5 Answers

  1. These are diverse categories.

    Calvinism is theology opposed to Arminianism. They differ in their assessment of a person's ability to contribute to their own salvation. Calvinism completely denies such possibilities: only God himself can save a person.

    Baptists and Methodists are Protestant denominations that differ organizationally. Baptists are Presbyterians (they have no bishops, only presbyters, i.e. priests). Methodists stand out from Anglicans, who are an Episcopal church.

    Accordingly, there can be Calvinist Baptists (so-called private Baptists) and Arminian Baptists (so-called general Baptists).

    Among Methodists, their own version of Arminianism prevails – Wesleyanism.

  2. Different Protestant denominations, but Calvinism is the oldest trend, from which both Methodists and Baptists emerged.�

    1) Calvinism is Protestantism in the version of Jean Calvin, one of the so-called great reformers or first reformers, i.e. leaders of the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century. Calvinism has external and internal differences from other early reform movements, such as Lutheranism and Zwinglianism, for example. Calvinism needs to be described most of all as the most influential trend in Protestantism.�

    Calvin was the chief pastor of Geneva, where he was invited by the city council amid the anarchy caused by Protestant sentiment. Calvin quickly brought order to the canton, demanding strict observance of the commandments. He was distinguished by a pronounced pragmatism in following the Bible. He made equally strict demands on people and on himself. I fasted a lot. He opposed all kinds of ecclesiastical arts as a form of idolatry and paganism. Of the music in the churches of Calvinist Geneva, only the organ was played. No sculptures or drawings.�

    Calvinism was called militant Protestantism. Most modern Protestant trends originate from there through pietism (various Protestants who emphasize personal holiness). Calvin also actively trained missionaries who went to preach and open Protestant communities in other countries. In Catholic France, members of underground Protestant communities founded by Calvin's disciples were called Huguenots. The famous St. Bartholomew's Night is a massacre of underground Calvinists in France. People from all over Europe came to Geneva to study with Calvin. The Jesuit Order originated as a direct reaction to Calvinism, which is also called “militant Protestantism“. The exact opposite of Anabaptists (not to be confused with Baptists).�

    The main difference between Calvin's theology and other faiths is the so-called Calvinism.(double)predestination. Every person in the future is doomed to salvation or destruction. But it is impossible to know exactly your own fate or the fate of another person. It is noteworthy that by sending the criminal to death, if the Bible requires it, he continued to serve the condemned man, preaching to him, accepting his repentance, etc. Calvin banned the use of alcohol in Geneva, closed taverns and brothels. Cafes originated in Geneva. Religious historians believe that pragmatic Calvinism directly led to the emergence of capitalist relations. Be that as it may, everyone knows the current standard of living and law-abiding in Switzerland, in the capital of which there is a monument to Jean Calvin.�

    2) Methodists are a newer generation of Protestants already in England 200 years later than Calvin. Religious English students (Pietists – see above) gathered together for Bible study and soon found that intense Bible study and prayer led to strong spiritual experiences. This was called the “maximum Bible and maximum prayer” method. Classical Methodist preachers were distinguished by a large number of miracles. They spent most of their lives preaching in prayer. Methodists emphasized a personal encounter with God as a result of prayer and Bible study. The Wesleyan brothers became the flagships of Methodism. Over time, the Methodists were divided into Wesleyan and simply Methodist. There are still thousands of churches (parishes) of both denominations in the world. Predestination is not recognized.�

    3) The Baptists are the youngest of the three, although they are already 200 years old. The main dogma is reflected in the title-this is the refusal to baptize infants, because a person must be baptized, i.e. accept the Christian faith, consciously. This is how the Anabaptists began in the 17th century, but the Anabaptists are extremely pacifist, and the Baptists are more practical Christians. They became widespread already in the 19th century. Largely due to emigration to America. A hundred years ago, most Protestants in the United States were Baptists. Unlike Calvinists and Methodists, Baptists are all different. There are many Baptist denominations and church unions. Baptists often differ in their literal interpretation of Scripture. Roughly speaking, a quarter or a third of modern Protestants are Baptists of various shades.

    Baptists in Russia survived the USSR, where they were often called Stundists. Even Beria wrote in a letter to Stalin in the 1930s that it was unclear whether communism or the Baptists were winning in Russia. After the war, the Soviet government's policy towards religion changed. Officially registered Baptist congregations began to exist, whose pastors reported to the KGB about their parishioners and agreed on the texts of their sermons in advance. And underground, unregistered Baptists.�

    Newer Protestant denominations (Pentecostals and Charismatics) are direct spiritual descendants of Baptists.�

    Read more about the history of the Reformation and the first Protestants in the bookRenaissance and Reformation, which is published in Russian in my translation.

  3. These are all areas of Protestantism, and there is no key difference between them. Of course, the differences in some rituals and interpretations of the Bible can not be called key. The only difference is in the organization. All of them have their own structures and their own parishioners.

  4. If you answer very briefly to a person who knows at least a little about the history of Christianity in Europe, you will get something like this:

    Calvinists are a variant of the classical (original) Protestants, who focus their attention on the prevalence of God's plan over the will of man. That is, the actions of each person were predetermined even before the creation of the world.

    Methodists are a relatively liberal late version of the classical Protestant Anglicans, who reject the predestination of human life. They focus on Bible study and social activities.

    Baptists are a common name for numerous second-wave Protestant denominations that are associated only with the recognition of the need to be baptized at a conscious (adult) age. In all other things, Baptists can be quite different from each other.

  5. And what unites them? All of them are denominations of Protestantism as a common denomination opposing Catholicism and Orthodoxy. The number of such denominations is constantly increasing. In the 60s, they were noted up to 2 thousand, and now-an order of magnitude more. But despite their abundance, they are united by the fact that all of them, according to Max Weber, are a step in the direction of “disenchanting” religion, its approach to life's realities. And this is not accidental, since Protestantism is the “Plebeian wing”of the Renaissance (the” elite wing “is the Italian Renaissance), which freed man from medieval restrictions and prohibitions, brought to life” natural law”, science, secular art, etc.Protestantism radically changed religious life, moving it to the sphere of individual existence. It was in Protestant theology that liberal theology, dialectical theology, the “theology of the death of God” and much, much more appeared, which had an exceptional impact on the religious life of all faiths and, apparently, religions. I think that it will continue to provide it until a radical change in the paradigm of religiosity.

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