Page 83 - History of Christianity - Student Textbook

Study Section 16: The Period of Orthodoxy, 1559-1622

16.1 Connect

Every once in a while, you will come across a believer who says he uses only the King James Version
of the Bible. It’s the only version he reads from and the only one permitted in his church. He usually
is extremely adamant about using only that version of the Bible. He considers all other versions of
the Bible as tainted and inaccurate. You every met a KJV ONLY believer?

While the KJV is a beautiful version of the Bible, the version he is talking about was revised in 1760.
The language is Elizabethan English which was popularly spoken in those days and before. Many words have
changed their meaning since those times. We don’t normally use “THEE” and “THOU” when we refer to another
person. And then there is the problem of other languages. You might speak a different language than English
and need a copy of God’s Word in your native tongue. That copy certainly would not be a King James Version of
the Bible! Does that mean that your copy is tainted and not God’s Word? Today let’s find out about this and
other developments as we move through the history of the church….

16.2 Objectives

1. The student should be able to describe the period of orthodoxy and how doctrinal differences were
being resolved.

2. We will see the origin of the Baptist denomination and why it came into being.

3. The student should be able to describe why King James authorized the translation of the KJV Bible and how it
was translated. The student should also be able to explain why newer translations use older manuscripts that
are more reliable.

16.3 The Period of Orthodoxy, 1559-1622

Many of the Protestant denominations following the Elizabethan Religious Settlement felt that
the Anglican Church was much too Catholic in its liturgical practices. These Protestant groups
also wanted to distinguish themselves as a denomination from other Protestant
denominations.

“Protestant scholasticism” was academic theology practiced by Protestant theologians using
the scholastic method during the era of Calvinist and Lutheran orthodoxy from the 16th to 18th
centuries. Protestant scholasticism developed out of the need to clearly define and defend church doctrine
against the Catholic Church and other Protestant churches. It refers to both Lutheran
scholasticism and Reformed scholasticism. Anglicanism never developed a scholastic theology; however,
Anglican writers in the 1600s studied early Christian writings to prove that Anglicanism had faithfully followed
the teachings and practices of the early Church.

Protestant scholasticism "became the dominant organizational approach to teaching theology in the academies"
before its influence began to wane in the 17th and 18th centuries.

(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protestant_scholasticism)
Lutheranism and Calvinism differed greatly on the doctrine of predestination. Lutherans affirm neither “double
predestination” (some chosen for salvation and others chosen for damnation) nor “limited atonement” (Christ
died for only the sins of the elect) as many Calvinists do. Lutheranism promoted a higher view of the free will of
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