 250 of the smaller houses of the orders (roughly a third of the …

[German Version] (Jul, 1743, Peterborough, UK – May 25, 1805, Lincoln, UK), Anglican theologian, who was educated by his father and then studied at Cambridge before being elected Fellow of Christ’s College there in 1766. In his first book The Principles of Moral and Political Philosophy (1785), which later became a favorite educational resource, Paley outlined a system of utilitarian ethics (Utilitarianism; see also England, Theology in) in which he anticipated many of the themes of his contemporary, J. Bentham). Paley proved great originality in his Horae Paulinae (1790) in which…

[German Version] (Aug 29, 1805, Normanston, Suffolk, England – Apr 1, 1872, Cambridge, England), Anglican theologian. Raised as a Unitarian (Unitarians/Universalists), Maurice first studied law at Cambridge and, after leaving without taking a degree, he studied theology at Oxford. He was ordained in the Church of England in 1834. After serving in a parish and as chaplain at Guy's Hospital, London, he was elected professor of English literature and history at King's College, London. Six years later…

[German Version] (Nov 4, 1740, Farnham, Surrey – Aug 12, 1778, London), Anglican priest and hymn-writer. Though occupying a number of pulpits in the Church of England, Toplady remained mostly in London where he preached and, as a staunch Calvinist, engaged in spirited controversy with the Arminian J. Wesley, among others. He is chiefly remembered as the author of the hymn “Rock of Ages” (c. 1775). Grayson Carter Bibliography Works, ed. W. Row, 1794 On Toplady: T. Wright, The Life of Augustus M. Toplady, 1911 G. Lawton, Within the Rock of Ages, 1983 A. Pollard, Oxford DNB LV, 2004, 37–39.

[German Version] (1630, Bocton, Kent, England, baptized Oct 31, 1630 – May 27, 1693, probably Cambridge, England), English theologian and Hebraist. He ¶ served as fellow (1655) and master (1667) of Corpus Christi College, in Cambridge, before being appointed dean of Ely (1677). His most influential work, De Legibus Hebraeorum (1685), traced the religious antiquities of the ancient Hebrews and laid the foundation for the subsequent emergence of the study of comparative religion. He was the first scholar to observe the similarities between Hebre…

[German Version] On Mar 25, 1605, a small band of Catholics hired a cellar under the Houses of Parliament ¶ in London, storing gunpowder there. Although Guy Fawkes (1570–1606) was not their leader, he became the most famous member of the group. Their aim was to blow up the Houses of Parliament on Nov 5, 1605 – the day Parliament opened – and, at the same time, murder the attending king James I and the members of Parliament, in the hope that this would encourage Catholics to seize control of the government. William …

[German Version] (Nov 10, 1735, Durham, England – Jul 6, 1813, Fulham, a borough of London), evangelical and abolitionist (Slavery). In 1765 he became involved in opposing the slave trade, advancing numerous legal ¶ cases on behalf of slaves held in England. His efforts culminated in the famous “Fall Somerset” case of 1772 which outlawed the forcible removal of slaves from the country. Sharp also developed an interest in African culture and assisted in the relocation of a number of freed slaves to Sierra Leone. Grayson Carter Bibliography Memoirs of Granville Sharp, ed. T. Burgess, 1820 E.…

[German Version] (Sep 14, 1735, Gloucester – Apr 5, 1811, Gloucester), founder of the Sunday School movement. Raikes inherited a successful newspaper, the Gloucester Journal, and used the proceeds to promote a variety of philanthropic causes, especially prison reform. In 1780 he and a local curate established a Sunday School in Gloucester, and Raikes publicized its opening in the Journal. The idea attracted wide attention, and Sunday Schools were quickly set up throughout Britain, Ireland, and America. J. Wesley remarked that the schools were “one of th…

[German Version] In 1826 the Scottish poet Thomas Campbell, the progressive politicians Henry Brougham and Joseph Hume, as well as philosopher James Mill founded University College, London, to provide a university education for men who were excluded, on religious grounds, from studying at Oxford and Cambridge universities. Dismissed by its critics as “the godless college in Gower Street,” it was joined two years later by an Anglican rival, King's College. In 1836, the government established the Un…

[German Version] (Feb 22, 1781, Barton-upon-Humber, Lincolnshire – Jan 8, 1833, London), Wesleyan Methodist theologian (Methodists: I). Watson was a member of a small group of clergy and laity that contributed to the formation of Wesleyan Methodist identity, following the death of J. Wesley and its separation from the Church of England. Appointed to a succession of influential positions in the Church, he also published widely, clarifying and extending Wesley’s theology. Grayson Carter Bibliography Works include: Theological Institutes, 6 vols., 1823–1829 On Watson: T. Jackson, M…

[German Version] (Dec 18, 1859, Preston, Lancashire – Nov 13, 1907, London), English Roman Catholic poet. In 1885, having failed to become a priest or doctor, and having succumbed to opium addiction, he relocated from his native Lancashire to London. Here, while living in filth, despair and penury, he came to know Wilfred Meynell, critic and editor of the Catholic magazine Merry England. Meynell befriended Thompson and was the first to recognize his poetic genius, which arose from a combination of his destitution and Christian faith. Before his premature d…

[German Version] (Oct 15, 1881, Exeter – Oct 26, 1944, Westgate-on-Sea). After leaving Oxford, Temple rose quickly through a succession of senior appointments in the Church of England, including bishop of ¶ Manchester (1921) and archbishop of York (1929), before being elevated to Canterbury (1942). His contributions to the various debates over social, international, and economic issues were especially respected. Active in the early ecumenical movement, he helped to advance both the Faith and Order and the Life and Work Movemen…

[German Version] (Oct 7, 1573, Reading, England – Jan 10, 1645, London), archbishop of Canterbury. Educated at St. John's College, Oxford, he opposed, early in life, the prevailing Calvinistic theology. Of considerable talent and learning, he was appointed to a rapid succession of ecclesiastical appointments, including dean of Gloucester (1616), bishop of St. David's (1621), Bath and Wells (1626), and London (1628), and finally archbishop of Canterbury (1633). His various attempts to impose liturg…

[German Version] Latitudinarianism, from Lat. latitudo (“breadth”), a moderate teaching, confessionally tolerant and open to the insights of modern science, introduced in the 17th century by Anglican clergy at Cambridge. It was opposed by both the Puritan (I) teachers at the universities and conservative high-church royalists (High Church movement). The advocates of Latitudinarianism were first identified in a letter written by Simon Patrick, a leading member of the party (later bishop of Chichester, then Ely), published under the title A Brief Account of the New Sect of “…

[English Version] I. Ethisch Der Begriff »R.« bez. die ohne innere Überzeugung vollzogene Teilnahme an den Ritualen (Ritus/Ritual) einer Gemeinschaft oder Rel. In diesem Sinne wird er etwa in der Soziologie, der Ethnologie oder der Religionswiss. verwendet. Der Ausdruck »R.« scheint schon durch seine sprachliche Form die ethische Beurteilung des durch ihn bez. Phänomens bündig zu formulieren: Er gehört in die Klasse der pejorisierenden Substantive (vgl. z.B. Dogmatismus, Fundamentalismus). Freilich ist die negative Bewertung der als »R.« klassifizierten Phänomen…

[German Version] Defined broadly, Jacobitism is a tradition or movement in Great Britain, whose adherents after 1688 supported the hereditary claims of the Roman Catholic Stuart dynasty over the parliamentary title of the Protestant William of Orange (and his Hanoverian successors). Apart from its military and diplomatic dimensions, exemplified in the invasion attempt of 1715 and 1745, Jacobitism also had important intellectual, social, literary, philosophical, nationalistic, and theological dimensions. Not all Jacobites were Roman Cath-¶ olic: many High Church (High C…

[German Version] (Stuart, of England; Jun 19, 1566, Edinburgh – Mar 27, 1625, London). In 1603, on the death of Elizabeth I, James VI of Scotland was crowned King James I of England. Opposed to Presbyterianism and the Church of Scotland 's political influence he attempted to impose episcopacy in Scotland. In England, James's ecclesiastical policies met with mixed success. At the Hampton Court Conference (1604) he exhibited considerable theological knowledge and authorized a new translation of the …

[German Version] (May 24, 1522, Buden, Devon – Sep 23, 1571, Monkton Farleigh, Wiltshire). At Oxford, Jewel, who was influenced by Peter Martyr Vermigli, became one of the intellectual leaders of the English Reformation. Upon the succession of Mary Tudor in 1553, he fled to the continent. At Frankfurt he opposed J. Knox and defended the Book of Common Prayer of 1552. Later he and Vermigli traveled together to Zürich. Upon the accession of Elizabeth I (1558) he returned to England. In 1560 Jewel was appointed bishop of Salisbury, where he exercised a vig…

[German Version] I. Ethics The term ritualism denotes participation in the rituals (Rite and ritual) of a community or religion without inner conviction. It is used in this sense in sociology, ethnology, and religious studies. The outward form of the word itself, a pejorative noun (like dogmatism and fundamentalism), appears to formulate succinctly the ethical assessment of the phenomenon it denotes. The negative assessment of the phenomena classified as “ritualism” is burdened with at least two problems: (1) it is hardly possible to assess with reasonabl…

[German Version] In December 1661, an Act was passed by the “Cavalier Parliament” which required all mayors, aldermen, councilors, and borough officials to swear loyalty to the king and take “the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, according to the rites of the Church of England” during the twelve months prior to their election. Conscientious Dissenters were thus removed from office; those who were elected (but who refused to communicate) were fined. Though increasingly ineffective, the Act remained highly contentious; it became a cause célèbre in the Dissenting campaign to enact …

[English Version] I. Römisch-katholisches Erzbistum Nach der Reformation in England hatte die röm.-kath. Minderheit unter zahlreichen verfassungsmäßigen und sozialen Benachteiligungen zu leiden. Auch nach der Gleichstellung der Katholiken 1829 blieben antikath. Vorurteile zurück. Seit den 80er Jahren des 17.Jh. nahmen vier Bischöfe, die als Apostolische Vikare dienten, kath. Interessen in England wahr; 1840 kamen vier weitere hinzu. Diverse Faktoren, zumal der Zustrom irischer Einwanderer, das Aufko…

[German Version] I. History – II. Legal Status of Daughter Parishes I. History In the Western church, from the 12th century on separate chapels were established for preaching and administration of the sacraments. They were meant for those who lived in villages far from the parish church or those who could not (afford to) rent a pew. They were also an effective means of extending the church's outreach where it was difficult (or impossible) to establish new parishes. Often found in …

[German Version] I. Roman Catholic Archbishopric Following the Reformation in England, Roman Catholics labored under numerous constitutional and social disadvantages. Emancipation finally took place in 1829, despite considerable lingering anti-Catholic sentiment. Since the 1680s, four bishops, serving as vicars apostolic (Vicar apostolic), supervised Catholic interests in England; in 1840 four more were added. Various factors, most especially Irish immigration, the rise of the Oxford Movement, and the…