“The rising influence of lay piety is particularly marked upon the Mariological controversies of the late medieval period. Two rival positions developed: the maculist position, which held that Mary was subject to original sin, in common with every other human being; and the immaculist position, which held that contrary view that Mary was in some way preserved from original sin, and was thus to be considered sinless. The maculist position was regarded as firmly established within the High Scholasticism of the thirteenth century. The veneration of the Virgin within popular piety, however, proved to have an enormously creative power that initially challenged, and subsequently triumphed over, the academic objections raised against it by university theologians.” ChristianityTheologyCatholicismMaryMiddle AgesOriginal SinVirgin MaryImmaculate ConceptionMariologyLay Religion Book:The Intellectual Origins of the European Reformation Source: The Intellectual Origins of the European Reformation
“From the outset, Protestantism rejected the critical medieval distinction between the 'sacred' and 'secular' orders. While this position can easily be interpreted as a claim for the desacralization of the sacred, it can equally well be understood as a claim for the sacralization of the secular. As early as 1520, Luther had laid the fundamental conceptual foundations for created sacred space within the secular. His doctrine of the 'priesthood of all believers' asserted that there is no genuine difference of status between the 'spiritual' and the 'temporal' order. All Christians are called to be priests - and can exercise that calling within the everyday world. The idea of 'calling' was fundamentally redefined: no longer was it about being called to serve God by leaving the world; it was now about serving God in the world.” WorkChristianitySacredCatholicismSecularVocationMartin LutherProtestantismPriesthood Of All Believers Book:Christianity's Dangerous Idea: The Protestant Revolution: A History from the Sixteenth Century to the Twenty-First Source: Christianity's Dangerous Idea: The Protestant Revolution: A History from the Sixteenth Century to the Twenty-First
“The idea that Christianity is basically a religion of moral improvement... has its roots in the liberal Protestantism of the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century... It is this stereotype which continues to have influence today... But then came the First World War... What had gone wrong was that the idea of sin had been abandoned by liberal Christianity as some kind of unnecessary hangover from an earlier and less enlightened period in Christian history.” WorldFirstsKindIdeasWarTodayChristianSinMoralChristianityGoneInfluenceCenturyPeriodsLateRootsImprovementWar Of The WorldsEnlightenedAbandonedUnnecessaryStereotypeTwentieth CenturyNineteenth CenturyHangoverProtestantismFirst World War Author:Alister E. McGrath
“Christianity israrely understood by those outside its bounds. In fact, this is probably one of the greatest tasks confronting the apologist–to rescue Christianity from misunderstandings.” FactsChristianityUnderstoodTasksBoundsRescueMisunderstandingConfrontingApologetic Author:Alister E. McGrath
