Final Review Semester 2 Age of Progress I American, French, and Industrial Revolutions, Darwin Hee hee that rhymes Deism Ancient philosophy revived during the age of Reason Emphasizes reason over revelation in religious matters 1. There is one supreme God 2. That He is chiefly to be worshipped 3. Piety and virtue are the principal parts of His worship 4. We must repent of our sins; if we do God will pardon them 5. There are rewards for good men and punishments for bad men, both here and hereafter Deism Deism competed with Christianity (primarily Anglican) as the primary religion of the American founding fathers The two most notable Deists were Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson Franklin tried to live a life of self- improvement, attempting to keep 13 virtues Jefferson in trying to unite Christian morality with Deism consolidated and rewrote the gospels leaving out miracles Deism foreshadows modern agnosticism Post Revolutionary Churches Along with the revolution came a cessation of revival in American churches Post war USA along with religious freedom left many unchurched peoples Separation of church and state provided a completely new take on church membership no longer requiring obedience to God/State Older and more traditional churches diminished with newer churches flourishing Baptists and Methodists in particular grew rapidly Post Revolutionary Churches Anglicanism suffered being associated with England most bishops left during the war This removed much Anglican infrastructure used by the Methodists leaving greater room for their split with the Anglican church Methodism had continued to grow in England under Wesley, now it was ready and able to exert influence in the USA Baptists emphasized evangelism resulting in popularity and local familiarity Baptists multiplied, especially in the South 1
Post Revolutionary Churches Though originally oppressed, the Roman Catholic faction also began to grow, but slowly and under suspicion New England s s Congregationalism began to dissolve under various doctrinal inconsistencies, resulting in heresy The Quakers did their thing not changing Shortly after the post war revival there was still about a 50/50 split between a Christian and De-Christianized population Unitarianism Grew out of the Congregational heresies of the New Lights Emphasized the Psilianthropic and Socinianist view of Christology, that Christ was merely a man, albeit a special one In many ways a modern revival of Arianism Unitarianism follows the general pattern of Arminianism -> > Arianism -> > Anti-Tritheism -> > Rationalism -> > Modernism In the post revolutionary period it reached rationalism by combining with Emerson s Transcendentalism French Revolution Began under the influence of Age of Reason philosophy and out of involvement in the successful American Revolution The desire for freedom and democracy was strong in France The revolt began on July 11, 1789 with the storming of the Bastille officially beginning the Age of Progress Revolution began under the cry of Liberté, égalité,, fraternité,, ou la mort!! Liberty, Equality, Fraternity, or Death! French Revolution The French Revolution was based primarily on Rationalist/Deist thought without the mitigating Christian influence of America France had previously quashed most Protestantism and during the revolution began to eliminate Roman Catholicism The RCC was the largest landowner in France and extracted a tithe from it The French eliminated the tithe, confiscated church property, destroyed monasteries, and declared the Church under French control French Revolution The De-Christianization of France also included an attempt to replace Christian worship with the Cult of the Supreme Being The Revolution took many stages ending with the Jacobins in power initiating the Reign of Terror They executed any counter-revolutionaries revolutionaries or not revolutionary enough revolutionaries It all collapsed and Napoleon took over Lack of Christian influence and intervention by European powers were the primary causes of the downfall of the Revolution Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin, born in England on Feb. 12, 1809 the 5 th of 6 children His father was a doctor and wanted him to be one as well, He studied medicine but was appalled at the brutality of surgery Learned taxidermy and began to study nature His father wanting him to have a good job then enrolled him in Cambridge so that he could become an Anglican priest Darwin got into the Cambridge Beetle Craze 2
Charles Darwin Darwin did well in his studies, particularly in science and theology After graduating 10 th /178 he balked at becoming a clergyman and instead embarked on a 5 year sea voyage He sailed on the Beagle visiting many lands and gathering much information on various species and creatures During the voyage he met several Native American missionaries, after which he was convinced that racism was wrong Charles Darwin He grew ill during the voyage and would deal with the illness for the rest of his life Returned to England and began propagating his new theories with much success During one of his recovery periods in the country he fell in love with his cousin Mary After debating the merits he eventually proposed and they were Married in an Anglican/Unitarian ceremony Darwin s s theory of evolution became popular as well as popularly contested Charles Darwin Darwin s s observations of natural selection and micro-evolution caused a great stir The religious implications of evolutionary theory were immediately understood and debated His daughter Annie died in 1851 removing Darwin s s belief in a beneficent God Darwin worked until he grew ill and died in 1882, he was buried in Westminster Abbey There are rumors of dubious truth that he potentially converted on his deathbed Age of Progress II The Second Great Awakening: Finney, Moody, and The Rise of Mormonism Early 19 th Century Churches With the post-revolutionary war economic boom the USA spread west Along with the frontiersmen went Christians, missionaries, and churches. People exercised their right to religious freedom The lack of a state church continued to increase the number of unchurched Inter-denominational struggles caused strife especially in rural areas Early 19 th Century Churches Along with the economic boom came a massive increase in immigration Roman Catholic numbers swelled along with the immigrants, especially among the German and Irish The frontier/rural areas tended towards mainstream protestant denominations and the urban areas towards Catholicism Interdenominational movements like the American Bible Society, American Tract Society, and the American Sunday School Union rose to meet the growing needs 3
Early 19 th Century Churches Christianity gained some state support due to its founding of social apparatus like schools, universities, orphanages, etc. Crazy utopian communities like the Oneida community emerged Born Aug. 29, 1792 in Warren, CT At 2 his family moved to NY along with many other emigrants, they were poor farmers and lived in harsh conditions He heard very little preaching growing up and what he did was grammatically poor Didn t t go to college but got a high school education and then a Law certification Moved to Adams, NY and led the church choir though still an outspoken unbeliever Finney had a vision of Christ in the middle of the street and began to convert After a day long process Finney knew he was saved He realized that he now was to preach Began an education that was more argument than learning Was ordained as a Presbyterian minister, but later became Congregationalist Finney was Semi-Armenian and specifically anti-hypercalvinist due to Unitarianism s s origins in calvinistic thought He led a massive reform in the methodology of revival Preached extemporaneously, used encouragers, prayed for people by name from the pulpit, had women praying at the front of the church, endorsed mixed gender prayer services, and ostensibly created the modern altar call with his anxious bench Preached massive revivals with claims of over 500,000 getting saved Western New York became the Burned- Over District because there was no fuel left for revival there The mass conversions weren t t all absorbed by local churches and some fell by the wayside once emotion was gone Was a staunch abolitionist Was to some degree involved in the perfectionist theology of his day Became professor and eventually president of Oberlin college, the first college to allow women and black people to study in classes with white males Finney died in 1875 His Christianity and the effects of his ministry are still to this day hotly debated To many Reformed Christians Finney is an arch-heretic heretic and the doom of evangelism To many modern Evangelicals Finney is a great hero and model for revival 4
Born Feb. 5 1837 6 th of 9 children His father died when he was 4 and his mother had great difficulty keeping the family together A local Unitarian pastor came alongside the family and helped care for them both spiritually and materially The Moody family became Christian At 17 he traveled to Boston, and after a period of hopeless job hunting got a job as a shoe salesman in his uncle s s store He was mostly illiterate, but an excellent shoe salesman Moody converted after a visit from his Sunday school teacher After some scufuffle he was given membership in the church Following his impetuous nature Moody moved to Chicago on a whim He made a good deal of money as a salesman as well as increasing his involvement in various works for God His love for evangelism manifested itself, he rented a pew and filled it weekly with various bums and wastrels Began a Sunday school ministry among the children of the slums earning him the nickname Crazy Moody At 24 Moody submitted to his call to full time ministry having lost all desire to work Became very involved in the Y.M.C.A During the Civil war Moody initiated tent camp evangelism converting many soldiers 1867 traveled to England and met his two heroes Charles Spurgeon and George Müller A massive fire burned down Moody s school and YMCA building in Chicago He traveled to New York in order to raise funds for rebuilding While in New York his soul was tormented until he had a revelation and anointing Traveled to England in order to refresh and increase in learning In answer to a crippled girls prayers Moody preached in a church that saw a massive revival of over 400 new members Thus began his career of mass evangelism Teaming up with Ira Sankey Moody traveled all over preaching revival wherever he went He founded several schools including the still famous Moody Bible Institute It is said that in his lifetime he preached to over 1,000,000 people. He grew old became ill with a heart condition Hiding the condition he preached one more series of sermons in Kentucky He then went home to die He died 5
2 nd Great Awakening Massive 19 th Century revival that swept across America It began with the Kentucky Revival in the early 1800 s s and continued on in various aspects throughout the rest of the century. In the frontiers the Baptists and Methodist denominations grew quickly as they were the primary movers in revival More urban revivals such as took place in New England under Finney and Chicago under Moody were less denominational 2 nd Great Awakening The entire awakening was marked by radicalism Especially in the frontiers people were excitable and prone to hysterics Also gave rise to several modern day heretical movements like Mormons and Jehovah s s Witnesses Provided a platform for social change often promoting such ideas as race equality and prohibition Many many many were saved or at least claimed to be Born in Virginia to a down on their luck family who moved around looking for work Moved to New York along with many other families, eventually giving up on hard work and seeking less difficult means of employment Joseph was marked as a clever boy with a knack for storytelling, but was never well educated Supposedly at 14 he had a theophany of God the Father and Jesus He began spreading his tale with some success, though when he began telling about it meets with mixed reports Functioned as an exhorter during the 1824 revival that took place in Palmyra Was almost baptized in the Baptist church in order to marry Emma Hale 1827 the location of golden plates containing the real testament of Jesus Christ was revealed to him by the angel Moroni,, along with a restorationist command for the church He translated the plates by dictating to a scribe as he translated Thus was the book of Mormon written A good looking a charismatic man he eventually gained many followers 1831 to avoid conflict in New York the Smiths moved to Kirtland Ohio where they built the first Mormon temple 1838 they fled to Missouri due to local unrest and mob violence primarily due to Smith s s polygamous practices Moved to Independence Missouri and had visions that it was to be the center of Zion in Christ s s soon to come millennium Political blocs, physical violence, and a take over attempt made the Mormons unpopular in Missouri Smith was imprisoned for several months but bribed his way out with liquor and $$ 1839 moved to Nauvoo Illinois where the Mormons became dominant and Smith became mayor 6
1842 Smith became a freemason 1844 announced his candidacy for president of the USA The newly made newspaper the Nauvoo Expositor complained against Smith and his Polygamy Smith ordered the paper destroyed and shut down violating freedom of the press Popular opinion rose against Smith and he was imprisoned in Carthage jail While in jail with his brother and a few followers a mob came and attacked them Both Joseph and Hyrum Smith were killed, Joseph tried to escape by jumping from the window and was shot His last words were Oh, Lord, my God, the beginning of a Masonic cry for help Smith s s death left a succession crises from which the church split, though the mainstream Mormons followed Brigham Young to Utah where they remain Age of Progress III Slavery, Temperance and Liberal Theology John Newton Born 1725 in London the son of a wealthy shipmaster His mother influenced him towards Christianity but died while he was young His father died shortly after and he was pressed into naval service Became a low ranking officer but deserted, after being recaptured he was demoted and harshly treated Requested a transfer in Sierra Leon to a slave ship John Newton Was abused on the slave ship, but was rescued by a captain friend of his fathers Eventually became a captain himself and dealt primarily in slaves May 10, 1748 Was caught in a large storm and cried out to God for mercy He quit dealing in slaves, studied Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, in 1755 he quit sailing Became an ordained Anglican minister, taught many sermons and wrote many songs including Amazing Grace. He died. William Wilberforce Born 1759 in Hull, England The son of a wealthy merchant who died when he was young Was sent to live with his uncle and began to be interested in Methodism, but after threats from his family backed off Attended Anglican church meetings particularly enjoying the teachings of John Newton Went to St. Johns college in Cambridge and was shocked by the licentious living Got over his shock and started taking part 7
William Wilberforce Started getting involved in politics and spent 9,000 pounds to become the member of parliament for Hull Began working for social reforms especially regarding the conditions of the people working in the factories Was approached by Lady Middleton and asked to represent abolition to parliament 1789 he made the first of many speeches against the slave trade 1791 his first abolitionist bill failed 163-88 William Wilberforce He persisted in abolitionist parliamentary pursuits 1792 an amended abolition bill passed with a great majority, but did nothing Afterwards the abolition movement bogged down and received no great support until 1804 While parliament was ignoring abolition he pressed for more humanitarian goals, setting up a bible society, caring for poor, and sending missionaries to India William Wilberforce 1807 the English parliament passed a ban on the slave trade, though the slaves weren t t emancipated. He began working towards a gradual emancipation, believing an immediate one would cause economic devastation 1825 he retired from parliament though he remained active, striving for emancipation He died July 29, 1833 one month before the finalization of the Slavery Abolition Act emancipating the slaves Frederick Douglass Born in 1818 as Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey, a slave in Maryland was separated from his mother while an infant, and was sent to work for Hugh Auld Hugh s s wife Sophia broke the law and taught him the alphabet He learned to read from young children and from observation 1837 with help from Anna Murray he escaped to New York Frederick Douglass 1841 he heard William Lloyd Garrison speak and was greatly influenced 1843 he became very involved in the abolition movement, writing for several newspapers and journals Became famous as a speaker for abolition also became a minister in the African Methodist Episcopal Church Did and said lots of stuff Died in 1895 and became the first posthumous frat boy in Alpha-Phi Phi-Alpha Temperance Movement Along with an increasing desire for abolition came an increased interest in general morality Often drunkenness was seen as the primary cause of poverty and immoral living The evangelical perfectionism preached by Finney and others greatly influenced this ideology Temperance fell by the wayside during the civil war, but afterwards came back strongly in the form of various societies 8
Temperance Movement Temperance also became a popular political platform supported by many Women were especially involved in the movement and used powerful guilt tactics Ultimately it resulted in the 1919 18 th amendment prohibiting alcohol 18 th amendment did very little as most ignored it, including the president Also led to a major upswing in crime resulting in the 1933 21 st amendment repealing prohibition Liberalism The rationalist scientific view had so weakened 19 th century theology that they had a hard time answering the objections Theology liberalized in order to counter the rationalist critiques and respond to biblically applied higher criticism Much theology at the time was dogmatic and not well understood including an excessive emphasis on non-essentials making its defense rather difficult Liberalism resulted, often throwing the theological baby out with the bathwater Liberalism Liberalism usually entails Weakening of strong theological standpoints Overemphasis either on spirituality or rationality De-emphasizing emphasizing essential theology Social issues replacing Christian ones Increase in humanism often to the exclusion of Christ as the primary focus Viewing of the Bible as merely fallible historical documents 9