Primitive Apostolic Christianity (Sabbatarian) - Uses of The Term

Uses of The Term

The terms restorationism, restorationist and restoration are used in several senses within Christianity.

• "Restorationism" in the sense of "Christian primitivism" refers to the attempt to correct perceived shortcomings of the current church by using the primitive church as a model to reconstruct early Christianity, and has also been described as "practicing church the way it is perceived to have been done in the New Testament." Restorationism is called "apostolic" as representing the form of Christianity that the twelve Apostles followed. These themes arise early in church history, first appearing in the works of Iranaeus, and appeared in some movements during the Middle Ages. It was expressed to varying degrees in the theology of the Protestant Reformation, and Protestantism has been described as "a form of Christian restorationism, though some of its forms - for example the Churches of Christ or the Baptists - are more restorationist than others." A number of historical movements within Christianity may be described as "restoration movements," including the Glasites in Scotland and England, the independent church led by James Haldane and Robert Haldane in Scotland, the American Restoration Movement, the Landmark Baptists and the Mormons. A variety of more contemporary movements have also been described as "restorationist". Restorationism has been described as a basic component of some Pentecostal movements such as the Assemblies of God. The terms "Restorationism movement" and "Restorationist movement" have also been applied to the British New Church Movement.

• Capitalized, the term is also used as a synonym for the American Restoration Movement.

• The term "restorationism" can also include the belief that the Jewish people must be restored to the promised land in fulfillment of biblical prophecy before the Second Coming of Christ. Christian restorationism is generally used to describe the 19th century movement based on this belief, though the term Christian Zionism is more commonly used to describe later forms.

• "Restorationism" is also used to describe a form of postmillennialism developed during the later half of the 20th century, which was influential among a number of charismatic groups and the British new church movement.

The term primitive, in contrast with other uses, refers to a basis in scholarship and research into the actual writings of the church fathers and other historical documents. Since written documents for the underground first-century church are sparse, the primitive church passed down its knowledge verbally. Elements of the primitive Christianity movement reject the patristic tradition of the prolific extrabiblical 2nd- and 3rd-century redaction of this knowledge (the Ante-Nicene Fathers), and instead attempt to reconstruct primitive church practices as they might have existed in the Apostolic Age. To do this, they revive practices found in the Old Testament.

The term apostolic refers to a nonmainstream, often literal, apostolic succession or historical lineage tracing back to the Apostles and the Great Commission. These restorationist threads are sometimes regarded critically as being Judaizers in the Ebionite tradition.