4: The Modern Church Period

A. Thomas a KempisB. C.S. LewisC. Philip YanceyD. Max Lucado

A. If there is a watch, there must be a watchmaker

B. If there is an egg, there must be an eggbeater

C. If there is an egg, there must be a henD. If there is a digestive system, food must

exist

Early Church History – up to 500/600ADMedieval Church History – up to 1500 ADReformation Church History – 1500-1650ADModern Church History – 1650 onwardsThese are not simply dates chosen at random.

They represent changes of world-view in society & Church.

What is the Church?Where/who is the authority?

Monarchs were no longer unchallengedKings could be guilty of treasonScripture was a new authority: privately read

and interpretedPopes and bishops could be defiedIndividuals had much greater powerTreaty of Westphalia ended the 30 Years’ War

with a grudging acceptance of religious plurality.

The Church-State alliance was effectively dead

Having challenged both governmental & church authorities, other authorities also began to be questioned, including scripture.

Beginning around 1700, this movement demonstrated abiding confidence in the power of human reason

Reason was seen as the key to continual progress in all areas and became the measure of all things, including religious; “unreasonable” things were discarded

Science flourished in this environment, but science is based on the repeatable and the observable. Religious issues were forced into this mould

The Age of Reason did not immediately jettison religious faith; many of the leading scientists were Christians

But the “God of Reason” did gradually morph into something different from the God of the Bible

Deism saw God as Creator and all-powerful, but remote. A deity who, like a clockmaker, set the universe in order with all its governing principles, and then just observed, interacting little with his creation

If God is remote, then there’s not much point bothering about him, or the afterlife. So focus on this life

Worldly happiness for the majority became more important

The Church was seen as a source of repression, especially during the French Revolution because the Church was allied with the rich and powerful

French declaration of the Rights of Man established basic rights we would agree with

Deism crept into the churches and religion became dry and formal

Pietism was a reaction against this which wanted a religion of the heart, Biblical and evangelistic

Conversion began to be emphasisedResonated with many themes of Puritanism,

but tended to make more place for the laityMade a decided place for the emotions in

religion and decidedly distrusted the intellect

Early 18th century was a spiritually dry time in both America and England, except for Pietist and Puritan circles

In 1730s Jonathan Edwards believed and preached for revival in Northampton. In 1734, he began seeing some fruit, which came to full bloom with the preaching of George Whitfield in 1740

The focus of preaching tended to be to get people to see the gulf between their sinfulness and God’s holiness

Think about the characteristics of the sermons you hear each week – what are they? What do you think are characteristics of good preaching?

Most of these started with Whitfield who had a background in drama: changing tone, personal address, humour, 1st & 2nd person, intimacy with God, call for personal change

Personal decision was in the foreground; listeners were expected to do something

After the 1st Great Awakening, America’s attention was diverted by the American Revolution and its break with England

Also influenced by Whitfield, John Wesley began the Methodists as part of the Anglican Church

His ministry stretched through most of the 18th century

Also emphasising conversion, Methodism possessed an organisation that other groups lacked

Although it split into Calvinist & Arminian groups, it revitalised Anglicanism until it split away in the late 18th century

Many unusual manifestations in their meetings

Not to be confused with “evangelism”Bebbington’s quadrilateral definition:ConversionistActivistBiblicistCrucicentristIn contrast to other Christian groups which

may be sacramental, contemplative, mystical, incarnational, liberal

The Age of Reason brought great scientific advances and led to the Industrial Revolution

Cities grew, rural populations declined, poverty and health issues wracked the urban poor who were dislocated from support base

This worsened into the 19th century. Great fortunes were built on slavery and child labour. The era of Dickens

This was also the era of Empire and colonisation

A movement that has profoundly affected the modern world. Seeing Rationalism as reductionistic, Romanticism emphasised feelings, subjectivity and spontaneity; it was comfortable with mystery

Affected all aspects of culture and societyObjectivity was increasingly seen as

impossible; the Enlightenment myth of the detached observer was exposed

Individual perception was valued; diversity was seen as inevitable

Keats quote: truth & beautyMarxist socialism (everything is explained by

economics)Darwinism (everything is explained by

survival of the fittest)Freud (everything is explained by the

subconscious mind)The West encountered a bewildering variety

of cultures and religions as empires and trade expanded

Evangelicalism made huge gains during the 19th century: the 2nd Great Awakening in U.S. almost rolled into the 3rd Great Awakening on both sides of the Atlantic

Evangelicals became very involved in social issues, including slavery

Liberal theology arose in the wake of Romanticism

The Catholics had a distinct response, cf. Vatican I

With everything else happening in this crowded century, the 19th was also known for its missionary outreach

William Carey: Calvinist “father of modern missions” and his “5 points”

Protestants finally entered the field seriouslyFailure to distinguish between culture &

Christianity

18th century England: 160 capital crimes. 100,000 Londoners lived off crime. Thousands were on prison hulks in the Thames.

First Fleet arrived in 1788 with 11 ships and 1300 people

25% were Catholics, but no provision made for them; the only chaplain, Richard Johnson, was Anglican

During the next 80 years, 160,000 convicts arrivedAverage age: men 25, women 23. Ratio 5:1The misadventures of Jeremiah O’Flynn

1901 Charles Parham, Topeka & Agnes Ozman

William Seymour & the call to Los Angeles1906 Azusa Street begins1906-14 the Azusa Street diasporaControversy: sanctification before the Spirit?Controversy: Oneness movement1914 Assemblies of God begins

Began in 1959 when Dennis Bennett, an Episcopalian minister began to speak with tongues. Early 1960, he shared this with his Californian congregation.

Many established congregations considered Pentecostalism the “lunatic fringe”

One key factor was that Bennett was an ordained minister in an established denomination who shared his experience openly

Another was that Time and Newsweek both ran stories on this, and his subsequent deposition from his church

Bennett took on another church in Seattle and remained in ministry until his death in 1991

A movement of the Spirit through people in established denominations, releasing all the gifts of the Spirit

All denominations were affected, including the Roman Catholics (surprising many!)

These denominations had very different theologies to most Pentecostals, and were generally not open to “initial evidence”

The movement was both an affirmation and a challenge to classical Pentecostalism

The term was first used in 1963 to distinguish it from Pentecostalism

Huge cultural and sociological changes post World War II in the West meant a new openness to “spirituality” in the widest sense: Jesus people, new age, eastern religions

This coincided not only with the charismatic movement which tended to have an ecumenical impact, but also with Vatican II and renewal in the Catholic Church

While religious belief gained renewed respect, the aversion to overarching Truth claims remained (a legacy of existentialism)

Politics and religion: always on the front page; often together

More similar to Early Church than either of the other two periods due to religious diversity

The intolerance of tolerance: does tolerance require that all religious opinions are of equal value?

Do cultural sensitivities demand that we reduce Jesus Christ to one of “many ways” to God?