Biblical Christianity as a Category in Nineteenth-Century American Apologetics
American evangelical-Catholic polemic in the nineteenth century raises the question whether the two groups ought to be regarded as distinct religious or, on the other hand, are in fact two legitimate expressions of the same faith. Proper weight must be given to the evangelical claim that the Catholi...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Published: |
2004
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| In: |
American catholic studies
Year: 2004, Volume: 115, Issue: 3, Pages: 1-21 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | American evangelical-Catholic polemic in the nineteenth century raises the question whether the two groups ought to be regarded as distinct religious or, on the other hand, are in fact two legitimate expressions of the same faith. Proper weight must be given to the evangelical claim that the Catholic Church is not a Christian church at all and that Catholics, with some exceptions, are not Christians. When we regard the norms set up in each tradition we can question the Christian status of each from the point of view of the other. Once we put aside the special fears of American nativists and their Catholic opponents and turn to the theological argument alone in a classic expression of the clash in the Great Debate between Restorationist Alexander Campbell and John Purcell, Archbishop of Cincinnati, we see the apparently "essential differences" sharply drawn. The categories "biblical" and "liturgical" Christianity at least provide an initial description of those differences and can be used to specifythe differences without deciding the case. The description is a helpful first step in the current efforts at a more productive and "Christian" relation between the two. |
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| ISSN: | 2161-8534 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: American catholic studies
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