Key Terms and Events REL 2121 Midterm Study Guide Religion Not synonymous with United States America o American Religion Underscores unity Dominant cluster of organizations ideas moral values that have characterized the US American is a religion Common moral anchor among Americans o Religion in America o Pledge of Allegiance Swearing on the Bible etc Recognizes diversity The distinct religions of the many peoples who have come to call the US their homeland Reformation Slaves Syncretism o 1st Reformers were interested in reforming Christianity and not creating something new o Sacraments were obstacles to true communion and understanding o Emphasized a gap between almighty God and regenerate sinful humanity o Jesus demonstrated powerlessness of humanity to effect salvation and the necessity on an intermediary o Seemingly minute theological squabbles generated profound differences o Scripture alone o The Word was Jesus and the law of Jesus as delivered through the Bible o Removes the authority of church hierarchy that had been established through apostolic Sola scriptura succession Sacrament o A sign person place object or action that is regarded as holy and contains sacred power o There are 7 sacraments Life Events Baptism Confirmation Holy Orders Matrimony Extreme Unction Anointing the sick Help through life Penance and Eucharist Cosmology o Pervasive means of conceiving of church humans and the natural world Church is a sign of God s presence The Pope is the sign of the church o Central demonstration of sacramentalism was the personification of Jesus in human form o Cosmogram map of the cosmos that demonstrates the relation of the universe and its origins within Covenant Promise Pact of the chosen people and God with the state and with each other o Pact or promise with God o Ecclesial church chosen people and God o Civil governance Covenant with the state o Social implications With one another Salem Witch Trials 1692 o Betty Parris and Abigail Williams learn divination from Tituba Parris s West Indian Slave o They were guilty of practicing malefic witchcraft REL 2121 Midterm Study Guide o Feb 29 first arrest warrants issues Dozens of people accused arrested in the following months o First Trial June 2 Bridget Bishop hanged o June 10 19 Executed before the trials end on Oct 1692 Wonders o Events signaling the presence of the supernatural God Satan o Any disruption to the normal order of things Wonder Works Comets hailstorms monster births sudden deaths rainbows dreams visions disease etc o Always demonstrates the will of God Providence Reinforce the Calvinist emphasis on God s sovereignty Provided a language mental framework for interpreting and describing the world Wonder working was a persistent reminder of God s transcendence Word of mouth Printed media pamphlets almanacs diaries etc culture of the time o Spread City on a hill Providence o John Winthrop s sermon based upon the biblical verse Jesus speaking to his listeners as we need to be a city on a hill o Be the ultimate example o Signs from God Pleasure or displeasure of Chosen People Status of the covenant o Social Implications neighborly surveillance o Most crucial framework for understand the wonders of colonial New England American Revolution 1776 o 13 colonies wanted to break away from England o Philosophies of John Lock Natural Rights of Humans can not be taken away o Enlightenment influences this greatly Enlightenment early 1700s o Intellectual movement o Scientific methods and emphasis on rationalism also affected religion o Jonathon Edwards read widely in science and philosophy defended the revivals by using rationalist arguments derived from reading John Locke Deism Religious Liberalism Influenced legislation of new republic an independent philosophical and religious tradition moved beyond Protestant Christianity o Non Trinitarian God is the only divine figure o Belief in an after life of future reward or punishment Based upon the actions morality and conduct of a person o Providence God reveals himself through nature God facilitates by letting humans work on their own he does not intervene Does NOT work through miracles or exceptions of the natural order of the universe REL 2121 Midterm Study Guide o Five Facilities of Deism 1 Natural Religion 2 American Enlightenment 3 Goddism 4 Freemasonry and 5 American Symbolism 1 Natural Religion o Emphasized Christianity s Reasonableness or appealing to laws of reason o Christianity was natural because it was rational o System of Transcendence relationship between God and humans o Behaviors within the state of nature 2 American Enlightenment o Period when Deistic influences are introduced to Protestant Churches through natural religion o Moral emphasis of Arminian theology prepared many for the moral emphasis of the Enlightenment o Architecture symbolism emphasized initiation into the Enlightenment religion Deism 3 Goddism o God worked through the system he had created without interference o Instructive metaphors o Grand architect Fashioned a perfect structure and left it to its own devices Popular metaphor for the Constitution was the roof o Great Governor God of creation entered political life Overseer who did not intervene with the daily operations of the state Greatest governor who governed least because of the excellence of the perfect system in place o Great Clockmaker Emphasis on design machinery and distance Clock Height of technology Compared the clock to themselves because he created this perfect thing no interference needed unless through providence 4 Freemasonry o The spreading of deism through the colonies by fraternal organizations within Freemason lodges o Brotherhood was key in political processes that spurred the America Revolution o Most of the signers of the Declaration of Independence and members of the Continental Congress o By 1776 Over 40 lodges existed o Deism Protestant Christianity coexisted within the religious culture of the lodges 5 American Symbolism o Enlightenment influenced ideology and the symbolism of the new republic o Readings by Franklin Jefferson and Madison all emphasize morality liberty and the assumption of reason and conscience are what the constitution should establish o All acknowledged the role of religion within morality necessary for the success of the new nation o However they were critical over Jefferson s priest craft and institutional religion o Shift of terminology from covenant to constitutional independent identity