Church History: American Restoration Movement

Church History: American Restoration Movement

Surveying 1500 YearsMarch 5, 2014

Rome

• Introduction: understand the development of thought patterns as background for understanding the European Reformation

• Roman thinking was shaped by Greek thinking• The absolute, universal value system of the

Christians was a threat• Constantine, 313 A.D., 381 A.D.• Rome fell because it lacked a sufficient base upon

which to build society

Middle Ages• ~500 A.D. to 1400 A.D.• Social, political and intellectual turmoil• Developing concept of spirituality set aside realism• Distortions of biblical teaching, increasing humanistic

elements• Mixing of the secular and the Christian, integration of church

and state• Questions of authority (state, church, Bible)• Church-state conflicts led to limited, responsible government• Syncretism of thought

Renaissance

• Renaissance, “rebirth,” reached height in 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries, but roots are earlier

• Philosophical changes with Aquinas (b. 1225)• Plato and Aristotle contrasted– Plato: absolutes-ideals, separated from the real• Higher, God, grace, unseen, unity of universals

– Aristotle: real-particulars, individual• Lower, created, natural, visible, diversity

• Faith in man as capable of solving everything

Summary of Unresolved Questions• The possibility of an absolute, objective value system not based on

the ability to think, observe, or experience• The relationship between church and state• The separation or integration of the spiritual (including the Bible)

and the secular (including humanistic elements)• The nature of the authority of the Bible (must it be mediated?

through the church, or through human thought and analysis?)• The alliance or conflict between philosophy and theology• The church was slow to study itself and develop an ecclesiology• The capacity or incapacity of humankind, and the related question

of whether or to what extent human being participate or cooperate in salvation.

Church History: American Restoration Movement

The European Reformation: A SurveyMarch 12, 2014

Summary of Unresolved Questions• The possibility of an absolute, objective value system not based on

the ability to think, observe, or experience• The relationship between church and state• The separation or integration of the spiritual (including the Bible)

and the secular (including humanistic elements)• The nature of the authority of the Bible (must it be mediated?

through the church, or through human thought and analysis?)• The alliance or conflict between philosophy and theology• The church was slow to study itself and develop an ecclesiology• The capacity or incapacity of humankind, and the related question

of whether or to what extent human being participate or cooperate in salvation.

Reformation

• Renaissance OR Reformation? Two answers to same problem—capable or incapable man?

• Contributions of Wycliffe, Huss, Luther• Positives of the Reformation

– Bible has authority– Cannot begin with or depend on mankind– Some awareness of biblical distortions

• Negatives of the Reformation• Reformation branches: Luther, Calvin (Zwingli, Knox),

Anglicans, Radical-Anabaptists, Spiritualists)

Politics

• Return to Bible brought political freedom• A moral base provided freedom without chaos• Government is not arbitrary– Samuel Rutherford, Lex Rex– John Witherspoon– John Locke– Society is judged by an external, objective

standard

Enlightenment

• Merriam-Webster: “a movement of the 18th century that stressed the belief that science and logic give people more knowledge and understanding than tradition and religion”

Church History: American Restoration Movement

Early U.S. church historyEarly Restoration longings and efforts

March 26, 2014

Summary of Unresolved Questions• The possibility of an absolute, objective value system not based on

the ability to think, observe, or experience• The relationship between church and state• The separation or integration of the spiritual (including the Bible)

and the secular (including humanistic elements)• The nature of the authority of the Bible (must it be mediated?

through the church, or through human thought and analysis?)• The alliance or conflict between philosophy and theology• The church was slow to study itself and develop an ecclesiology• The capacity or incapacity of humankind, and the related question

of whether or to what extent human being participate or cooperate in salvation.

The Early American Context

• An English settlement• Predominantly Protestant• Transplanted churches• Increasing importance of the laity• Breakdown of parish system• Increasing focus on preaching

The Great Awakening

• Locally autonomous churches• Revivalism naturally conflicts with Calvinism• Head/heart: changed beliefs or changed lives• Challenges to authority• Unity valued—distinctions renounced

Second Great Awakening

• “Civic” religion• Great waves of revivals• The theological dividing point• Presbyterian secessions