Final Review Semester 2
Hee hee that rhymes
Age of Progress I
American, French, and
Industrial Revolutions, Darwin
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 selfimprovement, 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
Post Revolutionary Churches
• Though originally oppressed, the Roman
Catholic faction also began to grow, but
slowly and under suspicion
• New England’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
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 5th 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
Charles Darwin
• Darwin did well in his studies, particularly in
science and theology
• After graduating 10th/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 theory of evolution became
popular as well as popularly contested
Charles Darwin
• Darwin’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 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 19th 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 19th 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
Early 19th 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
Charles Finney
• 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 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
Charles Finney
• 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
Charles Finney
• Finney was Semi-Armenian and
specifically anti-Hypercalvinist due to
Unitarianism’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”
Charles Finney
• Preached massive revivals with claims of
over 500,000 getting saved
• Western New York became the “BurnedOver District” because there was no fuel
left for revival there
• The mass conversions weren’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
Charles Finney
• 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 and the doom of evangelism
• To many modern Evangelicals Finney is a
great hero and model for revival
D.L. Moody
• Born Feb. 5 1837 6th 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 store
D.L. Moody
• 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
D.L. Moody
• 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
D.L. Moody
• 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
D.L. Moody
• 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.
D.L. Moody
• 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
2nd Great Awakening
• Massive 19th Century revival that swept
across America
• It began with the Kentucky Revival in the
early 1800’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
2nd 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 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
Joseph Smith Jr.
• 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
Joseph Smith Jr.
• 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
Joseph Smith Jr.
• 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 polygamous practices
Joseph Smith Jr.
• Moved to Independence Missouri and had
visions that it was to be the center of Zion
in Christ’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
Joseph Smith Jr.
• 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
Joseph Smith Jr.
• 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 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
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 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 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-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
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 18th
amendment prohibiting alcohol
• 18th amendment did very little as most
ignored it, including the president
• Also led to a major upswing in crime
resulting in the 1933 21st amendment
repealing prohibition
Liberalism
• The rationalist scientific view had so
weakened 19th 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 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