Abecedarian

Abecedarian

Abecedarians were a 16th century German sect of Anabaptists who effected an absolute disdain for all human knowledge, contending that God would enlighten his elect from within themselves, giving them knowledge of necessary truths by visions and ecstasies, with which human learning would interfere..

They rejected every other means of instruction, and claimed that to be saved one must even be ignorant of the first letters of the alphabet; whence their name, A-B-C-dariansfact|date=September 2008. They also considered the study of theology as a species of idolatry, and regarded learned men who did any preaching as falsifiers of God's word.

Nicholas Storch led this sect, preaching that the teaching of the Holy Spirit was all that was necessary. Andreas Karlstadt adopted these views, abandoned his title of doctor and became a street porter.

Later uses

*University of North Carolina used the term to name a study of early childhood education.

In a 19th-century American one-room school, an abecedarian or a-b-c-darian was a student in the youngest group of scholars in the typical one-room school of 19th-century America, so-called because they were just learning their “a-b-cs.”

In his autobiographical reminiscences on his school days, Warren Burton recounted that he “was three years and a half old when I first entered the Old School-house as an abecedarian.” cite book
last =Burton
first =Warren
authorlink =
coauthors =
title =The District School As It Was, By One Who Went To It.
publisher =J. Orville Taylor
date =1838
location =New York
pages =p.5
url =http://books.google.com/books?id=4CcvFsc81fsC&printsec=frontcover&dq=warren+burton&lr=#PPA5,M1

Noah Webster’s early school dictionary contains the following entry for abecedarian: A-be-ce-da'-ri-an, n. One who teaches or is learning the alphabet. cite book
last Webster
first =Noah
authorlink =Noah Webster
coauthors =
title =A Dictionary for Primary Schools
publisher =F.J. Huntington
date =1838
location =New York
pages =p.7
url =http://books.google.com/books?id=RsURAAAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=noah+webster+dictionary&lr=#PPA7,M1

External links

* [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01035b.htm Catholic Encyclopedia]
* [http://www.fpg.unc.edu/~abc/ The Carolina Abecedarian Project]


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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Abecedarian — A be*ce*da ri*an, Abecedary A be*ce da*ry, a. Pertaining to, or formed by, the letters of the alphabet; alphabetic; hence, rudimentary. [1913 Webster] {Abecedarian psalms}, {hymns}, etc., compositions in which (like the 119th psalm in Hebrew)… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Abecedarian — A be*ce*da ri*an, n. [L. abecedarius. A word from the first four letters of the alphabet.] 1. One who is learning the alphabet; hence, a tyro. [1913 Webster] 2. One engaged in teaching the alphabet. Wood. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • abecedarian — index elementary, neophyte, rudimentary Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …   Law dictionary

  • abecedarian — [ā΄bē sē der′ē ən] n. [ML abecedarius < A, B, C, D] 1. a person learning the alphabet; beginning student 2. any beginner or novice adj. 1. of the alphabet 2. elementary …   English World dictionary

  • Abecedarian psalms — Abecedarian A be*ce*da ri*an, Abecedary A be*ce da*ry, a. Pertaining to, or formed by, the letters of the alphabet; alphabetic; hence, rudimentary. [1913 Webster] {Abecedarian psalms}, {hymns}, etc., compositions in which (like the 119th psalm in …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Abecedarian Early Intervention Project — The The Carolina Abecedarian Project was a controlled scientific experiment that was conducted in 1972 in North Carolina, United States, by the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute to study the potential benefits of early childhood… …   Wikipedia

  • Abecedarian Early Intervention Project — Das Abecedarian Early Intervention Project wurde 1972 in North Carolina, USA durch das Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute durchgeführt. Es sollte Kindern aus sozial schwachen Familien in ihrer Entwicklung fördern. Die Mehrheit der… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • abecedarian alphabetical — ordered ordered adj. 1. having or evincing a systematic arrangement; especially, having elements succeeding in order according to rule; as, an ordered sequence; an ordered pair. Opposite of {disordered} or {unordered}. [Narrower terms:… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • abecedarian — I. noun Etymology: Middle English abecedary, from Medieval Latin abecedarium alphabet, from Late Latin, neuter of abecedarius of the alphabet, from the letters a + b + c + d Date: 1603 one learning the rudiments of something (as the alphabet) II …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • abecedarian — /ay bee see dair ee euhn/, n. 1. a person who is learning the letters of the alphabet. 2. a beginner in any field of learning. adj. 3. of or pertaining to the alphabet. 4. arranged in alphabetical order. 5. rudimentary; elementary; primary. Also …   Universalium

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