New World and American Zion
Christopher Columbus (1451-1506).
 From the very beginning, America was a
mission field. The Spanish, French, and
English all believed it was their Godordained responsibility to evangelize the
New World. The first of these European
missionaries was Christopher Columbus.
Christopher Columbus
When Columbus landed in the
New World, he believed he was
fulfilling an ancient prophecy.
He also believed the Gospel must first be
preached to all men. Therefore, if he could
find a shortcut to the East, missionaries could
reach it faster.
Christopher Columbus
Because of Columbus’s voyage
and the resulting Spanish
evangelistic efforts, Latin
Columbus and Queen Isabella
America has a higher percentage of
professing Christians than that of any other
region in the world.
Puritan : John Cotton (1584-1652)
John Cotton attended Cambridge
University, and after graduation
remained on as a lecturer.
John Cotton combined both the Bible
and natural law in celebrating God’s
Promise to His Plantations.
His labor and his learning made him one of the most
influential leaders in the New World.
Puritan: John Winthrop 1588-1649
An English gentleman,
a lawyer, and the first
Governor of Massachusetts
Bay Colony for over 12 years,
Winthrop was a passionate
Puritan layman who tried to
bring his faith into practice and
Establish a “City Upon a Hill” in the New World.
John Winthrop
Winthrop is most famous for his
"City upon a Hill" sermon in which
he declared that the Puritan
colonists emigrating to the New
World were part of a special pact
with God to create a holy community.
This speech is often seen as a forerunner to the
concept of American exceptionalism.
American Revolution of 1776
Revolutionary leaders
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Benjamin Franklin (1706-90)
Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826)
James Madison (1751-1836)
John Adams (1735-1826)
Thomas Paine (1737-1809)
They all were committed to a rational Christianity
John Wesley (1703-91)
 John Wesley, English theologian
and evangelist, was a founder of
Methodism.
 He had many followers and sent scores of
evangelists into the field. His impact was great and
continues more directly to this day than the ones
who began the rebirth itself. He was not the first of
the first. He was the last of the first and the most
effective at European evangelism.
John Wesley
 John Wesley took the interpretation
of the word by Martin Luther and
John Calvin to fruition for modern
evangelists of today. The word went from the
Medieval Catholic Church to the Germans and on
to Switzerland and Holland before reaching
England and culminating in American evangelism
today. That natural process gives us the benefit of
everything learned throughout history.
Methodist Church Today
 Britain The Methodist Church today numbers over
300,000 members. Following divisions in the 19th
century, the main branches re-united in 1932. The
church is organised into 'circuits', themselves
grouped into 33 Districts.
 Worldwide There are now Methodist churches in
nearly every country in the world, and it is
calculated that the whole Methodist family
numbers some 70 million people. Over the last 40
years major areas of growth have been in Latin
America (783%), Asia (690%) and Africa (450%)
Joseph Smith (1805-44)
Joseph Smith, was the founder
of the Latter Day Saint movement,
also known as Mormonism, and
an important religious and political
figure during the 1830s and 1840s.
Joseph Smith
 In 1827, Smith began to gather a religious
following after announcing that an angel had
shown him a set of golden plates describing
a visit of Jesus to the indigenous peoples of
the Amercias.
 In 1830, Smith published what he said was
a translation of these plates as the Book of
Mormon
Book of Mormon
 According to the Book of Mormon, the
second coming of Christ to America, the
New Jerusalem, the City of Zion, would be
built on the America as the centre of the
kingdom of the God earth.
 By 1831Joseph Smith had identified the
precise location of the American Zion.
Joseph Smith
 Although Joseph Smith remained married to
Emma Smith until his death in 1844, Smith
taught and practiced polygamy, marrying
several women throughout his ministry,
including Helen Mar Kimball and Nancy
Maria Winchester when they were only 14
years old.
Question
 It is always interesting to see some of
legislators (who is the Christian) in using
the violent actions against the injustice,
should these encourage or not ?