The result of the Reformation, the broad anti-Catholic movement that swept Europe in the 16th century, was the formation of an independent Christian movement called Protestantism. Over the following centuries, it was transformed into a number of religious movements, representatives of one of which call themselves adherents of the "Christian Evangelical Church" and members of the Temple of Christ. Let us try to understand the intricacies of their spiritual life.
Features of the doctrine of evangelical Christians
The followers of the Christian Church of the Gospel faith, as well as Catholics and Orthodox, set as their goal the salvation of the soul and the attainment of eternal life in the Kingdom of God, but the ways they preach have some peculiar differences. Their fundamental principle is the assertion that only his personal faith in the Messiah, our Lord Jesus Christ, is sufficient to save a person.
Representatives of other Christian denominations are completely in solidarity with them, but the fact is that adherents of the Christian Evangelical Church place personal faith in almost the only condition, putting aside good deeds, sacrifice, and even love for one's neighbor, to which the Savior pointed out as an inalienable affiliation His followers.
The spiritual leaders of this branch of Protestantism in public speeches always emphasize that the key to salvation of a personās soul cannot be either his belonging to any religious organization or participation in the sacraments performed. Moreover, the most radical of them preach the doctrine, according to which, with faith, a person can enter the Kingdom of God, even bogged down in sins and not caring about his neighbors.
āBorn Againā
In this case, the question involuntarily begs: what is their commitment to Christ, besides verbal statements, and how is this consistent with the words of the apostle James that faith without love is dead? Of course, the followers of the Christian Evangelical Church are not at all against good deeds and sometimes perform them with all the fervor of their hearts, but do not give them any significant role in the work of saving the soul.
At the same time, one of the important elements of their faith is the doctrine of a mysterious union with God, performed by a person at the moment of his repentance, which in Christian theology is usually called the term "birth from above." A person who has felt this process in his soul should be overwhelmed with joy from the realization that all the lawlessnesses committed by him earlier are forgiven, and from the hope of a sinless existence in the future.
Other Features of the Life of the Evangelical Brothers
In addition to the peculiarities of its creed, the life of the Christian Gospel Church has a number of ritual differences. Thus, worship services, which its adherents themselves call ācongregations,ā are held in evangelical churches almost exclusively on Sundays and extremely rarely on weekdays. More often, the gathering of community members takes place within the framework of the so-called home groups in suitable dwellings for this purpose. In these meetings, believers, in addition to singing psalms and reading prayers, study the Bible together.
We note along the way that, recognizing the Holy Scriptures, evangelical Christians reject Holy Tradition, which is basically based on materials taken from patristic literature (works of the Holy Fathers of the Church) and decrees of various Councils. This is explained by the fact that neither the saints of God, nor the church hierarchs for them are authority.
Another characteristic of the followers of the Christian Evangelical Church is the non-recognition of the icons in which they see a relic of idolatry. At the same time, among the rites performed by them, the leading place is occupied by traditional Christian sacraments - Baptism, performed, unlike our customs, only in adulthood, and the Communion, which in their own way is called the āLord's Supperā or āBread-breakingā. Like most Protestant denominations, evangelists do not recognize the church hierarchy, believing that when communicating with God, a person does not need any mediators.
Followers of calvin
Having appeared in the 16th century on the waves of the Reformation and received a powerful impetus for its development, the Protestant movement quickly spread to Europe and, reaching millions of people, caused a number of religious wars. His spiritual base was formed on the basis of ideas expressed by the French theologian Jean Calvin, as well as representatives of Anabaptism.
For the most part, the participants in this radical religious movement rejected personal property and, preaching the community of property (and some even women), reached the point of complete absurdity repeated several centuries later by utopian Communists of various kinds.
Stages of Spiritual Development
The movement of evangelical Christians, which has received widespread development today, originated in the midst of Protestant movements, but, before being formed in its current form, it underwent a number of significant changes. According to historians, one of its earliest manifestations was the so-called Mennonite - a Protestant denomination, named after its founder - the Dutchman Menno Simons, who preached the non-use of force under any circumstances. His followers refused to take up arms and serve in the army.
In their further development, evangelical Christians, in close contact with Baptists, Methodists, and later Pentecostals, learned a lot from their ideological baggage. In particular, it was they who borrowed the idea of āāārivevelismā - a return to the early Christian ideals, trampled down in the next centuries by the hierarchs of the Catholic Church and turned, in their opinion, into empty words.
Metropolitan branches of the Christian Evangelical brothers
As mentioned above, the mass movement generated by the era of the Reformation in the following centuries gave rise to a number of independent religious movements, including the followers of the Gospel church, which created their branches in most countries of the world. Russia was no exception.
The main office of the Christian Evangelical Church in Moscow is located on Irkutskaya Street, at 11/1. He is led by Pastor Rick Renner (photo above), who is a US citizen and temporarily residing in the capital, according to the residence permit received. In addition to his religious activities, he is known as a writer, as well as a publisher of books of spiritual and moral content.
Missionary work of Rick Renner
In 1993, an overseas pastor came to Riga, where he founded the Good News Christian Evangelical Church, which, having successfully survived all the political and social upheavals of the 90s, then turned into a powerful religious organization. Based on his Latvian experience, Mr. Renner created similar structures in Moscow, and somewhat later in Kiev.
Despite the fact that in all cities where permanent branches of the Gospel Church are open, they have their own offices, the prayer meetings of its members are held, as a rule, in temporarily leased premises. Addresses and their time are published in advance on one of the organizationās websites.
It is curious to note that, in addition to lectures, sermons and various kinds of conversations, Rick Renner also carries out extensive cultural work. In particular, in all three cities he founded amateur choirs of the Christian Evangelical Church. Despite the fact that their repertoire consists of purely religious chants, they are performed at such a high artistic level that they are successful even among listeners who are very far from faith.
Creation of an international Protestant movement
An important stage in the activity of the Protestant religious communities was the creation in 1983 of the international movement "Word of Life". From the first days, the Christian Evangelical Church was among its most active participants. In 1995, the founder and spiritual leader of this organization, the Swedish preacher Ulf Ekman, visited Moscow and proclaimed the creation of the largest united Protestant center in Russia. His closest assistant was the aforementioned American preacher Rick Renner. Since then, the Russian evangelical brothers have been in close cooperation with members of the Cathedral of Christ from other countries.