Reformed Eastern Christianity

The term Reformed Eastern Christianity encompasses a range of heterogeneous Reformed or Protestant Christian denominations that developed outside of the Occident from the latter half of the nineteenth century and keeps some or most of all elements of Eastern Christianity. Most of these denominations came into being when existing Protestant Churches adopted reformed variants of Orthodox Christian liturgy and worship; while others are the result of reformations of Orthodox Christian beliefs and practices, inspired by the teachings of Western Protestant missionaries. Some Reformed Eastern Churches are in communion with similar Western Reformed Churches. However, Reformed Eastern Christianity within itself, does not constitute a single communion. This is due to the diverse polities, practices, liturgies and orientations of the denominations which fall under this category.
Presently the Ukrainian Lutheran Church, St. Thomas Evangelical Church of India, the Believers Eastern Church of India, the , the Evangelical Baptist Union of Georgia, Society for Eastern Rite Anglicanism, Evangelical Orthodox Church, Assyrian Evangelical Church and the Assyrian Pentecostal Church belong to this group.
Syriac Reformation
Malankara Church Reformation
The reformation in Malankara church was started by Abraham Malpan who was an influential priest and a leader among reformists of the church. Abraham Malpan was a priest and a Syriac teacher in Kottayam, the Theological Seminary of Malankara church. Malankara Church has been under different faith streams from time to time. Christianity sprouted in India due to missionary activity of St Thomas. Until the 15th century, the Malankara church received bishops from Persia, Alexandria and Antioch. However in 1499, there was a forceful attempt by the Portuguese and Jesuits missionaries through the synod of Diamper to enforce the Roman Catholic beliefs and practices upon Malankara church. In the 19th century, due to the influence of British Anglican missionaries( they were tutors and professors in Theological seminary of Malankara), some priests of the Malankara church like Abraham Malpan and Kaithayil Gheevarghese Malapan started to abandon many of these practices and beliefs.They were the part of a Committee constituted by Malankara metropolitan then Punnathra Gheevarghese Mar Dionysious to identify the beliefs and practices which are Non biblical that is followed in the church .It was at this time British missionaries with help of Kayamkulam Philipose Ramban Translated Holy Bible to Malayalam and brought the printed Bible to India in the 1850s .He thought of changing the unholy things in the church. The church was following so many rituals and beliefs which were introduced by the Catholics in 16th century and later the Jacobites. He wanted to bring back the old faith and practices which was prevalent prior to the arrival of Catholicism in Malankara. Rather than reformation he used the word Purification of church.He started his movement by reciting prayers in Malayalam instead of Syriac (which was the liturgical language ). He dumped a statue of a Saint which was kept in the altar to a well.
This led to a rift in the church, one party supporting the reformation and other party opposing it. In due course, those who supported the reformation evolved as a separate identity and resulted in formation of Mar Thoma Syrian Church. He sent his nephew Deacon Mathew to Syria to be ordained as an episcopa Palakkunnathu Mathews Mar Athanasious. Abraham Malpan had no intentions of creating a new church but to purify the church. Presently the church is headed by Joseph Mar Thoma the title Mar Thoma means successor of St. Thomas (Malankara Orthodox church started to use the title in mid 1970s) Metropolitan. The church has more than 1,500 parishes worldwide and has 850,000 members. It is in full communion with the Anglican Communion and the Malabar Independent Syrian Church. It also has a growing ecumenical relationship with the Indian Orthodox Church, Syriac Orthodox Church, Syro-Malankara Catholic Church, Syro-Malabar Catholic Church, and the Latin Catholic Church but has no special relationship or communion with any of those churches.There is a strong theological dialogue going on with Syrian Orthodox church for mutual acceptance and wider communion. The Mar Thoma Church has preserved, but removed parts of its west Syriac Rite liturgy especially Intercession prayers to saints as they believe as its against the teachings of Holy Bible and replaced them with prayers seeking Communion of saints. Marthoma Church have not accepted any Protestant theology or doctrines. During reformation the church abandoned practices and beliefs negated by the Holy Bible, but still hold many traditions and beliefs which don't have biblical basis. The church follows strongly the Christology and faith formulations of First three ecumenical synods held in Nicea, Ephesus and Constantnople. Marthoma church believes it had brought back the Orthodoxy back to Malankara church which they believed have been lost because of Roman Catholic and many other influences after Synod of Diamper.
Principal reforms (Changes carried out during reformation):
Most prominent elements in the Reformation of the traditional Indian Church were:
# Icons, pictures, statues, and drawings of saints were removed from churches, and places of worship.
#Intercession of saints and prayers for the dead were discarded.All prayers, worship and devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary and the saints were omitted.All prayer requests to the dead and prayers to uplift the dead from sin and suffering were omitted.
# Insisted that Sunday services are to be held in a reverent and spiritual way. During that time reading and expounding scriptures is to be done.
# Conducted worship services, including Holy Communion in the mother tongue, Malayalam along with Syriac.
# Holy Communion was not celebrated when there were none to receive.
# Mandated that communion under both kinds should be distributed separately.
# Considered the practice of praying for the dead and of doing obeisance at their graves with lighted candles as abhorrent.
# was discontinued.
# Believed that those who come for confession should ask for forgiveness with fasting and prayer, instead of offering oil, incense and candles.
# Insisted that bishops should ordain only candidates who have been examined by them and the malpans (Meaning:- Syriac scholars).
# Repudiated the custom of smearing charcoal on the forehead on Ash Wednesday
#
Doctrines upheld and Basic teachings of the Church
# The Church unequivocally hold the doctrine of the Trinity as interpreted by the creeds of Nicea, Constantinople and Ephesus.
# The Church is neither Nestorian nor Monophysite.
# The Church is neither Protestant nor Anglican but have communion relationship because of it ecumenical outlook in coming together for Christ.
# The Clergy, is dedicated in avoiding benefices other than the regulated salary, as a part of the principle of simple life (a of being poor and humble with unclouded conscientious and to be guarded away from mortal greed) for self and the adult laity.
# Child Baptism is upheld and given to children born in Christian families.Adult Baptism is given to new believers who come from other religions.
# The Church accepts the Perpetual virginity, Divine motherhood and Assumption of Mary ,but regards that it has nothing to do with saintly intercession or a mediatrix role.
# With regard to the title of Mary as Mother of God,the church has made no statement .The Church however recognises her as Blessed Virgin Mary,Mother of Christ the God,not that the nature of the Word or his divinity received the beginning of its existence from the holy Virgin, but that, since the holy body, which the Word of God became, was born from her, the Word is said to be born according to the flesh.(Gospel of St.John:1:14)
# As to her titles 'Mother of the Church' and 'Mother of all true Christians', biblical interpretation is used
# The Church calls St.Mary as Blessed and Holy as expressed in the liturgy.
# The Church endorses in the remembrance and respect of Saints,Martyrs etc. and acknowledgement of their feast days, but prohibits veneration and intercession through them.
# The lives of Saints and Martyrs are seen as exemplar and inspiring to the Christian Model of living.
# The Church does not declare anyone saint or sinner but people who have led exceptionally devout (saintly)lives are acknowledged; and saints declared by all Christian denominations are called Saints thereupon with respect.
# Identifies Iconograohy(Icons,images and drawings) as Christian or religious art .They are seen as spirituality in art but they are not supposed to be used for worship.
# Remembrance of dead loved ones is seen as natural and human but prayers for the departed were cancelled out to signify that salvation does not occur after death. There is no belief in purgatory.
# The Mission of spreading of the Gospel is observed as the duty of the Church. The Church must work with an evangelical zeal .
# Expounding of the Holy Scriptures and their interpretations are seen as vital to religious services.
# Syriac is acknowledged as the liturgical language of the Church and is used alongside the vernacular for all occasions.
# The Holy Communion (Holy Qurbana), being a Dominical Sacrament and thus divinely instituted by Christ must be observed utmost spiritually and reverently and not just as a mere ritual.
# The Church gives freedom to the believers on the experience of the Holy Communion(on substantiation).It is understood as the grace of God to the individual.Nevertheless,the experience is viewed as a "Sacred Mystery".
# Confession is General and is said through a prayer before the Holy Communion. The Faithful are supposed to confess their sins privately to God (at home,Church etc.) and to their brethren if they have sinned against them..
Saint Thomas Evangelical Church of India
The St. Thomas Evangelical Church of India (STECI) is an Evangelical, Episcopal denomination based in Kerala, India. It derives from a schism in the Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church in 1961, and traces its ancestry before then back almost 2,000 years. STECI holds that the Bible is the inspired, inerrant and infallible Word of God. Adherents believe that all that is necessary for salvation and living in righteousness is given in the Bible. The church is engaged in active evangelism. The headquarters of this church is at Tiruvalla, a town in the state of Kerala which is the part of South India.
Assyrian Reformation
Ukrainian Reformation
The Byzantine Rite Lutheranism refers to Lutheran Churches, such as those of Ukraine and Slovenia, that use a form of the Byzantine Rite as their liturgy. It is unique in that it is based on the Eastern Christian rite used by the Eastern Orthodox Church, while incorporating theology from the Divine Service contained in the Formula Missae, the base texts for Lutheran liturgics in the West.
Georgian Reformation
Ethiopian-Eritrean Reformation
The P'ent'ay or Ethiopian Evangelicalism is originally an Amharic and Tigrinya language term for a Christian of a Protestant denomination, widely used in Ethiopia and among Ethiopians and Eritreans living abroad for Evangelical Christians.
Hybridizing Western Evangelicalism with Eastern Byzantine traditions
The Evangelical Orthodox Church (EOC) is only Reform Orthodox denomination that got its origins reverse as The Campus Crusade missionary Peter E. Gillquist (1938-2012) who established in 1973 a network of house churches throughout the United States, aiming to restore a primitive form of Christianity. Peter Gillquist, Jack Sparks, Jon Braun, and J.R. Ballew stood in a circle and self-ordained each other while creating an religious denomination called the New Covenant Apostolic Order (NCAO).
Researching the historical basis of the Christian faith, Gillquist and his colleagues found sources for this restoration in the writings of the early Church Fathers. This led the group to practice a more liturgical form of worship than in their previous evangelical background. In 1977, the first contact with the Eastern Orthodox Church was initiated through Orthodox seminarian and former Berkeley-Christian World Liberation Front member (Karl) John Bartke, who introduced them to Fr. Alexander Schmemann, Dean of St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary. In 1979, the Evangelical Orthodox Church (EOC) was organized. Some of the member clergy and communities of the NCAO left prior to its transition to the EOC, including those communities which now form the Alliance for Renewal Churches, and former Apostle Elbert Eugene Spriggs, who founded the Twelve Tribes communities.
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