Modern Religious Movements on Romanian Territory Can Evangelical Cults in Romania Historically be Seen as NeoProtestant?
Published Online: Mar 22, 2023
Page range: 27 - 43
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/amsh-2022-0019
Keywords
© 2022 Vlad Bogdan Cristian, published by Sciendo
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
In order to define the new religious movements on Romanian territory beginning in the 19th century, the following terms need to be explained: sect Church, Evangelical Church, and Neo-Protestant Church.
First, the term ‘sect’ has negative connotations, and it is being used more and more seldom after the Communist era. Second, the term ‘Evangelical’ is currently more accepted even by historians (such as Dorin Dobrincu) but it still can be confusing because it refers to German Lutherans. Finally, the term ‘Neo-Protestant’ is problematic because it can lead to confusion about modern Lutheran Protestantism, which is called in German Neoprotestantismus.
This work uses the term ‘Neo-Protestant’ as it will be shown that these cults have a historical sustainability of classical Protestantism bringing new aspects but still respecting the same frame, the same matrix.