Amendantism
Amendantism is a type of Christianity which has its origins in the 16th-century Ebrarian Reformation. Amendants reject major points of previous Church traditions, but disagree among themselves regarding the number of sacraments, the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist, and matters of ecclesiastical polity and apostolic succession. Amendants reject holy orders and the venerations of icons; support the teaching that salvation comes by divine grace or "unmerited favor" only; and affirm the Bible as being the only or primary authority for Christian doctrine, rather than being on parity with sacred tradition.
The Amendant Reformation has its origins in 1502 with the separation of the Ebrarian Church from the Orthodox communion, when King Charles 'the Greedy' declared himself head of the church in Ebrary in order to expropriate church lands and wealth for the use of the Ebrarian state, as well as the embrace of the heretical teachings of anthropomorphism. This caused a break in communion with other autocephalous Orthodox Christian churches. Discontentment with the state of the church ultimately led the priest August Roel to publish his "Proposal for Amending the Church" in Miron in 1513. Due to the weakening nature of the Ebrarian monarch, and a succession of short-lived kings after the death of Charles, the Amendant Reformation spread throughout Ebrary and Vorstland. Various denominations of Amendantism sprang up in this time, chiefly Christenism, the Sanctity movement, and Parishism.
Terminology
Amendant
The term Amendant originates from August Roel's "Proposal for Amending the Church", a document which was disseminated widely and sparked the Amendant Reformation. An Amendant is an adherent of any of the Christian groups that developed during the era of the Amendant Reformation, or developed from said groups. Amendantism is the doctrine, theology, or ideology of the Amendant movement.
There is some debate among religious scholars as to whether or not Amendantism is a subcategory of Protestantism.
Missionarist
Missionarist Amendants are those Amendant groups which did not become part of the Church of Ebrary. They include the Parishists, Christenists, Lamenters, and Sanctity movement. Missionarists, because they were not the state church in Ebrary, engaged in missionary activity and generally adopted particular theological views which alienated them from the Church of Ebrary.
Though the state church in Vorstland was Parishist, Parishism as a whole is still considered Missionarist due to its character and theology.
General and Ebraricist
The term Ebraricist refers to a member of the Ecclesiastical Amendant Church of Ebrary (sometimes called the Ebraricist Church) the largest single religious denomination in Ebrary, or may also refer to a member of a church in full communion with this church. This denomination was historically the state church, simply called the Church of Ebrary. The Ebraricist movement has historically been a "big-tent" movement, being accepting of a wide variety of views on justification. This more accepting viewpoint has been termed the General view, as opposed to the Missionarist Amendant groups. The term General or "General Amendant" has also been used at times to refer to churches in communion (or formerly in communion) with the Ebraricist Church which have not wanted to use the Ebraricist name, particularly in communities outside of Ebrary or among groups which have split from Ebraricism. These denominations still maintain the big tent approach to theology and liturgy while not being part of the Ebraricist Church.
The second largest General Amendant denomination in Ebrary was the Free Amendant Church of Ebrary, which explicitly described itself as a General Amendant church. This church eventually merged back with the Ebraricist Church. The Gallasian General Church and the General Church in Vorstland are also two small denominations which describe themselves as General, but not Ebraricist.
Theology
Rejection of icons
While most Amendants are not iconoclasts in the strict sense, there is a strong belief in the rejection of the usage of icons in religious service. Most Amendants allow for religious artwork representing Biblical figures, but these works are never the focal point of the church or part of religious rituals. Some Amendants, particularly the Lamenters, are strong iconoclasts and reject any religious artwork whatsoever. These anti-icon sentiments can be seen as a rejection of previous usage of icons. As with most things, differing Amendant groups have diverse viewpoints on the subject.
Rejection of holy orders
Holy orders, which existed in Ebrary before the Amendant Reformation, were dissolved after the ascension of Gustav II to the Ebrarian throne. Amendantism emphasizes the community of all believers, so holy orders are seen as a way of separating some believers from others and creating a special status for members of such orders.
Salvation by grace alone
Amendants believe that believers are pardoned for sin, or receive salvation, solely on grace from Christ rather than a combination of faith and good works.
Trinitarianism
All sizable, mainstream Amendant denominations affirm the trinitarian view of God.
History
Pre-Reformation
Before the Amendant Reformation, the early Christian church in Ebrary (and Vorstland) was unified under the Bishop of Ceres as part of the Orthodox Church. This status held from 698 to the Amendant Reformation.
The writings of the early Entists are known to have influenced August Roel and other early Amendant reformers.
Amendant Reformation
The Amendant Reformation has its origins in 1502 with the separation of the Ebrarian Church from the wider Orthodox Christian communion, when King Charles 'the Greedy' declared himself head of the church in Ebrary in order to expropriate church lands and wealth for the use of the Ebrarian state. Charles removed from office Carolo Justo, the Bishop of Ceres and head of the Ebrarian Church. In his place Charles unilaterally appointed Cosmo Guerra as Bishop of Ceres, a close supporter of the king and staunch adherent to an anthropomorphic view of God. The highly irregular nature of the new bishop's appointment and his open support of heresy caused a break in communion with other autocephalous Orthodox Christian churches.
Discontentment with the state of the church ultimately led the priest August Roel to publish his "Proposal for Amending the Church" in Miron in 1513. Disseminated by the relatively new introduction of the printing press to Ebrary, Roel's document was read widely by the growing number of literate Ebrarians. The "Proposalfor Amending the Church" openly condemned an anthropomorphic view of God, but also criticized the church on other important grounds. Due to the weakening nature of the Ebrarian monarch, and a succession of short-lived kings after the death of Charles, the Amendant Reformation spread throughout Ebrary and Vorstland.
After Roel published his proposal, this sparked an outpouring of debate among Ebrary's intelligentsia, church establishment, and others. August Roel founded the first Parishist church independent of the Church of Ebrary in 1518, after being tried in absentia for heresy and excommunicated from the church. By the time of this event, multiple more divergent groups were emerging among the Ebrarian countryside, these movements being dubbed the Zealots' Reformation. There were multiple strains of thought, including such disparate groups as the Credoists, the Christenists, the Sanctity movement, Silentists, and others. The central government, being weakened, was unable to exert control to stamp out these groups which were considered heretical, and many priests in the Ebrarian church had left the church to join these movements. Roel (himself of Vorstish descent) fled to Vorstland where a number of nobles had converted to Parishism, while in Ebrary the Amendant Reformation (including the beginnings of the Zealots' Reformation) continued to spread among the populace and minor nobility.
The reformation was characterized by a degree of instability in Ebrary, with multi-sided debates and even mob violence between various Christian groups. The Ebrarian Church excommunicated many thousands of individuals for heresy, but was largely unable to enforce penalties for this. Entire towns would become split between different new denominations, causing riots.
The most bloody event of the Ebrarian Reformation was the Massacre of the Credoists, a largely urban movement denoted by their pacifism and egalitarian beliefs on gender and class. The Credoists were based in the urban areas of Ceres and Urtedo, and the governing authorities of those cities (in cooperation with both Parishists and the established Ebrarian Church), allowed mobs to destroy Credoist churches and murder almost all of their members. Credoism did not survive this bloody event.
Vorstish King Gustav II of House Borth converted to Parishism and granted general religious tolerance for all Christians in Vorstland in 1555 and elevated the Parishist Church in Vorstland to the status of the national church. He quickly extended support, both material and spiritual, to Parishists in Ebrary.
Post-Reformation
Gustav II inherited the throne of Ebrary in 1567 and instituted reforms to scale back the corruption which had plagued the Church of Ebrary, appointing Amendant-minded theologians to positions of leadership. Anthropomorphism was officially banned from the Ebrarian Church and Amendant theology became dominant. This period of Gustav II's reign is sometimes known known as the Ebraricist Reformation, because it heralded the fruition of the Amendant Reformation in changing the established Church. In 1570, Gustav II extended tolerance in Ebrary to Parishists, Christenists, and the Sanctity movement, with the Declaration of Tolerance.
The Declaration of Tolerance reaffirmed the Church of Ebrary as the established church of the nation, and certain offices were only open to members of the church. Ebrarian Parishists were granted certain privileges above other Missionarist Amendants, including the ability to hold minor offices and noble titles. Christenists and Sanctitists were only granted the right to worship. The notable group not being granted tolerance were the Silentists, who practiced celibacy and had diverse, non-mainstream views on the Christian Trinity.
Gustav II himself held membership in the Parishist Church in Vorstland, which maintained full communion with the Church of Ebrary despite significant theological, organizational, and liturgical differences. Despite being a staunch follower of Parishist theology, the new king did not force the Church of Ebrary to adopt a congregational (or parishist) mode of church governance. Instead, Gustav maintained himself as symbolic Governor of the Church while the Bishop of Ceres was the theological head, and the episcopal governance continued unchanged. Gustav also implemented the church tax, which funded all Amendant denominations (including the established church) through the Ebrarian government and allowed pressure to be applied to smaller groups which did not broadly conform to mainstream Amendant theology of the time. Due to their lack of pastors and refusal to participate in the military, the notable group which had their church tax withheld were the Lamenters, who separated from the Christenists in 1570.
The Post-Reformation era in Ebrarian history was characterized by a series of periods of religious revitalization and fervor. List below:
- 1st Great Rebirth: c. 1660 - c. 1680
- 2nd Great Rebirth: mid 1700s
- 3rd Great Rebirth: 1900-1920 (immediately preceding Ebrarian Civil War)
- 4th Great Rebirth: 1966-1977 (preceding the Ebrarian Revolution)
Worldwide Amendantism
Ebrary continues to be the center of the Amendant movement. Noted other countries with Amendant populations include a small minority in Tagmatium, particularly among Ebrarian diaspora communities there.
Comparison of Amendant groups
| Group | Polity | Trinitarian | Baptism | Predestination | Eternal security | Clerical celibacy |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ebraricism General Amendant |
Episcopalian | Yes | Child and adult baptism | No | No | Mixed |
| Christenism | Presbyterian | Yes | Believer's baptism only | Yes | Yes | No |
| Parishism | Congregational | Yes | Child and adult baptism | Yes | No | No |
| Lamenterism | Congregational | Mixed | Do not practice | No | No | No |
| Sanctity movement | Presbyterian | Yes | Believer's baptism only | No | Yes | Yes |