heresiologists: Church fathers writing against heresy, typically by producing
a book cataloguing the views of a large number of diverse Christian groups,
such as Irenaeus’s treatise Against Heresies. These books are often our main
source of information about forms of Christianity that have since disappeared.
heresy: From a Greek term meaning “sect,” theologians of the Great Church
applied this term to doctrines they rejected as not catholic or orthodox.
Herrnhut: Town in the lands of Count Nicholas von Zinzendorf, where he
offered asylum to Moravians and became their bishop. Hence a “Herrnhuter”
means a Moravian, and it was to this that Schleiermacher referred when he
called himself “a Herrnhuter of a higher order.”
hierarchy: From a Greek word meaning literally “rule by priests,” this term
refers to churches with an episcopal polity. (See episcopate). The Roman
Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches are hierarchical, whereas Baptist
and Presbyterian churches are not.
high church: Originally an Anglican term, this describes churches that have
a high view of the sacraments (for example, baptismal regeneration and Real
Presence in the Eucharist). Also typically involving a hierarchical polity. It
emphasizes learned ministry (pastors need to go to seminary and learn Greek
and Hebrew), accepts religious art in churches (for example, stained glass,
statues, or icons), and uses formal liturgy and ritual. (Contrast low church.)
Holiness movement: A Wesleyan perfectionist movement founded in the
1830s in America by Methodist teacher Phoebe Palmer and advocating a
special act of consecration (which Palmer calls “laying all upon the altar”) to
acquire the “second blessing” of entire sancti¿ cation or Holiness.
Holy Saturday: The day between Good Friday, when Christ was cruci¿ ed,
and Easter Sunday, when he was raised from the dead. Accordingly, it is the
day when the eternal Son of God descended among the dead, and for that
reason is of particular importance in the theology of von Balthasar.