Reformed churches

Background
Christianity St. Augustine The Reformation John Calvin Five Solas Synod of Dort

Theology
Five Points (TULIP) Covenant Theology Regulative principle

Documents
Calvin's Institutes Confessions of faith Geneva Bible

Influences
Theodore Beza John Knox Huldrych Zwingli Jonathan Edwards Princeton theologians

Churches
Reformed Presbyterian Congregationalist Reformed Baptist Low church Anglican

Peoples
Afrikaners Huguenots Pilgrims Puritans Scots

Calvinism portal

The Reformed churches are a group of Protestant denominations characterized by Calvinist doctrines. They are descended from the Swiss Reformation led initially by Huldrych Zwingli and soon spread to the rest of Northern Europe. They were the major Protestant rival to the Lutheran churches. Several of these national or specific language based churches later expanded to worldwide denominations. There are now many different reformed churches. Original Reformed doctrine continues to be reflected in the official confessional, but in some cases is no longer necessarily typical of these churches. A 1999 survey found 746 Reformed denominations worldwide.

1 History
2 Form of doctrine
3 Forms of government
4 Reformed churches worldwide
5 See also
6 External links

History

The first Reformed churches were established in Europe after 1519, and were part of the Protestant Reformation. See Swiss Reformation and History of Calvinism.

Form of doctrine

Reformed doctrine is expressed in various confessions. A few confessions are shared by many denominations. Different denominations use different confessions, usually based on historical reasons. Some of the confessions still commonly in use are (with year of writing):

French Confession (1559),
Scots Confession (1560),
Three forms of Unity
- Heidelberg Catechism (1563),
- Belgic Confession (1566),
- Canons of Dordrecht (1619),
Second Helvetic Confession (1566)
Westminster Standards
- Westminster Confession of Faith (1646)
- Westminster Shorter Catechism (1649)
- Westminster Larger Catechism (1649)

Forms of government

In contrast to the episcopal polity of the Anglican and many Lutheran and Methodist churches, Reformed churches have two main forms of governance:

Presbyterian polity or Synodal government - rule by assemblies of ordained officers.
Congregationalist polity, e.g. Congregationalist churches

The Reformed Church in Hungary, as well as its sister church in Romania and daughter church in the United States (Hungarian Reformed Church in America), and the Polish Reformed Church, and the Reformed Episcopal Church are the only Churches in the Reformed Tradition to have retained the office of Bishop.

Protestantism (The Ninety-Five Theses)
The Reformation History Pre-Reformation movements Hussites • Lollards • Waldensians Reformation era movements Anabaptism • Anglicanism • Calvinism • Counter-Reformation • Dissenters and Nonconformism • Lutheranism • Polish Brethren • Remonstrants