This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 68.205.31.105 (talk) at 15:19, 23 January 2008 (→External links: Removed "Berean Church International" as dead link). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.
Revision as of 15:19, 23 January 2008 by 68.205.31.105 (talk) (→External links: Removed "Berean Church International" as dead link)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)Bereans were the inhabitants of the ancient city of Berea, also known in the Bible as Beroea and now known as Veria.
Biblical context
According to the Book of Acts, Chapter 17 verse 11, Paul of Tarsus and Silas preached at Berea, and the inhabitants "eagerly examined the scriptures every day to see whether these things were so", and many of them believed.
Historical context
Many churches and ministries, predominantly evangelical Protestant in the USA, that have an emphasis on the primacy of scripture, have adopted the name Berean in allusion to this account. The Catholic Diocese of Lincoln describes one particular affiliation, the Berean Church, as comprising about 60 independent U.S. congregations of similar beliefs with features in common with Baptists, Methodists and Presybyterians. Their central emphasis on scriptural authority, sola scriptura, puts their beliefs in particular conflict with Roman Catholicism as well as Eastern Orthodoxy.
Historically, the Bereans (also called Beroeans, Barclayans or Barclayites) were a Protestant sect following former Scottish Presbyterian minister John Barclay (1734-1798). Founded in Edinburgh in 1773, the Berean Church followed a modified form of Calvinism. It had congregations in Scotland, London and Bristol, but mainly merged with the Congregationalists after Barclay's death.
Some groups among the Bible Student movement also adopted the name, such as the Berean Bible Students and the Berean Bible Institute.
References
- Bereans / John Barclay: The Concise Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. E. A. Livingstone. Oxford University Press, 2000
External links
- The Berean Chronicles
- Berea, Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
- Bereans, The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001.
- Lincoln Berean Church, one of the Berean Fellowship of Churches
- The Berean Beacon Evangelistic ministry that "places particular emphasis on the evangelization and conversion of Catholics".
- Catholic Answers article : "Why the Bereans rejected sola scriptura"
- Diocese of Lincoln Q&A (Catholic POV).
- The Berean Call
- The Noble Berean
- Berean Baptist Church of Orange Park, FL