Common antecedents of classic Evangelicalism include the Protestant Reformation, Continental Pietism, Puritan Calvinism, and Wesleyan Arminianism. The common commitments include the following: a shared authority – the Bible, a shared experience – conversion, a shared task – worldwide mission and evangelism, and a shared vision –…

Read more

I have posted an answer, but I couldn’t figure out how to delete this one that I had accidentally posted about the following question.

Due to Post-Civil War phenomena such as Darwinism, urbanization, and industrialization, Evangelicalism underwent many significant transformations. New Evangelicalism still has its foundations in the core beliefs of fundamentalism; however, there are several differences in the way that it reacts with culture. Fundamentalists often focus on…

Read more

Evangelicalism has mostly declined in North America since the 1960s, but it has increased around the world. Revivals have contributed to increases in Evangelical believers, but often apathy and the influence of secular culture has contributed to the decline in North America.

There is a new emphasis on the laity being able to engage in personal study of Scripture and understand mass because they translate the Bible from Latin into other languages that people can understand and conduct services in the vernacular languages as well.

The Council of Trent taught that anyone outside of the Catholic church could not be saved and were often referred to as heretics or schismatics. On the other hand, we see a drastic change at the Second Vatican Council where those outside of the Catholic church are viewed as “fellow laborers” and admitting that there is salvation for non-Catholics.

In the Council of Trent, the clergy was seen as responsible for the interpretation of Scripture. However, the Second Vatican Council led to mass being held in the vernacular language so that lay people could better engage in personal study of the Bible. The lay members were also encouraged to study the Scriptures both individually and communally.

Southern Baptists were aligned with Fundamentalism, while Congregationalists and Methodists aligned themselves with Modernism. The Northern Baptist Convention and the Presbyterians were caught in the middle. Within those caught in the middle, some were pro-Fundamentalism, while others were pro-Modernism. Many Fundamentalists withdrew…

Read more

Fundamentalists did not approve of the education systems that were in place in America. They were worried that their children would lose their faith if they attended a secular school. Modernists embraced the Social Gospel movement which addressed practical social issues in society (such as poverty and inequality) in addition to merely…

Read more

The Scopes Trial of 1925 was when John T. Scopes was put on trial for teaching the theory of evolution in his biology class instead of the theory of creation. It was considered a watershed because it represented the culture clash between traditional religious beliefs and modern thinking. It showcased the divisions between science, religion,…

Read more

Walter Rauschenbusch believed that Christians should focus on both the spiritual and social needs of individuals, not one or the other. He believed that the gospel affects not only the personal level of sin, but also a societal and structural level of evil. Rauschenbusch explained that often Christians would fall into one of two extreme camps,…

Read more

The secular response was the Progressive Movement which included political reforms to fight corruption, labor and living condition reforms for better housing situations, and investigative journalism called muckraking that exposed various social and political issues of that time period.

Liberal Protestants were often better at responding to…

Read more

Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution and the rise of liberalism posed intellectual challenges to the church in the late nineteenth century. Most Christians either fully accepted Darwin’s theories or fully rejected his claims.

Fundamentalism emerged as a result of nineteenth-century orthodoxy and Princeton theology.

It is based on 5 fundamentals: 1) inerrancy of Scripture, 2) the virgin birth of Christ,

3) substitutionary atonement, 4) physical resurrection of Jesus Christ, and 5) the miracle working power of our Lord. Fundamentalism is a broader movement,…

Read more

The Wesleyan doctrine that provided the impetus for the Holiness movement was also known as the “double cure” and it was both justification and sanctification. It led to other churches adopting this belief and then several “come-outers” that left the Methodist movement, such as the Church of the Nazarene and the Christian & Missionary Alliance.

Today Pentecostalism runs the risk of focusing too much on experiences and not on Scripture and sound doctrine. However, it reminds us of the importance of the Holy Spirit and how much we need His power and love to empower us in our ministry.

Early Pentecostals were not well-received because they often engaged in practices that other Christians were uncomfortable with such as holy laughter or speaking in tongues.

Today some people still see all Pentecostals as extremist, while others appreciate them and understand that there is a range of beliefs and practices within each Pentecostal church.

Some Lutheran theologians believed that Great Commission no longer applied to modern day disciples, but was only a command for the disciples in Jesus’ day. This meant that many churches did not feel responsible to send out missionaries and go to the ends of the earth to share the Good News with all people. Zinzendorf became a Bishop in the…

Read more

The Danish-Halle Mission was a Protestant mission society that sent out its first Protestant missionaries to India. There were also various British missions and various others after William Carey and Hudson Taylor. In 1865, China Inland Mission (now OMF) was added, then the Christian & Missionary Alliance was formed in 1887, Africa Inland…

Read more

Lutheran Pietists established some of the first Protestant missionary organizations including the Halle-Wittenberg network and these missionary institutions led to sending out missionaries to non-European countries around the world. There was also a significant theological focus on being born again and living out one’s faith in practical ways of…

Read more

Both Continental Pietism and early Methodism share a belief in experiential faith, place a high emphasis on holy living and sanctification, use the small group model for Bible studies, had a passion for missions and reaching out to the poor and uneducated, and agreed that the Bible is the foundation for all theological beliefs. Although…

Read more

Continental Pietism led to a rebirthed version of Lutheranism. Methodism was the result of a renewal of Anglicanism. After the Wesleyan revival, Anglicanism was revitalized, and Methodism became a distinct denomination. Revivalism renewed American Puritanism and led to four great awakenings, which included the ministry of Billy Graham, Dwight…

Read more

The Puritan pursuit was successful in some ways, such as seeing an increase in Baptists and congregational independency. However, there was also a lot of chaos in government and church life. There was a new Anglicanism that formed. Presbyterians formed an alliance with Catholics and Anglicans to restore monarchy.

Henry VIII’s beliefs were very traditionally Catholic, so he was not committed to the reformation of the English church. We can see those views clearly reflected in his Six Articles of 1539 that include transubstantiation and confession to a priest. Although Henry VIII had very Catholic beliefs, he placed his son, Edward VI, under Protestant…

Read more

Luther and Zwingli disagreed over the nature of communion. Luther did not believe in transubstantiation (where the bread and wine completely transform into Christ’s body and blood) like many Catholics do. Rather, he believed in consubstantiation – that the bread and wine co-exist with Christ’s body and blood. Zwingli did not believe in…

Read more

John Calvin’s “Ecclesiastical Ordinances” outlined a four-fold ministry: 1) worship, 2) education, 3) purity, and 4) works of love and mercy. The order of ministers was closely linked to each of the above aspects of ministry. First of all, the pastor was to lead in worship, the Bible and sacraments. Secondly, the doctors lead the education in…

Read more

Individualism is a very difficult issue to overcome because it is so deeply ingrained into Western culture that many people don’t even realize how private they have made their faith and allowed it to hinder community within the body of Christ. It takes a lot to truly let other believers see your real genuine struggles and admit that you need…

Read more

The three great theological principles of the Protestant Reformation are as follows: 1) Justification by faith, 2) The authority of Scripture, and 3) The priesthood of all believers.

Justification by faith means that salvation comes from faith in Jesus only, not based on a person’s good works. Catholic teaching argues that your good deeds must…

Read more

Martin Luther saw how selling indulgences had led to people buying indulgences for sins they hadn’t yet committed, but anticipated committing, and realized that people were abusing the forgiveness that indulgences offered. Luther’s main focus in his 95 Theses was that “penance implies true repentance.” The response was many intense…

Read more

It is important to understand that church history is a blend between good and bad events so that we can learn from past mistakes as well as rejoice in past victories. Many people fall into a trap of either focusing only on the success of believers and churches over the years, while others tend to concentrate only on the failures and also…

Read more

The Inquisition came into being because there was a desire to combat heretical groups such as the Albigensians and the Waldensians. The Inquisitors wanted to get rid of any beliefs that were considered heresy and a threat to mainline Christianity. If people confessed right away, they often didn’t face severe consequences. However, if a person…

Read more

The justification of Christian orthodoxy to suppress the heterodox religious communities was that they wanted to keep the purity of the mainline church and eliminate any heretical teaching.

Montanists (2nd Century)

The Montanists teachings came from Montanus and stressed the prophetic office and recreate a faith as in Bible times. Montanist teaching emphasized holy living which brought uneasiness to other believers that had become lax in their lifestyle. Other Christians were threatened by prophecy, speaking in tongues, and…

Read more

Christian scholasticism is the belief that one knows God primarily through logical reasoning and theological understanding rather than emotional encounters. The scholastic method generally has three steps: 1) Begin with a disputed question, 2) Suggest and evaluate alternatives, 3) Propose a solution. Scholasticism is rooted in St. Augustine’s…

Read more

Christian mysticism is the belief that the primary way to know God is through direct awareness or intuition of the soul coming into direct contact with the divine. It is often less focused on the mind places more emphasis on directly encountering Jesus experientially. The mystic path has three main parts: 1) Purgation (self-knowledge): this…

Read more

1) St. Augustine of Hippo: His main focus was on the intellectual side of mysticism. Augustine believed there were seven main steps in encountering God.

2) Gregory the Great: He believed that there needed to be a balance between the head and the heart, so his approach was not merely intellectual, but also emotional and used a…

Read more

The main trigger for the Crusades was the successful spread of Islam and a desire to engage in Holy Wars to take back the holy land from the Muslims.

Emperor Alexius and other ambassadors requested military aid so Pope Urban II offered an indulgence and full forgiveness of their sins if the soldiers would join his cause. He also hinted at…

Read more

Some people died fighting for the right to have Christian art and icons used in worship.

Today we are able to have freedom to use icons in worship if we so choose.

The main issue was whether or not icons were idolatrous or helpful in worship. The Seventh Ecumenical Council rejected iconoclasm on the basis that using icons would lead to worshipping the image rather than God Himself.

Manichaeism seemed to be a simple solution to Augustine’s main issues, but there were always questions that he couldn’t find answers to within the belief system. Therefore Augustine deemed it inadequate and ultimately chose to believe in God’s sovereign grace through faith as the path to salvation.

Augustine loved the pleasures of life (he had many struggles with sexual sin, even having a child with a mistress out of wedlock), yet he also desired to learn and pursue wisdom and truth.

The lure to sin and do what was forbidden held him back from converting to Christianity and fully surrendering to Jesus. He found an initial solution…

Read more

There were both negative and positive consequences. Complacency was one the negative results because with Christianity becoming the state religion, it was more advantageous to identify as a Christian, even if the person was not overly devout. However, positive changes include outlawing crucifixion, less heathen worship took place, slavery was…

Read more

Christians were seen as a threat to Rome, so they often were treated as enemies. One of the reasons Christians were perceived to be a threat was due to their disregard for politics and the monotheistic worship that clashed with the polytheistic worship of many Roman citizens. Many jobs were based on idolatrous practices, so when more…

Read more

Generally, Rome’s policy was to be tolerant of other religions unless they interfered with the state. However, Christianity was seen as a threat and even a conspiracy, so many believers faced persecution.

In the fifth century, infant baptism became very popular, so separate services would not have been practical as there weren’t enough adult learners to make it worthwhile to have services for the baby Christians and the mature Christians. Usually the services separated church members from non-church members or spiritual versus carnal Christians.

The purpose of discipline was not only to keep purity within the church, but to restore the person who had sinned. Penance allowed the offender to make things right by going through 4 stages, often over 3 or 4 years. Stage 1: Weepers – the person would ask for forgiveness and restoration by prostrating themselves in front of the church door…

Read more

The early church had gone from being simple, fluid, and organic to becoming a rigid, structured organization. The Roman government evolved to take on the hierarchal nature of the church.

The early church endured a lot of persecution, so their leadership style naturally was much more fluid and the church was more of an organism rather than an organization. When Constantine made Christianity the official religion of the state, the church became much more structured and hierarchal.

The Pharisees insisted that Gentiles must be circumcised in order to be saved. This led to the elders and apostles meeting together and engaging in a long discussion. Peter reminded his audience that everyone is saved as a result of grace and putting their faith in Jesus, not due to circumcision or good works. Paul and Barnabas also…

Read more

When Paul and Barnabas were in Antioch, some men from Judea taught the believers that you must be circumcised to be saved because the law of Moses required it. But Paul and Barnabas disagreed with them strongly. This led to the convening of the Jerusalem Council.