- Abecedarian
Abecedarians were a
16th century German sect ofAnabaptists who effected an absolute disdain for all human knowledge, contending thatGod 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 oftheology as a species ofidolatry , and regarded learned men who did any preaching as falsifiers of God's word.Nicholas Storch led this sect, preaching that the teaching of theHoly 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 ora-b-c-darian was a student in the youngest group of scholars in the typicalone-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,M1Noah 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,M1External links
* [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01035b.htm Catholic Encyclopedia]
* [http://www.fpg.unc.edu/~abc/ The Carolina Abecedarian Project]
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