:: wikimiki.org ::

John Clarke (1609-1676)

John Clarke (1609-1676)

:For other people with the same name see John Clarke (disambiguation) John Clarke (1609–1676) was a medical doctor, Baptist minister, co-founder of the colony of Rhode Island, and a leading advocate of religious freedom in the Americas. Clarke was born at Westhorpe, Suffolk County, England on October 8, 1609, to Thomas and Rose (Kerrich) Clarke. He was one of eight children, six of whom came to America and settled in New England. He married Elizabeth ? . The source of Clarke's education remains unknown (though some say the University of Leiden), but before arriving in America he had studied theology, languages, and medicine. He first emigrated to Massachusetts Bay in 1637. Clarke and other settlers purchased land from the American Indians on the island of Aquidneck, and established Portsmouth in 1638. Clarke is one of the signers of the Portsmouth Compact. In 1639 he helped found the city of Newport and the local church there. In 1651, John Clarke, John Crandall and Obadiah Holmes were arrested and imprisoned in Lynn, Massachusetts for conducting an illegal worship service. This event (and others like it) served as the basis for Clarke's Ill Newes from New England, or a Narrative of New England's Persecutions (1652). In 1652 Clarke traveled to London with Roger Williams to secure a new charter for the colony of Rhode Island. Williams returned to Rhode Island in 1654, but Clarke stayed in England until the charter was granted. On July 8, 1663 Charles II of England granted John Clarke a Royal Charter to Rhode Island. That charter remained the foundation of government in Rhode Island until 1842. Clarke and Williams labored together for the cause of religious liberty. Williams remains the more well-known of the two, but Clarke was more important to the history of Baptists in New England. Williams left the Baptists to become a Seeker. During his years in Rhode Island, John Clarke was pastor of the church in Newport. He practiced medicine as a means of financial support. He also served on the General Assembly from 1664 to 1669, and three terms as deputy governor (1669-1672). Clarke died in Newport on April 20, 1676. His will set up a trust to be used "for the relief of the poor or bringing up of children unto learning from time to time forever." This trust is generally considered to be the oldest educational trust fund in the United States.

External links

- [http://www.redwoodlibrary.org/notables/clarke.htm Newport Notables]
- [http://www.lvbaptist.org/cameos/bc-clark.html Pastor John Clarke, M. D.]

References

- Dictionary of Baptists in America, Bill J. Leonard, editor ISBN 0830814477
- John Clarke and His Legacies: Religion and Law in Colonial Rhode Island, 1638-1750, by Sydney V. James ISBN 0271018496
- John Clarke (1609-1676): Pioneer in American Medicine, Democratic Ideals, and Champion of Religious Liberty, by Louis Franklin Asher ISBN 0805940405
- The Life of Dr. John Clarke, by Wilbur Nelson Clarke, John Clarke, John Clarke, John Clarke, John Category:Rhode Island politicians

John Clarke (disambiguation)

There are several men named John Clarke, including: #John Clarke (1609-1676), the co-founder of Rhode Island #John Clarke (activist), is a Canadian political activist and founder of the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty #John Clarke (fur trader) (1781–1852), Hudson's Bay Company fur trader #John Clarke (satirist), New Zealand/Australian actor/satirist #John Clarke (US actor), American soap opera actor from Days of Our Lives #John Blades Clarke, a U.S. representative from Kentucky from 1875 to 1876 #John Cooper Clarke, a British performance poet, active since the late-1970s #John Davenport Clarke, a U.S. representative from New York from 1921 to 1924 and 1927 to 1934 #John Hessin Clarke, associate justice of the United States Supreme Court #John Hopkins Clarke, a U.S. Senator from Rhode Island from 1847 to 1852 #John Henrik Clarke, a self-taught scholar born of a sharecropping family in Alabama, who became an authority on African history, a lecturer at Hunter College, and an advocate for Black Studies

1609

Events

- April 4 – King of Spain signs an edit of expulsion of all moriscos from Spain
- April 9 – Spain recognizes Dutch independence
- May 23 - Official ratification of the Second Charter of Virginia.
- July 6 - Bohemia is granted freedom of religion (Letter of Majesty)
- August 25 - Galileo Galilei demonstrates his first telescope to Venetian lawmakers. He is the first to perform observational astronomy as he observes the moons of Jupiter
- August 28 - Henry Hudson is the first European to see Delaware Bay.
- September 2 - Henry Hudson enters New York Bay aboard the Halve Maen.
- September 11 – Valencia expulses all the Moriscos
- September 12 - Henry Hudson discovers the Hudson River.
- October 12 - "Three Blind Mice" published by London teenage songwriter Thomas Ravenscroft.
- Samuel de Champlain claims the Lake Champlain area of Vermont for France.
- The first published rounds in English are published by Thomas Ravenscroft.
- Claudio Monteverdi publishes his first opera, Orfeo.
- The Douay Rheims bible is published in England.
- Bermuda is first settled, by English shipwreck victims en route to Virginia.
- The Netherlands and Spain agree to the Twelve Years' Truce in the Eighty Years' War
- Dutch East India Company imports tea to Europe
- Japanese clan of Shimazu conquers Okinawa
- Cornelius Drebbel invents thermostat
- Henry Hudson explores Delaware Bay and Hudson River
- Warsaw becomes the capital of Poland

Science

- Johannes Kepler publishes his first two laws of planetary motion in Astronomia Nova
- Hugo Grotius - Mare liberum

Births

- February 10 - John Suckling, English poet (died 1642)
- February 18 - Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon, English historian and statesman (died 1674)
- March 22 - John II Casimir of Poland (died 1672)
- March 28 - King Frederick III of Denmark (died 1670)
- March 29 - Sarah Boyle, English noblewoman (died 1633)
- June 29 - Pierre Paul Riquet, French engineer and canal builder (died 1680)
- August 19 - Jean Rotrou, French poet and tragedian
- November 25 - Henrietta Maria of France, queen of Charles I of England (died 1669)
- November 26 - Henry Dunster, first President of Harvard College (died 1659)
- December 24 - Philip Warwick, English writer and politician (died 1683)
- Gauthier de Costes, seigneur de la Calprenède, French novelist and dramatist (died 1663)
- John Clarke, English physician (died 1676)
- Samuel Cooper, English miniature painter (died 1672)
- Nathaniel Eaton, first schoolmaster of Harvard College (died 1674)
- Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand, Governor of the Habsburg Netherlands (died 1641)
- Paul Fleming, German poet (died 1640)
- Jan Fyt, Belgian animal painter (died 1661)
- Matthew Hale, Lord Chief Justice of England (died 1676)
- Alberich Mazak, Austrian composer (died 1661)
- Hannibal Sehested, Danish statesman (died 1666)
- John Underhill, English soldier and colonist (died 1672)
- Gerrard Winstanley, English Protestant religious reformer (died 1676)
- Lucas d'Achéry, learned French Benedictine (died 1685) See also :Category:1609 births.

Deaths

- January 21 - Joseph Justus Scaliger, French protestant scholar (born 1540)
- February 17 - Ferdinando I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (born 1549)
- March 9 - William Warner, English poet
- March 25 - Olaus Martini, Swedish Archbishop of Uppsala (b. 1557)
- April 4 - Charles de L'Ecluse, Flemish botanist (born 1526)
- May 15 - Giovanni Croce, Italian composer (born 1557)
- July 15 - Annibale Carracci, Italian painter (born 1560)
- August 22 - Maharal of Prague, Jewish mystic and philosopher (born 1525)
- October 1 - Giammateo Asola, Italian composer
- December 4 - Alexander Hume, Scottish poet (born 1560)
- Al-Jilani, Persian physician
- Mateo Alemán, Spanish novelist and man of letters (born 1547)
- Yamada Arinobu, Japanese nobleman (born 1544)
- Jacobus Arminius, Dutch Reformed theologian (born 1560)
- James Hamilton, 3rd Earl of Arran
- Barnabe Barnes, English poet (born 1568)
- Giovanni Giacomo Gastoldi, Italian Baroque composer (born 1582)
- Mark Kerr, 1st Earl of Lothian, Scottish statesman (born 1553)
- Federigo Zuccaro, Italian painter (born 1543) See also :Category:1609 deaths. Category:1609 ko:1609년

Medical doctor

A physician is a person who practices medicine. See that article for more information on what physicians do in their practices; this article focuses on physician training and regulation. In the United States, the term physician is traditional and commonly used. In Britain, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Africa, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe, the term doctor is more common as physician refers to specialists in internal medicine. Because of the extensive training requirements, physicians are traditionally considered to be members of a learned profession.

Training

:See also: medical school and medical residency.

United Kingdom

Medicine in the UK is an undergraduate subject. Students can begin training after leaving the school at 18 years of age. Medical school training lasts either five or six years, depending on the institution, and combines academic and practical training. Junior doctors then enter a vocational training phase. In the UK a doctor's training normally follows this path: #Degree level preclinical - Doctors must study medicine in university or medical school for two to three years "preclinical" (meaning little patient contact). However following recommendations by the British Medical Association (BMA) many universities are following a "Problem-based learning" approach, which stresses basing the studies around actual patient cases. #Clinical - This time is spent in a teaching hospital and typically lasts two or three years. After this is completed the student doctor is awarded a Bachelor of Medicine (BM or MB) and Bachelor of Surgery (BCh or BS). An honorary prefix of "Dr" is now entitled to be used, although it is not recognised in the academic sense of the word (see Doctorate). Doctors who graduated overseas have to pass the Professional and Linguistic Assessment Board test (PLAB) to be eligible for further postgraduate training and jobs in UK. #The Foundation Programme - Due to recent changes in the training of junior doctors, newly qualified doctors enter a two year Foundation Programme, where they train in a variety of different specialities. These must include training in General Medicine and General Surgery but can also include other fields such as Paediatrics or General Practice. Following completion of the Foundation Programme a doctor can choose to specialise in one field. All routes involve further assessment and examinations. The majority in the UK work in the community as General practitioners (GPs), who are the first port of call for patients. They diagnose illness and refer patients for further examination by specialists if necessary. The majority of patients are managed by their GP without the need for further referral. Hospital doctors are promoted after sitting relevant postgraduate exams within their chosen specialty (e.g. Member of the Royal College of Physicians MRCP, Member of the Royal College of Surgeons MRCS) and a competitive interview selection process from SHO to Specialist Registrar and eventually Consultant on completion of the CCST (Certificate of Completion of Specialist Training), which is the highest level in a specialty team (with the exception of university-linked professors). The competition is great for those who wish to attain consultant level and many now complete higher degrees in research such as a Doctorate of Medicine (MD) which is a thesis-based award based on at least two years full-time research or PhD which involves at least three years of full-time research. The time taken to get from graduation from medical school to becoming a Consultant varies from speciality to speciality but can be anything from 7 to 10 years, or longer in some specialities.

United States

In the United States and countries following the U.S. method, the path to a medical degree is somewhat different. #Admissions: Admission into medical school requires either three years of undergraduate study or a four-year post-secondary bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university, depending on medical institution. Most require that the applicant have attained a bachelor's degree prior to matriculation. Admissions criteria include overall performance in the undergraduate years and performance in a group of courses specifically required by U.S. medical schools, the score on the Medical College Admissions Test (a national standardized test), application essays, letters of recommendation (number varies, but at least 1 from science faculty and 1 from non-science faculty), and interview(s). The list of courses required are as follows: #
- biology (1 year) #
- general chemistry (1 year) #
- organic chemistry (1 year) #
- physics (1 year) #
- calculus or sometimes statistics (1 year) #
- English composition (1 year) #
- sometimes behavior science and/or biochemistry (1 semester)
Note:These subjects are studied part time, so several can be completed in one year.

#Medical School: Once admitted to medical school, it takes four years to earn a Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) degree or Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine "Osteopathy" (D.O.) degree. The course of study is divided into two roughly equal parts. Preclinical study generally comprises the first two years and consists of classroom and laboratory instruction in core subjects such as anatomy, biochemistry, physiology, pharmacology, microbiology, pathology, and neurosciences. Once the student successfully completes preclinical training, he or she moves on to the clinical portion. This usually occupies the final two years of medical school and takes place almost exclusively on the wards of a teaching hospital or, occasionally, with community physicians. The students observe and take part in the care of actual patients under the supervision of residents and attending physicians. Rotations on clinical services such as internal medicine, surgery, pediatrics, obstetrics/gynecology, and psychiatry are the foundation of this curriculum, but many specialty electives may be chosen as well. Upon completion of medical school, the student earns the title of doctor, but cannot practice independently until completing further training. Also, several universities across the U.S. admit high school students to both their undergraduate colleges and the medical schools simultaneously; students attend a single six-year to eight-year integrated program consisting of two to four years of an undergraduate curriculum and four years of medical school curriculum, culminating in both a bachelor's and M.D. degree.
#Internship: During the last year of medical school, students apply for postgraduate residencies in their chosen field of specialization. These are more or less competitive depending upon the desirability of the specialty, prestige of the program, and the number of applicants relative to the number of available positions. All but a few positions are granted via a national computer match which pairs an applicant's preference with the programs' preference for applicants. The first year of any residency is known as "internship". Completion of this year is the minimum training requirement for obtaining a license to practice medicine in the U.S.
#Residency: Each of the specialties in medicine has established its own curriculum, which defines the length and content of residency training necessary to practice in that specialty. Programs range from three years after medical school for internal medicine to five years for surgery to eight or nine for neurosurgery. This does not include research years that may last from 1 year up to a completion of a Ph.D. Each specialty incorporates an internship year to satisfy the requirements of licensure. All specialties hold a board exam (either written or written and oral) at the completion of training in order to confer "Board Certification" in that specialty.
#Fellowship: Certain highly specialized fields require formal training beyond residency. Examples of these are cardiology, endocrinology, oncology after internal medicine; cardiothoracic surgery, pediatric surgery, surgical oncology after general surgery to name just a few. There are many others for each field of study. The training programs for these fields are known as fellowships and their participants are "Fellows" to denote that they already have completed a residency and are "Board Eligible" or "Board Certified" in their basic specialty. Fellowships range in length from one to three years and are granted by application to the individual program or sub-specialty organizing board.
#Attending physicians and Consultants: The physician or surgeon who has completed his or her residency and possibly fellowship training and is in the practice of their specialty is known as an Attending or Consultant. These are the physicians who may independently care for patients and are the final arbiters of care. They are responsible for all care decisions and may bill for their services. However, medicine is an extremely diverse profession with many options available. Some doctors work in pharmaceutical research, occupational medicine (within a company), public health medicine (working for the general health of a population in an area), or join the armed forces.

France

In France, a doctor's training is performed in public university hospital, called Centre hospitalier universitaire or CHU; it consists in:
- First cycle
- the first year is common with the dentists and the midwives; the rank at the final examination determines in which branch the student can go on; it is called "PCEM1" (premier cycle des études médicales, first cycle of medical studies) or "P1";
- the second year is called "PCEM2" and is dedicated to the fundamental sciences (or propédeutique, propaedeutics): anatomy, human physiology, biochemistry, bacteriology, statistics...
- Second cycle
- The first year is called "DCEM1" (deuxième cycle des études médicales, second cycle of medical studies), and is also dedicated to the study of propaedeutics
- The second, third and fourth years (DCEM2-4) are called externat, and are dedicated to the study of clinical medicine; they end with a classifying examination, the rank determines in which speciality (the general medicine is one of them) the student can make an internat: the first graduate can choose speciality, and at the rank n, the graduate must choose amongst the places left; the graduate also gets a Certificat de synthèse clinique et thérapeutique (certificate of clinical and therapeutical synthesis).
- The internat is two years and a half (general medicine) or four years (specialist) of initial professional experience under the responsibility of a senior; the interne can prescribe, replacements of liberal phsicians can be made, and usually the student works in an hospital. This ends with a doctorate, a research work which most of times consist in a statistical study of cases to propose a care strategy of a specific affection (in an epidemiological, diagnostical, or therapeutical point of view). A specialist also gets a DES (diplôme d'études spécialisées, diploma for specialised studies). The initial training thus consist in eight years and a half for a general practitioner, and ten years for a specialist (including a surgeon).

India

See Medical College (India) for details

Regulation

In most jurisdictions, physicians need government permission to practise. This is known as licensing in the United States, as colegiation in Spain, as ishi menkyo in Japan, as autorisasjon in Norway, as approbation in Germany, and as registration in Australia and the United Kingdom. In France, civilian physicians must be a member of the Order of physicians to practice medicine. In some countries, including the United Kingdom, the profession regulates itself, with the government affirming the regulating body's authority (in the UK the General Medical Council [GMC]). Regulating authorities will revoke permission to practice in cases of malpractice or serious misconduct. Graduates of Foreign Medical Schools, who enter USA have to pass USMLE step 1 and 2 [http://ecfmg.org/ ECFMG old name]and do a residency program to qualify for a state license. After graduating from medical school, American physicians usually take a standardized exam which enables them to obtain a certificate to practice from the appropriate state agency. All American states have an agency which is usually called the "Medical Board," although there are alternate names such as "Board of Medicine," "Board of Medical Examiners," "Board of Medical Licensure," "Board of Healing Arts," etc. Australian states usually have a "Medical Board," while Canadian provinces usually have a "College of Physicians and Surgeons." In the United States, as a result of the war on drugs, pharmaceuticals are strictly regulated at the federal level by the Food and Drug Administration and the Drug Enforcement Administration. All practicing American physicians who intend to prescribe controlled substances must obtain a number from the DEA, and that DEA number must appear on all their prescriptions. Use of the DEA number enables dispensing pharmacists or the DEA to ensure that a physician is not dispensing potentially addictive or harmful drugs, such as opiates or stimulants, in contravention to accepted standards of care.

External links

- [http://www.fact-sheets.com/health/doctor_tips/ Tips for Talking to Your Doctor] Category:Healthcare occupations Category:Healthcare practitioners and technical occupations
- Physician ja:医師 ko:의사

Baptist

A Baptist is a member of a Baptist church. Baptist churches are part of a Christian movement often regarded as an Evangelical, Protestant denomination. Baptists emphasize a believer's baptism by full immersion, which is performed after a profession of faith in Jesus as Lord and Savior. A congregational governance system gives autonomy to individual local Baptist churches, which are sometimes associated in organizations such as the Southern Baptist Convention. In the late 1990s, there were about 43 million Baptists worldwide with about 33 million in the United States.

Beliefs

Baptist churches do not have a central governing authority, resulting in a wide range of beliefs from one Baptist church to another. Baptist distinctives are beliefs that are common among Baptist churches, some of which are also shared with many other post-reformational denominations. Some historically significant Baptist doctrinal documents include the 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith, the 1833 New Hampshire Baptist Confession of Faith, and the Southern Baptist Convention's Baptist Faith and Message, which are often used as the "official" doctrinal statements of individual local Baptist churches or the starting point for an official statement. See also : List of Baptist Confessions or Doctrinal Statements

Baptist distinctives acrostic

This backronym is used by some Baptist churches as a summary of the distinctives or distinguishing beliefs of Baptists.
- Biblical authority
- Autonomy of the local church
- Priesthood of all believers
- Two ordinances (baptism and communion)
- Individual soul liberty
- Separation of Church and State
- Two offices of the church (pastor and deacon)

Biblical authority

Authority of the Scriptures or sola scriptura states that the Bible is the only authoritative source of God's truth in contrast to the role of Apostolic tradition in the Roman Catholic Church. Any view that cannot be directly tied to a scriptural reference is generally considered to be based on human traditions rather than God's leading. Each person is responsible before God for his or her own understanding of the Bible and is encouraged to work out their own salvation with fear and trembling. Baptists generally consider historic Christian creeds to be on lower footing in comparison to Scripture even though they may in essence agree with them. However, a group or local church may have a general "Statement of Faith" such as the Baptist Faith and Message of the Southern Baptist Convention). Biblical inerrancy is also a common position held by fundamentalist Baptists in addition to contextually literal interpretations of the Bible and other fundamentalist theologies. However, because of the variety allowed under congregational governance, many Baptist churches are neither literalist nor fundamentalist, although most do believe in biblical authority. Most moderate or non-fundamentalist Baptists prefer the term inspired or God-breathed rather than inerrant to describe scripture, referring to the term Paul uses in 2 Timothy 3:16. With regard to the inerrancy of the Scriptures, some Baptists consider that the original autographs (presumed lost) are inerrant and that the original words have been preserved by God on copies made throughout the years since they were written. Most Baptists consider the translations of these manuscripts into other languages (such as English) to be necessary, but not necessarily inerrant. Some Baptists believe that the King James Version of the Bible is an inspired translation and reject the need to know or use the Greek and Hebrew manuscripts. Even though it is only the Bible that is considered authoritative, Baptists also cite other works as illustrative of doctrine. One work which is commonly read by Baptists is the allegory Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan.

Autonomy of the local church (Congregationalism)

Congregationalist church governance gives autonomy to individual local churches in areas of policy, polity and doctrine. Baptist churches are not under the direct administrative control of any other body, such as a national council, or a leader such as a bishop or pope. Administration, leadership and doctrine are usually decided democratically by the lay members of each individual church, which accounts for the variation of beliefs from one Baptist church to another. Exceptions are some Reformed Baptists, who are organized in a Presbyterian system, the Congolese Episcopal Baptists that has an Episcopal system, and some Baptist megachurches who lean towards a strong clergy-led style, in some instances abandoning congregational governance altogether (though as independent congregations within an association, are free to adopt any style). In a manner typical of other congregationalists, many cooperative associations or conventions of Baptists have arisen. These associations were formed for missionary and other charitable work and have no authority over the operations of individual local churches. Local churches decide at what level they will participate in these associations. The largest association in the United States is the Southern Baptist Convention. The second largest is the National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc., which is also America's second largest predominantly African-American denomination. There are hundreds of Baptist conventions and many Independent Baptist churches do not fall into any of them, believing such associations to be unscriptural. In addition, there are sometimes very strong disputes within conventions which are often divided between Christian fundamentalists and moderates.

Priesthood of all believers

Priesthood of all believers states that every Christian has direct access to God and the truths found in the Bible without the help of an aristocracy or hierarchy of priests. This doctrine is based on the passage found in [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Peter%202:9;&version=31;50;9; 1 Peter 2:9] and was popularized by Martin Luther during the Protestant Reformation and John Wycliff's Lollards before Luther. Baptists are encouraged, though, to discuss scriptural and other issues with their minister when appropriate. The Baptist position of the priesthood of all believers is one column that upholds their belief in religious liberty.

Two ordinances (Baptism and Communion)

Generally, Baptist churches recognize only two Biblical ordinances that are to be performed on a regular basis by churches: baptism and communion. Some churches, including Primitive Baptists and some Free Will Baptists, also practice foot washing as a third ordinance.

Believer's baptism

Baptism, commonly referred to as Believer's baptism, is an ordinance that, according to Baptist doctrine, plays no role in salvation, and is performed after a person professes Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. It is an outward expression that is symbolic of the inward cleansing or remission of their sins that has already taken place. It is also a public identification of that person with Christianity and with that particular local church. Most Baptist churches use baptism by full immersion, subsequent to salvation, as a criterion for membership. Through Anabaptist influence, Baptists reject the practice of pedobaptism (infant baptism) because they believe parents cannot make a decision of salvation for an infant. Related to this doctrine is the disputed concept of an "age of accountability" when God determines that a mentally capable person is accountable for their sins and eligible for baptism. This is not necessarily a specific age, but is based on whether or not the person is mentally capable of knowing right from wrong. Thus, a person with severe mental retardation may never reach this age, and therefore would not be held accountable for sins. Baptists emphasize baptism by full immersion, the mode presumed to have been used by John the Baptist. This consists of lowering the candidate in water backwards while the baptizer (a pastor or any baptised believer) invokes the Trinitarian formula of Matthew 28:19 or other words concerning a profession of faith. This mode is also preferred for its parallel imagery to the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. Recognition of baptisms by other modes and Christian groups vary. Many Baptist churches only recognize baptism by full immersion as being valid, while a few will baptise by sprinkling as a practical alternative for the disabled or elderly or in times of drought. Some Baptist churches will recognize adult baptisms performed in other orthodox Christian churches, while others only recognize baptisms performed in Baptist churches. In rare instances, a church may recognize only its own baptisms as valid.

Communion

Communion, which is alternately called "The Lord's Supper", is an ordinance patterned after the Last Supper recorded in the Gospels which Jesus says to "do this in remembrance of Me" (Luke 22:19). Participants communally eat the bread and drink the cup that are representative of the body and blood of Jesus. Baptists emphasize that the remembrance is symbolic of Christ's body and reject literal views of communion such as transubstantiation and consubstantiation held by other Christian groups based on their interpretation of John 6. 1 Corinthians 11:23-34 is also commonly cited as instructional for the practice of Communion. Many Baptists refuse to refer to this ordinance as Communion due to its prominent use by the Roman Catholic Church and instead use the alternate "The Lord's Supper". The bread used in the service may be cubes of unleavened bread, wafers or small crackers, generally of an unleavened variety which is thought to be the type used at the Last Supper. The general Baptist embracing of the Temperance movement, prohibition, and teetotalism in the U.S. led to the practice of using non-alcoholic grape juice for the cup, but some Baptists do use wine. The grape juice is typically served in small individual glasses, though some churches use one large cup for the entire congregation. Many church buildings are equipped with round receptacles on the rear of the pews for depositing the empty glasses after the service. Both "elements" of the bread and the cup are usually served by the pastor to the deacons, and by the deacons to the congregation. The general practice is for the elements to be taken by the congregation as a whole as a symbol of unity, first the bread and then the cup separately, although sometimes both elements are taken together. Communion services may be held weekly, monthly, quarterly, or even annually. It usually takes place at the end of a normal service, but may take place at any time during the service. Participation may be either "closed" (only members of that church can participate), "cracked" (members of other Baptist churches may participate, but not of other denominations), or "open" (anyone professing to be a Christian may participate).

Individual soul liberty

The basic concept of individual soul liberty is that, in matters of religion, each person has the liberty to choose what his/her conscience or soul dictates is right, and is responsible to no one but God for the decision that is made. A person may then choose to be a Baptist, a member of another Christian denomination, an adherent to another world religion, or to choose no religious belief system, and neither the church, nor the government, nor family or friends may either make the decision or compel the person to choose otherwise. And, a person may change his/her mind over time.

Separation of church and state

Main article: Baptists in the history of separation of church and state Baptists who were imprisoned or died for their beliefs have played an important role in the historical struggle for freedom of religion and separation of church and state in England, the United States, and other countries. In 1612 John Smyth wrote, "the magistrate is not by virtue of his office to meddle with religion, or matters of conscience". That same year, Thomas Helwys wrote that the King of England could "command what of man he will, and we are to obey it," but concerning the church -- "with this Kingdom, our lord the King hath nothing to do." In 1614, Leonard Busher wrote what is believed to be the earliest Baptist treatise dealing exclusively with the subject of religious liberty. Baptists were influential in the formation of the first civil government based on the separation of church and state in what is now Rhode Island. Anabaptists and Quakers also share a strong history in the development of separation of church and state. The original objection was opposition of the monarchy or government setting religious agenda for churches or a "National Church" and did not imply a retreat by Christians from the political realm or involvement in the political process. Modern debates about church and state separation involve disagreements about the extent to which Christian groups are able to, or should, set the legal and moral agenda for the government, and conversely whether government is preventing Christians and Christian groups from equal access to public forums. Currently in the United States, Baptist involvement in politics often involves controversies concerning gambling, alcohol, abortion, same-sex marriage, the teaching of evolution and state-sanctioned public prayer in public high schools. In parts of the Southern United States, Baptists form a majority of the population and have successfully banned alcohol sales and prevented the legalization of certain kinds of gambling.

Two offices (Pastor and Deacon)

Generally Baptists only recognize two Scriptural offices, those of pastor and deacon. The office of elder, common in some evangelical churches, is usually considered by Baptists to be the same as that of pastor, and not a separate office. The prevalent view among Baptists is that these offices are limited to men only, following the model of Christ and His apostles. However, the issue of women pastors/deacons has surfaced as controversy in some churches and denominations.

Pastor

In the Baptist church, the primary role of pastor is to deliver the weekly sermon. In smaller churches, the pastor will often visit homes and hospitals to call on ill members, as well as homes of prospective members (especially those who have not made salvation decisions). The pastor will also perform weddings and funerals for members, and at business meetings serve as the moderator. The pastor may also be required to find outside work to supplement his income. Larger churches will usually have one or more "associate" pastors, each with a specific area of responsibility, whereby the overall pastor is considered the "senior" pastor. Some examples are:
- music (the most common)
- youth (in smaller churches, often combined with music)
- children
- administration (in the larger churches) In the majority of instances, the pastor will be married with children (associate pastors may or may not be married, but if not married will find it difficult to be considered for a senior pastor position by other churches).

Deacon

The main role of the deacon is to assist the pastor with members' needs. Deacons also assist during communion. A common practice is for each family to be assigned a specific deacon, to be the primary point of contact whenever a need arises. Some larger megachurches, especially those using cell groups, use the cell group leader(s) to function in the role of deacon(s). Deacons are usually chosen from members who have demonstrated exceptional Christian piety, and serve without pay.

Justification by faith

Justification by faith or sola fide states that it is by faith alone that we receive salvation and not through any works of our own. Baptists have a strong emphasis on the concept of salvation. Baptist theology teaches that humans have been contaminated by the sin of Adam and Eve's rebellion against God and that for this sin we are condemned to damnation. The theology holds that Christ died on the cross to give humans the promise of everlasting life, but that this requires that each individual willfully accepts Christ into his life and repents of sin. Nevertheless, the Baptist view of soteriology runs the gamut from Calvinism to Arminianism.

Beliefs that vary among Baptists

Because of the congregational style of church governance on doctrine, doctrine on the following issues often varies greatly between one Baptist church and another.
- doctrine of separation
- Calvinism/Arminianism
- the nature of Law and Gospel
- the ordination of women
- homosexuality
- the extent to which Church and State should be separate from each other
- the extent to which non-members may participate in communion services
- the extent to which missionary boards should be used to support missionaries
- Eschatology Baptists generally believe in the literal Second Coming of Christ at which time God will sit in judgment and divide humanity between the saved and the lost (the Great White Throne judgment Book of Revelation 20:11) and Christ will sit in judgment of the believers (the Judgment Seat of Christ Second Epistle to the Corinthians 5:10), rewarding them for things done while alive. Amillennialism, dispensationalism, and historic premillennialism stand as the main eschatological views of Baptists, with views such as postmillennialism and preterism receiving only scant support.

Comparisons with other denominations

Baptists share certain emphasis with other groups such as evangelism and missions. While the general flavor of any denomination changes from city to city, this aspect of Baptist churches is much more prominent than in most Anglican, Methodist, Lutheran and Presbyterian churches. The Pacifism of the Anabaptists and the Quakers is not an ideal held by most Baptists. The Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America was organized in 1984 to promote peace, justice, and non-violence, but it does not speak for all Baptists that accept the ideal of pacifism. Moreover, Baptists are strongest in the southern United States, an area known for strong support of the military and thus generally not supportive of pacifist views. In Australia, the Baptist Union is very close to the Campbell-Stone Church of Christ. The two groups share similar theology, even sharing a Bible college.

Worship style

The focus of Baptist church services is the sermon. This can be seen in traditional Baptist church architecture--the pulpit, which is symbolic of proclamation of the Word of God, is the largest piece of furniture and centered on the platform, while the communion table placed below it in a symbolically "subservient" position (in sharp contrast to the Roman Catholic church which places the communion table at the center of the platform, since communion is the focus of its services, while the pulpit is off to one side). However, some of the modern megachurches have abandoned traditional architecture in favor of an entertainment-type stage, where a small podium and chair are brought out after the musical worship is complete. Sermons often range in time from 30-60 minutes. They range in style from expository sermons that focus on one biblical passage and interpret its meaning, to topical sermons which address an issue of concern and investigate several biblical passages related to that topic. The sermon is often surrounded by periods of musical worship lead by a song leader, choir or band. Musical style varies between hymns and Contemporary Christian music with many churches choosing a blend of the two. The choice in music style is often correlated to the predominant age of the members, with older congregations preferring traditional hymns played with piano and/or organ (the latter is becoming less frequent due to fewer organists) and featuring a choir, while younger congregations prefer contemporary music with modern instruments and no choir. Larger churches may have a full orchestra along with the choir. Some fundamentalist Baptists will only sing hymns (which usually includes songs in their hymnals written between the 1700s and the 1950s) and generally oppose the use of drums and/or electric guitar in their services because they associate those instruments with rock music. Other common features in a Baptist church service include the collection of offering, an altar call, a period of announcements and Communion. Most Baptist congregations are small in number with membership under 200 people while other congregations are megachurches with membership in the tens of thousands.

Origins

There are several views about the origins of Baptists within the Baptist church.

Landmarkist

Landmarkism is the belief that Baptist churches and traditions have preceded the Catholic Church and have been around since the time of John the Baptist and Christ. Proponents believe that Baptist traditions have been passed down through a succession of visible congregations of Christians that were Baptist in doctrine and practice, but not necessarily in name. This view is theologically based on Matthew 16:18 , "...and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." and a rejection of Catholicism as part of the historical origins of Baptists. This succession grants Baptist churches the status of being unstained and separate from what they see as the corruptions of Catholicism and other denominations. It also allows for the view that Baptists predate the Catholic church and is therefore not part of the Reformation or the Protestant movement. Alexander Campbell of the Restoration Movement was a strong promoter of this idea. J. M. Carroll's The Trail of Blood, written in 1931, is commonly presented to defend this origin's view. Several groups considered to be part of this Baptist succession were groups persecuted by the Roman Catholic Church throughout history including Montanists, Novatianists, Donatists, Paulicians, Albigensians, Catharists, Waldenses, and Anabaptists. While some of these groups shared a few theological positions with current Baptists, many held positions that would now be considered heretical by current Baptists. It is also difficult to show historical connections between those groups which were often separated by large gaps in geography and time. The works of John T. Christian offer the best presentation of this viewpoint.

Anabaptist

Anabaptists (Mennonites, Amish, Hutterites) were a group in the 1500s that rejected infant baptism and "rebaptized" members as adults. They share many teachings of the early Baptists, such as the believer's baptism and religious freedom and were probably influential in the development of many Baptist characteristics. While their names suggest some connection, some Anabaptists differed from the Baptists on many other issues such as pacifism and the communal sharing of material goods. It is difficult to say how much influence the Anabaptists had on the actual formation of Baptist churches. One of the strongest relationships between the two groups happened when John Smyth's General Baptists attempted but failed to merge with the Mennonites. The works of William Roscoe Estep offer the best presentation of this viewpoint.

Separatist

This view suggests that Baptists were originally separatists in the Puritan reaction to perceived corruptions in the Church of England in the 1600s. In 1609, John Smyth led a group of separatists to the Netherlands to start the General Baptist church with an Arminian theology. In 1616, Henry Jacob led a group of Puritans in England with a Calvinist theology to form a congregational church that would eventually become the Particular Baptists in 1638 under John Spilsbury. Both groups had members who sailed to America as pilgrims to avoid religious persecution in England and Europe and who started Baptist churches in the early colonies. The Particular and General Baptists would disagree over Arminianism and Calvinism until the formation of the Baptist Union of Great Britain in the 1800s under Andrew Fuller and William Carey for the purpose of missions. American Baptists soon followed suit. This is the most common view held by modern Baptists, which is found represented in the works of H. Leon McBeth and many others.

The name "Baptist"

Baptist comes from the Greek word 'baptistès' (to submerge), and the Latin 'baptista', and is in direct connection to 'the baptiser', 'John the Baptist'. As a first name it is used in Europe from the 12th century also as Baptiste, Jan-Baptiste, Jean-Baptiste, John-Baptist. In the Netherlands as of the 17th century, but mainly as of the 18th century as a combination like Jan Baptist or Johannes Baptist. As last name it is used as of the 13th century . Also commonly used as Baptiste, Baptista, Batiste, Battista.

Questions of labeling

Some Baptists object to the application of the labels Protestant, denomination, Evangelical and even Baptist to themselves or their churches, while others accept those labels. Those who reject the label Baptist prefer to be labeled as Christians who attend Baptist churches. Also, a recent trend is to eliminate the name "Baptist" from the church name, as it is perceived to be a "barrier" to reaching persons of no church background who have negative views of Baptists. Conversely, others accept the label Baptist because they identify with the distinctives they consider to be uniquely Baptist, and believe those who are removing the name "Baptist" from their churches are "compromising with the world" in order to attract more members. The name Protestant is rejected by some Baptists because some Baptists believe they do not have a direct connection to Luther, Calvin or the Roman Catholic Church. They do not feel that they are "protesting" anything; Landmark Baptists believe they actually pre-date the Roman Catholic Church. Other Baptists accept the Protestant label as a demographic concept that describes churches who share similar theologies of sola scriptura, sola fide, the priesthood of all believers and other positions that Luther, Calvin and traditional reformers held in contrast to the Roman Catholic Church in the 1500s. The label denomination is rejected by some because of the local autonomous governance system used by Baptist churches. Being a denomination is viewed as having a hierarchy that substitutes for the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church. Another reason for the rejection of the label is the influence of the Restoration period on Baptist churches, which emphasized a tearing down of denominational barriers. Other Baptists accept the label, feeling that it does not carry a negative connotation but rather is merely a synonym for a Christian or religious group. The label Evangelical is rejected by some fundamentalist Baptists who consider the term to describe a theological position that is not fundamentalist enough. It is rejected by some liberal Baptists who consider the term to describe a theological position that is too conservative. It is accepted by moderate Baptists who identify with the revival in the United States in the 1700s known as the First Great Awakening.

Other resources

- [http://www.sbc.net/ Southern Baptist Convention]
- [http://www.sbhla.org/info.htm/sbhla/ Southern Baptist Historical Library and Archives]
- [http://www.bpnews.net/bpn/ Baptist Press]
- [http://www.abc-usa.org/abhs/ American Baptist Historical Society]
- [http://www.baptisthistory.org/ Baptist History and Heritage Society]
- [http://www.centerforbaptiststudies.org/ The Center for Baptist Studies]
- [http://www.baptistlife.com/ BaptistLife.Com]
- [http://www.valpo.edu/geomet/pics/geo200/religion/baptist.gif Map of USA showing Percentage of Baptist Population in each county]
- [http://www.fbcj.com First Baptist Church of Jackson] Category:Baptist Category:Anabaptism Category:Protestantism Category:Christianity ko:침례교 ja:バプテスト教会

Religious minister

:See also minister (government) and minister (diplomacy) In Christian churches, a minister is a man or woman who serves a congregation or participates in a role in a parachurch ministry; such persons can minister as a Pastor, Preacher, Bishop, Chaplain, Deacon or Elder. In Protestant churches, minister usually refers to a member of the ordained clergy who leads a congregation or participates in a role in a parachurch ministry; such a person may also be called a Pastor, Preacher, Bishop, Chaplain or Elder. Ministers are generally seen as set apart from the community to which they minister through ordination. They are often provided a stipend rather than a wage or salary. All denominations make some claim to finding their model of leadership (or church governance) in the New Testament. However the variety of relationships is large, ranging from the low church view of a minister as one of the people to that of the minister as priest, set apart and with special authority. Ecclesiology is the area of theology that relates to church structures and ministry.

Issues

There are contrasting views on the level of remuneration given to ministers relative to the religious community. There is often an expectation that they and their families will eschew ostentation. However there are situations where they are well rewarded for success, whether measured through drawing people to their religious community or enhancing the status or power of the community. There is some disagreement between denominations and within some denominations as to whether women, and/or people who are homosexual can be ministers to their churches.

Roles

Ministers may, by themselves or with others:
- research and study religion, Scripture and theology
- plan and conduct services of public worship
- preach
- preside over the sacraments of the church. These are:
- The Lord's Supper also known as the Eucharist or Holy Communion.
- Baptism of children and/or adults
- Conducting marriages, funerals and memorial services, anointing the sick or dying, participating in the ordination of other clergy, hearing confession, and confirming young people as members of the Church. (These are considered sacraments in the Roman Catholic tradition but not in most Protestant traditions).
- provide leadership to the congregation, parish or church community, this will often be done as part of a team with lay people in roles such as elders
- build a community of faith
- work on developing relationships and networks within that community
- supervise prayer and discussion groups, retreats and seminars and provide religious instruction
- assist in co-ordinating volunteers and church community groups
- train leaders for church, community and youth leadership.
- provide pastoral care
- provide personal support to people in crises, such as illness, bereavement and family breakdown
- visit the sick and elderly.
- engage in welfare and community services activities of communities
- may refer people to community support services, psychologists or doctors
- pray and promote spirituality
- keep records as required by civil or church law

Training and qualifications

Depending on the denomination the requirements for ministry vary. All denominations require that the minister has a sense of calling. As regards to training, denominations vary from those that emphasise gifts and abilities and place little emphasis on book learning to those that require advanced tertiary education qualifications for example from a seminary, theological college or university.

References to leadership roles in the New Testament

There are a range of references to leadership in the New Testament. One of the clearest references is found in 1 Timothy 3:1-16, it outlines the requirements of a minister or bishop (Episcopay Επισκωπη (Greek), the word is interpreted as elder by some denominations.): :(1) This is a true saying, If a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work. (2) A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behavior, given to hospitality, apt to teach; (3) Not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre; but patient, not a brawler, not covetous; (4) One that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity; (5) (For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?) (6) Not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of the devil. (7) Moreover he must have a good report of them which are without; lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil. (8) Likewise must the deacons be grave, not doubletongued, not given to much wine, not greedy of filthy lucre; (9) Holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience. (10) And let these also first be proved; then let them use the office of a deacon, being found blameless. (11) Even so must their wives be grave, not slanderers, sober, faithful in all things. (12) Let the deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well. (13) For they that have used the office of a deacon well purchase to themselves a good degree, and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus. (14) These things write I unto thee, hoping to come unto thee shortly: (15) But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. (16) And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.

Related titles

Priests/Vicars

The Roman Catholic, Orthodox churches and some Anglican or Episcopal churches refer to their ordained clergy as priests and bishops. Minister is not a title used by the ordained clergy (e.g. priests) nor is it a form of address for them (see Catholic minister). The term rector (from the Latin word for ruler) or vicar may be used for priests in certain settings, especially in the Anglican and Episcopal traditions. A rector is considered higher in rank than a vicar but lower than a bishop. In the Roman Catholic tradition, the Pope is given the title Vicar of Christ.

Pastor

The term Pastor tends to be used in Lutheran, Baptist and Pentecostal churches. Pastor comes from the Latin word meaning shepherd and is a reference to Jesus' use of the title the Good Shepherd for himself. A person serving as a pastor will be assigned to a local church or congregation who may be referred to as his or her flock.

Clergyman/Clergywoman

The word clergy derives from the same English root as clerk and can be traced to the days when those in ordained ministry were among the only literate members of soceity. The term Clerk in Holy Orders is still the technical title for certain Christian clergy, and its usage is prevalent in ecclesiastical and Canon Law of some Christian denominations (particularly Anglican provinces in the United Kingdom). The word cleric is a common variation of clerk. Through common usage, the word has lost its associations with literacy and clerical work and is usually used as shorthand for any religious minister. Though Christian in origin, the terms can be applied to people in other religious traditions. For example, a rabbi can be referred to as a clergyman or clergywoman. Parson is a similar term often applied to ordained priests or ministers. The word is a variant on the English word person and refers to the person one would see in a community when any matters involving reading and/or writing came up.

Dominie, Dom, Don

- Dominie is a specific Scottish word, equivalent to the Dutch Dominee, both from the Latin domine (vocative case of Dominus 'Lord, Master'), only used for protestant clergy or for schoolmasters.
- However in various Romanesque languages, shortened forms of Dominus (Dom, Don) are commonly used for Catholic priests (sometimes also for lay notables as well).

Chaplain and Almoner, Padre

Chaplain as in English and/or Almoner (preferred in many other languages) or their equivalents refer to a Minister who has another type of pastoral 'target group' than a territorial parish congregation (or in addition to one), such as a military unit, school population, patients, etc. The Spanish Padre ('father') is informally used to address them, also in English.

Elder

Elders in Christianity are involved in the collective leadership of a local church or of a denomination.
- In Presbyterianism they are ordained but not clergy, taking on no special pre-nominal, but functioning as the ruling elders of the Kirk Session or Church Session superintending the members of their parish or congregation.
- In the Assemblies of God and the Metropolitan Community Church Elders are the most senior leaders serving, leading, and supervising the world-wide denomination. In the Metropolitan Community Church an Elder can be a lay person or clergy.

Forms of address

In the majority of churches ordained ministers are titled Reverend, however as above some use the term pastor and others do not use any specific form of address, in which case it would be Mr, Ms, Miss or Mrs as the case may be.

Anglican Churches

In Anglican Churches the form address depends on the office the person holds:
- A priest is referred to as Reverend or in High Church or Anglo-Catholic circles as Father;
- Bishops and archbishops are addressed as Your Grace or My Lord.

Roman Catholic Church

In the Roman Catholic Church the form address depends on the office the person holds:
- A priest is referred to as Reverend Father or Reverend Sir, or less formally as Father;
- A bishop is addressed as Your Grace;
- A Cardinal is addressed as Your Eminence;
- The Pope of the Roman Catholic Church can be addressed as Holy Father or Your Holiness.

Orthodox Churches

An Orthodox Church metropolitan is addressed as Your Eminence.

Advocate

:This article is about legal advocates. For political advocates see advocacy. An advocate is one who speaks on behalf of another, especially in a legal context. Implicit in the concept is the notion that the represented lacks the knowledge, skill, ability, or standing to speak for themselves. Common advocates include lawyers, solicitors and barristers.

Scotland

Advocates are counsel who are members of the Faculty of Advocates who are licensed to present cases in the Supreme Courts of Scotland (the Court of Session and High Court of Justiciary). Advocates wear wigs, white bow-ties, and gowns as dress in court. Advocates are members of and are regulated by the Faculty of Advocates. These are similar to "barristers" in England.

Faculty of Advocates

In Scotland, Advocates are regulated by the Faculty of Advocates in Edinburgh. The Faculty of Advocates has about 750 members, of whom about 460 are in private practice. About 75 are Queen's Counsel. The Faculty is headed by the Dean of the Faculty who, along with the Vice-Dean, Treasurer, Clerk are elected annually by secret ballot. The Faculty has a service company, Faculty Services Ltd, to which almost all advocates belong and which organises the stables and fee collection. This gives a guarantee to all newly-called advocates of a place. There is an agreement with the Law Society of Scotland, which is the professional body for Scottish solicitors, about the payment of fees, as traditionally advocates were not permitted to sue for their fees because these were honoraria.

Independent Working

Advocates do not operate in chambers; they are entirely independent, although organised in eleven 'stables' for administrative purposes, and work out of the Advocates Library in Parliament House where the Scottish supreme courts (the Court of Session and the High Court of Justiciary) are situated, in a similar way to barristers in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. They do not act directly for members of the public, taking instructions from a solicitor, a non-Scottish lawyer, or another professional.

Becoming an Advocate

The process of becoming an Advocate is referred to as devilling. All Intrants will hold an LL.B. (Bachelor of Laws) and the Diploma in Legal Practice qualifying them as solicitors or be members of the Bar in another common law jurisdiction.

Devilling

Devilling, as the period of pupillage or training to become an advocate is generally known, lasts between eight and nine months, and comprises a mix of skills training courses and time spent working with a devilmaster. The compulsory skills training courses, are spread across the devilling period and last for about ten weeks in total. For the balance of the period of devilling, devils work closely with their devilmasters. All devils have a principal devilmaster who is a practising member of the junior bar of at least seven years standing, and working primarily in civil practice. Devils will also spend part of the time with another devilmaster practising in the criminal courts, and many devils spend a short period of time with a third devilmaster working in a different aspect of civil work from his or her principal devilmaster. All devils and devilmasters are issued with the current edition of the Faculty's Devil's Handbook. In order to take a devil, a devilmaster must be approved by the Dean of Faculty. The Clerk of Faculty maintains a list of approved devilmasters, who may be contacted by email or via the Clerk's office. Devils are expected to attend court with their devilmasters, and to attend consultations with solicitors instructing their devilmaster and with the solicitors' clients. A devil will also discuss the preparation and presentation of the cases in which their devilmaster is involved and will be required to draft written pleadings and opinions. During the period of devilling, devils also carry out work for the Free Representation Unit. This is part of the Faculty's commitment to providing access to justice for everyone. The Free Representation Unit enables devils to provide advice and representation to clients of Citizens Advice Bureau from across Scotland.

Admission to the Faculty of Advocates

At the end of the devilling period, a devil's admission to the Faculty is dependent on certification by his or her principal devilmaster that the devil is a fit and proper person to be an advocate, and that the devil has been involved in a wide range of work in the course of his or her devilling. A devil's competence in a number of aspects of written and oral advocacy is assessed during devilling, and if a devil is assessed as not to be competent, he or she will not be admitted to the Faculty. Further details of this process can be found in the assessment section.

Recent Developments

In recent years, more Advocates have come to the Scottish Bar after some time as solicitors, but it is possible to qualify with a law degree, after a year's traineeship in a solicitor's office and almost a year as a 'devil', or apprentice advocate. There are exceptions for lawyers who are qualified in other European jurisdictions, but all must take the training course as devils. Every year, a number of young European lawyers have a placement with advocates under the European Young Lawyers Scheme organised by the British Council. They are known as 'Eurodevils' in distinction to the Scottish 'devils'.

Professional Development

Since the Faculty began to offer skills training to devils and members in 1994, the programme, particularly for devils has developed extensively and continues to evolve, and is now recognised as one of the best in the world. Members of Faculty have regularly travelled to the United States, Australia, South Africa, England and Ireland to take part in advocacy training events, while the Faculty has welcomed leading advocacy instructors from those countries to Scotland. Every member admitted to the Faculty since 1995 has undertaken some form of skills training. In addition periodic skills workshops are arranged for practising members, so that the majority of the practising Bar has now undertaken skills training. The Faculty's training programme is built on the experience and commitment of practising members who have been trained as skills instructors, both in Scotland and in other places. Over the life of the programme so far more than 60 members have been trained as instructors, and they give freely of their time and experience to train new generations of advocates. Lawyers in other EU states (but not England and Wales) may have limited rights of audience in the Scottish supreme courts if they appear with an advocate, and a few solicitors known as 'solicitor-advocates' have rights of audience, but for practical purposes advocates have almost exclusive rights of audience.

Some Well-Known Advocates

Some well known Scottish advocates are John Balfour, Alexander Boswell, James Boswell, David Dalrymple, Henry Home and Alexander Wedderburn.

Advocates in Other Jurisdictions

In England and Wales Advocates were counsel in the ecclesiastical courts.

External links

- [http://www.advocates.org.uk - The Faculty of Advocates official website]
- [http://www.childadvocate.net/ The Child Advocate Network] Category:Legal occupations Category:Scottish law Category:Professions

Americas

The Americas refers to the American landmass, comprised of the entirety of the North American and South American continents and associated lands. The term is a relatively recent and less ambiguous alternative to the name America, which may refer to either the whole American landmass or the United States of America. The former, and original, usage is now often considered archaic in English-speaking nations, but still in use in other areas, in which the Americas is often considered to form a single continent, and therefore called America (singular). An analogous term to America or (the) America(s) as used to mean a "twin (or double) continent" is the use of Eurasia.

Peoples of the Americas

Names

Main article: Use of the word American Many people living in the Americas refer to themselves as American. Meanwhile, in most of the English-speaking world (e.g., Canada), this will only refer to a citizen of the United States of America.

Ethnology

The American population is made up of the descendents of three large ethnic groups and their combinations: the native inhabitants of the Americas, being "Indians" (or "Native Americans" or "Amerindians"), Eskimos, and Aleuts; Europeans (of mainly Spanish, British, Irish, Portuguese, French, Italian, German and Dutch, origin); and black Africans. There are also more recent immigrants, such as from the Balkan, Central Europe and Central and Eastern Asia. The majority of the American people live in Latin America. Most of Latin America is Spanish-speaking, with Portuguese-speaking Brazil as the major exception. Canada and the United States are linguistically, culturally and economically quite different from Latin America, with the whites being more predominantly of North European ancestry. As part of the more prosperous northern world, the United States especially has long overshadowed and attempted to manipulate southern Latin America, most notably during the Cold War.

Languages

Various languages, both European and native, are spoken in America. Primary:
- - spoken by approximately 350 million people in many nations, regions, islands, and communities throughout the continent.
- - spoken by approximately 300 million in the United States, Canada, Belize and islands of the Caribbean
- - spoken by approximately 185 million in Brazil
- - spoken by approximately 7 million in Québec and 2 million in the rest of Canada; in the Caribbean, especially in Haiti; and in French Guiana.
- (avañe'ẽ) - native language spoken by approximately 6 million people in Paraguay, and regions of Argentina, Bolivia and Brazil.
- Mapudungun (or Mapuche) - native language spoken by approximately 440,000 people in Chile and Argentina. Others:
- Aymará - native language spoken in the Andes, especially in Bolivia.
- - spoken in the Netherlands Antilles, Aruba, and Suriname
- Quiché and other Maya languages - native languages spoken in Guatemala and southern Mexico.
- Quechua - native language spoken in Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, and northern Chile and Argentina.
- - creole language, based in French and various African languages, spoken by 7.8 million in Haiti.
- Nahuatl - native language of central Mexico with 1.5 million speakers Most of the non-native languages have, to different degrees, evolved differently from the mother country, but are usually still mutually intelligible. Some have combined though, which has even resulted in completely new languages, such as Papiamentu, which is a combination of Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch (representing the respective colonisers), native Arawak, various African languages and, more recently, English. Because of immigration, there are many communities where other languages are spoken from all parts of the world, especially in the United States and Canada, two important destinations for immigrants.

Naming of America

African languages The earliest known use of the name America for the continents of the Americas dates from 1507. It appears on a globe and a large map created by the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller in Saint-Dié-des-Vosges. An accompanying book, Cosmographiae Introductio, explains that the name was derived from the Latinized version of the explorer Amerigo Vespucci's name, Americus Vespucius, in its feminine form, America, as the other continents all have Latin feminine names. However, as Dr. Basil Cottle (Author, Dictionary of Surnames, 1967) points out, new countries or continents are never named after a person's first name, always after their second name. Thus, America should really have become Vespucci Land or Vespuccia if the Italian explorer really gave his name to the newly discovered continent. Christopher Columbus, who had first brought the continents' existence to the attention of Renaissance era voyagers, had died in 1506 (believing, to the end, that he'd discovered and conquered part of India) and could not protest Waldseemüller's decision. A few alternative theories regarding the continents' naming have been proposed, but none of them have any widespread acceptance. One alternative first proposed by a Bristol antiquary and naturalist, Alfred Hudd, was that America is derived from Richard Amerike, a merchant from Bristol, who is believed to have financed John Cabot's voyage of discovery from England to Newfoundland in 1497. Supposedly, Bristol fishermen had been visiting the coast of North America for at least a century before Columbus' voyage and Waldseemüller's maps are alleged to incorporate information from the early English journeys to North America. The theory holds that a variant of Amerike's name appeared on an early English map (of which however no copies survive) and that this was the true inspiration for Waldseemüller. Another theory, first advanced by Jules Marcou in 1875 and later recounted by novelist Jan Carew, is that the name America derives from the district of Amerrique in Nicaragua. The gold-rich district of Amerrique was purportedly visited by both Vespucci and Columbus, for whom the name became synonymous with gold. According to Marcou, Vespucci later applied the name to the New World, and even changed the spelling of his own name from Alberigo to Amerigo to reflect the importance of the discovery. Vespucci's role in the naming issue, like his exploratory activity, is unclear. Some sources say that he was unaware of the widespread use of his name to refer to the new landmass. Others hold that he promulgated a story that he had made a secret voyage westward and sighted land in 1491, a year before Columbus. If he did indeed make such claims, they backfired, and only served to prolong the ongoing debate on whether the "Indies" were really a new land, or just an extension of Asia.

External links

- [http://www.uhmc.sunysb.edu/surgery/america.html The Naming of America]
- [http://texashistory.unt.edu/permalink/meta-pth-2422 America noviter delineata / M. Merian, fecit.] 1633 Map of North and South America, hosted by the Portal to Texas History. Category:Americas zh-min-nan:Bí-chiu ko:아메리카 ja:アメリカ州 simple:The Americas th:ทวีปอเมริกา

Suffolk

Suffolk (pronounced SUF-f'k) is a large traditional and administrative county in the East Anglia region of eastern England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich, at and other important towns are Lowestoft and Bury St Edmunds. The county is low-lying with few hills, and is largely wetland habitat and arable land. The Suffolk Broads area is part of The Broads National Park, and the Suffolk Coast and Heaths is an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

History

Suffolk was part of the kingdom of East Anglia which was settled by the Angles in the 5th century. In 1974, Suffolk was split into five administrative districts, Suffolk Coastal, West Suffolk, Babergh, Forest Heath and Mid Suffolk with Suffolk Coastal's council based in Woodbridge, Babergh's in Hadleigh, Mid-Suffolk's in Needham Market, Forest Heath's in Mildenhall and West Suffolk's in Bury St Edmunds. There is also Waveney (with its council based in Lowestoft) and Ipswich Borough which is the administrative council controlling the county town.

Geology, landscape and ecology

Much of Suffolk is low-lying on Eocene sand and clays. These rocks are relatively unresistant and on the coast are eroded rapidly. Coastal defences have been used to protect several towns, but several cliff-top houses have been lost to coastal erosion in the past. The west of the county lies on more resistant Cretaceous Chalk. This chalk is the north-eastern extreme of the Southern England Chalk Formation that stretches from Dorset in the south west to Dover in the south east. The Chalk is less easily eroded so forms the only significant hills in the county. The highest point of the county is Great Wood Hill, the highest point of the Newmarket Ridge, near the village of Rede which reaches 128m (420ft).

Demographics

The Census 2001 Suffolk recorded a population of 668,548. Between 1981 and 2001 the population of the county grew by 13%, with the district of Mid Suffolk growing fastest at 25%. The population growth is due largely to migration rather than natural increase. There is a very low population between the ages of 15 and 29 as the county has few large towns and universities, though the 15 to 29 population in Ipswich is average. There is a larger population over the age of 35, and a larger than average retired population.

Cities, towns and villages

The agreed upon number of established communities in Suffolk varies greatly because of the large number of the all but non-existent hamlets which may consist of just a single farm and a deconsecrated church: remnants of wealthy communities, some dating back to the early days of the Christian era. Suffolk encompasses one of the most ancient regions of the UK: A monastery in Bury St. Edmunds founded in 630AD, plotting of the Magna Carta in 1215; the oldest documented structural element of a still inhabited dwelling in Britain found in Clare. This comparatively recent evidence is but a coda to the widespread settlement in the region shown by earl