Birmingham Theological Seminary
Calhoun County Extension
3230 Coleman Road, Anniston, Al 36207
Spring 2016
HT4721 REFORMATION & MODERN CHURCH HISTORY
This class will survey causes and events leading up the Reformation with a focus on its leaders and effects. Also
covered are the Counter-Reformation, the Evangelical Revival and growth of the Protestant Church to the
present.
Professor: Pastor Bob St.John
256.225.3845
robstjoh1605@gmail.com
Course Objectives
1.Have an understanding of the major theological developments in the history of the church from the early
sixteenth century to the present
2.Have a deepened understanding of major ecclesiastical traditions that exist today through being acquainted
with the history of their doctrines and practices
3.Be familiar with some of the more important theological terms and concepts and thus better equipped to
understand and engage intelligently in theological discussion
4.Be spiritually enriched through an encounter with the work of great Christians of the past
5.Be able better to struggle with the difference between truth and error through an encounter with the
thought of past generations of professing Christians. The goal is to become more faithful interpreters of
God’s word and better servants of the Lord
Readings: Text Books
Gonzalez, Justo. The Story of Christianity. Vol. 2. Revised ed. New York: HarperCollins, 2010.
Calvin, John. Calvin’s Institutes. Abridged (ed. Donald K. McKim)
Machen, J. Gresham. Christianity and Liberalism. New York: Macmillan Company, 1923.
Nichols, Stephen J. Jesus Made in America. Downers Grove: IVP Academic, 2008.
Readings: Primary Sources
Annotations by Dr. Shawn D. Wright
The Church in Europe
1. Martin Luther, Heidelberg Disputation (1518)
Martin Luther is arguably the most important figure in the establishment of the Protestant Reformation.
This early work by Luther well expresses his Protestant doctrine in distinction from medieval Catholicism.
Available at: http://bookofconcord.org/heidelberg.php
1
2. Canons and Decrees of the Council of Trent, “On Justification” (1547)
The Council of Trent (1545-1563) was the most cogent expression of the Catholic Counter Reformation.
Meeting in three sessions, the Council attempted to shore up the Roman church against the innovations of
the Protestants. Here are the Council’s canons on the doctrine of justification, the heart of the Reformation.
Read the 33 canons in “Justification”
Available at:
http://www.documentacatholicaomnia.eu/03d/15451545,_Concilium_Tridentinum,_Canons_And_Decrees,_EN.pdf
3. Arminian Articles (1610)
Jacob Arminius died in 1609 after having caused quite a stir in the Dutch Reformed Church because of his
innovative approach to issues surrounding the doctrine of predestination. The next year his followers
published their Remonstrance in which they formally set forth their reaction to the Calvinistic system.
Available at:
http://www.libraryoftheology.com/writings/calvinismarminianism/ArminiusAndArminianism.pdf
4. Synod of Dort, Canons (1619) (selections)
In 1618 delegates from the Reformed churches of Europe, including five delegates from the Church of
England, gathered in Dort (Dordrecht), Holland, in response to the invitation of the States General of
Holland. They sought to resolve certain theological disputes that had troubled the Dutch churches for a
decade. A minority of Dutch pastors dissented from the orthodox Calvinism of the Belgic Confession,
which was the official creed of the established church. The dissenters were known as Remonstrants. Their
theology became known as Arminianism, after the name of their early leader. The synod unanimously
opposed the views of the Remonstrants on the debated points. The arrangement of the statement in five
categories was in answer to a Remonstrant document declaring five points of disagreement with the Belgic
Confession. The synod’s five-point response has become known as the five points of Calvinism.
Read pp. 581-95
Available at: http://www.esvbible.org/resources/creeds-and-catechisms/article-the-canons-of-the-synod-ofdort-1619/
5. Westminster Confession of Faith (1647)
England’s Long Parliament appointed the Westminster Assembly to reform the English church in 1643.
The body appointed included 30 lay assessors and 121 clergymen. The Confession they drew up covered
the whole of the Christian faith in 33 chapters. It became a classic expression of Reformed Puritan theology
and has exercised tremendous influence on English-speaking churches to our day.
Available at: http://www.reformed.org/documents/wcf_with_proofs/
6. Thomas Watson, How We May Read the Scriptures with Most Spiritual Profit (1674)
Here Thomas Watson (1620-1686), English Puritan pastor and author, gives a typical Puritan sermon of
practical divinity. Note his ability to weave doctrine and practice together. This is the value of Puritan
literature in our day.
Available at: http://www.gracegems.org/Watson/reading_the_scriptures.htm
2
7. John Wesley, Free Grace (1739)
Wesley (1710-1782) spent his life preaching from place to place in England and organizing his Methodist
movement. He broke with George Whitefield, formerly his colleague in the pursuit of piety and in revivalist
preaching, over the issue of Calvinist doctrine. Wesley’s Arminianism and perfectionism were enshrined as
Methodism’s theology. His preaching and organizational efforts were quite successful, making Methodism
one of the leading denominations in Protestantism.
Read pp. 115-125
Available at: http://www.umcmission.org/Find-Resources/John-Wesley-Sermons/Sermon-128-Free-Grace
8. George Whitefield, A Letter to the Rev. Mr. John Wesley (1741)
Whitefield (1714-1770) was the great preacher of the First Great Awakening who for thirty years regularly
preached ten to twenty sermons per week, often outdoors to large crowds. Whitefield preached the simple
message of the new birth through faith in Christ. God blessed his earnest evangelistic zeal with the
awakening of thousands of converts. Throughout the British Isles and the American Colonies his preaching
was the spark that ignited remarkable revivals. When his close friend John Wesley published an essay
attacking the doctrine of predestination, Whitefield responded with the following letter.
Available at: http://www.spurgeon.org/~phil//wesley.htm
The Church in the United States
9. Jonathan Edwards, The Distinguishing Marks of a Work of the Spirit of God (1741)
Edwards (1703-1758) was probably the most brilliant philosopher and theologian in American history. He
was also a gifted preacher and pastoral theologian. His sermons sparked a number of revivals in the
Connecticut River Valley of New England, and his accounts of these revivals helped promote prayer and
preaching for revival in the colonies and in Great Britain. His preaching was designed to confront sinners
with their awful predicament outside of Christ and to induce them to call upon the name of the Lord for
salvation. This treatise became the backbone of his famous, and valuable, Religious Affections.
Read the section that begins THE MARKS OF A WORK OF THE TRUE SPIRIT through Sect. I
Available at: https://www.monergism.com/thethreshold/sdg/edwards/edwards_distinguishingmarks.html
10. Charles G. Finney, Lectures on Revivals of Religion (1835)
Finney (1792-1875) was a lawyer when he experienced conversion, and resolved thereafter to plead the
Lord’s case before sinners. Ordained in spite of the fact that he did not meet Presbyterianism’s educational
requirements, his sensational style of preaching and his introduction of such “new measures” as anxious
benches attracted large crowds and produced considerable excitement in upstate New York in the 1820s. In
1835 he became professor and later president of Oberlin College in Ohio. Influenced by Nathaniel William
Taylor’s version of the New Divinity movement in New England, Finney stressed the moral ability of
sinners to respond to the gospel and asserted the perfectibility of saints.
Read pp. 9-47, 185-212
Available at: http://www.sas.upenn.edu/~cavitch/pdf-library/Finney_WhatARevivalOfReligionIs.pdf
3
11. Harry Emerson Fosdick, Shall the Fundamentalists Win? (1922)
In 1922 the modernists in the American Protestant denominations feared that conservatives were on the
verge of success in their campaign to drive modernists from their denominations. Fosdick here sought to
rally the modernists and to convince denominational moderates to tolerate the presence of liberalism in the
churches, seminaries, and boards.
Available at: http://baptiststudiesonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/01/shall-the-fundamentalists-win.pdf
12. J. Gresham Machen, Christianity and Liberalism (1923)
Machen (1881-1937) taught at Princeton Seminary from 1906 to 1929. When liberals within the
Presbyterian church effectively silenced the conservative voice at Princeton Seminary, Machen led the
conservative exodus and helped found Westminster Seminary in 1929. Machen was an accomplished
theologian and New Testament scholar. In the heat of the struggles between fundamentalists and
modernists in the 1920s and 1930s, Machen emerged as a champion of conservative evangelical theology.
His point, argued in Christianity and Liberalism, was that historic evangelical Christianity, founded on the
authority of the Scriptures, and liberalism, based upon human reason, were diametrically opposite religions.
Read ch. 1, “Introduction”; ch. 4, “The Bible”; ch. 6, “Salvation”
Available at: http://www.extremetheology.com/files/MachenLiberalism.pdf
Requirements
1. Class attendance and participation in class discussions
2. Completing all assigned reading. (Certificate Students need only read Gonzalez and the readings
necessary for your two response papers) Four Quizzes will be given over the reading. (Only two quizzes
necessary for Certificate Students — student’s choice)
3. Over the semester the student will write three short papers (2-3 pages) in response to specific questions
(Certificate students need to only complete two response papers).
a. Based on the readings by John Wesley and George Whitefield, students will answer the question, Was
Wesley or Whitefield more convincing and more biblical in his explication and defense of his view
of soteriology?
b.Based on the readings by Jonathan Edwards and Charles Finney, students will answer the question,
Did Edwards or Finney have a more biblical understanding of the causes of conversion and revival?
Other resources on this subject:
i. Jonathan Edwards, “A Divine and Supernatural Light”
ii. Jonathan Edwards, “God Glorified in the Work of Redemption”
iii. Jonathan Edwards, A Faithful Narrative of the Surprising Work of God in the
Conversion of Many Hundred Souls, in Northampton and the Neighboring Towns
iv. Charles Finney, “Sinners Bound to Change their Own Hearts”
c. Based on the readings by J. Gresham Machen and Harry Emerson Fosdick, students will answer the
question, Did Machen or Fosdick have a more biblical understanding of the relationship of the Bible
and its doctrine of salvation to the modern world?
4. The student will take both a mid-term and final made up of matching, short answer, and essay questions,
(the midterm and final for Certificate Students will not include essay questions).
4
BTS Formatting and Style
All papers must be formatted in accordance with Turabian Chicago standards including the title pages. In your
response papers, cite all references to reading with a parenthetical citation according to the Turabian Manual
18.1. Include the page numbers in this parenthetical citation when possible. Some online reading is not
paginated.
All course materials must be submitted by the last day of class. Thereafter, course materials may be submitted
for up to six (6) weeks after the end of the semester directly to the office of the Registrar with the permission of
the professor. If a student submits course materials after the end of the semester but within the six (6) weeks
grace period, the student’s grade will be lowered by one letter grade. The course materials will not be accepted
after the six (6) week grace period and a failing grade will be posted to the student’s transcript.
Grading
Quizzes (4 Total) 10%
Mid Term Exam 15%
Final Exam 20%
Response Papers 30% (3 Total)
Completed Reading 25%
Date Class Lecture
Course Schedule
Reading Due
Assignments
Due
1-19 Introduction to the Course and Review
of Syllabus
Lecture 1: The Roots of Reformation
1-26 Lecture 2: Luther and the Reformation
Lecture 3: Luther’s Theology
Gonzalez, p.6-45
Luther’s Heidelberg Disputation
1518
Gonzalez, p. 61-68;
2-2
Lecture 4: The Swiss Reformation and
the Anabaptist
Lecture 5: Introduction to John Calvin
2-9
Lecture 6: Calvin’s Theology
Lecture 7: Calvin’s Theology, Pt.2
Calvin’s Institutes, McKim, p. XVXXI, 1-82
Optional Reading: Arminian
Articles (1610)
Calvin’s Institutes, p. 83—173
Quiz 2 over
Optional Reading: Synod of Dort, Calvin on
Canons (1619) (selections)
Justification (3:11)
Gonzalez, p.70-127; The Canons
and Decrees of the Council of
Trent, “On Justification”
Gonzalez, p.132-163;
Jonathan Edwards, The
Distinguishing Marks of a Work of
the Spirit of God; Charles Finney,
Lectures on Revivals of Religion
Optional Reading: Thomas
Watson, How We May Read the
Scriptures with Most Spiritual
Profit (1674)
2-16 Lecture 8: The Growth of Protestantism
Lecture 9: The Catholic Counter—
Reformation
2-23 Lecture 10 & 11: The Golden Age of
the English Puritans
Quiz 1 over
Luther’s
Heidelberg
Disputation
5
3-1
Lecture 12: Protestantism, Rationalism,
and the Enlightenment
Lecture 13: The Protestant Confessions;
Review Questions for Midterm
Gonzalez, p.164-195;
“The Westminster Confession of
Faith” (not necessary to read all
Scripture proofs)
Quiz 3 over
Edward’s
Distinguishing
Marks
Response Paper
#1, Edwards vs.
Finney
3-8 Spring Break
3-15 Midterm
3-22 Lecture 14: The Spiritualist and the
Pietist
Lecture 15: Protestantism in the
American Colonies
3-29 Lecture 16: The Life and Theology of
Jonathan Edwards
Lecture 17: The Great Awakening
4-5 Lectures 18 & 19: American
Christianity
4-12 Lecture 20: The Fundamentalist—
Modernist Controversy
Lecture 21: Questions for Review of
Final
4-19 Final Exam
Gonzalez, p.196-230
John Wesley, “Free Grace”;
George Whitfield, “A Letter to the
Rev. Mr. John Wesley”
Quiz 4 over
Whitefield’s
Letter to
Wesley
Response Paper
#2, Wesley vs.
Whitefield
Stephen Nichols, Jesus Made in
America, p. 19-97
Harry Emerson Fosdick, “Shall the
Fundamentalist Win?”;
J. Gresham Machen, Christianity &
Liberalism
Response Paper
#3, Fosdick vs.
Machen
Bibliography
Allison, Gregg R. Historical Theology: An Introduction to Christian Doctrine. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2011.
Bebbington, D.W. Evangelicalism in Modern Britain: A History from the 1730s to the 1980s. London:
Routledge, 1989.
Bebbington, D.W. The Dominance of Evangelicalism. Downer’s Grove: Intervarsity, 2005.
Eire, Carlos M. N. War Against the Idols: The Reformation of Worship from Erasmus to Calvin. Cambridge:
University Press, 1989.
George, Timothy. Theology of the Reformers (Revised). Nashville: B & H Academic, 2013.
Haykin, Michael A. G. ed., The Advent of Evangelicalism: Exploring Historical Continuities. Nashville: B & H
Academic, 2008.
Hill, Jonathan. Zondervan Handbook to the History of Christianity. Oxford: Lion Publishing, 2006.
Kidd, Thomas S. George Whitefield: America’s Spiritual Founding Father. New Haven & London: Yale
University Press, 2014.
Kuiper, B.K. The Church in History. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1964.
6
Lloyd—Jones, D. M. The Puritans: Their Origins and Successors. Pennsylvania: The Banner of Truth Trust,
2002.
McGrath, Alister E. Reformation Thought: An Introduction. Malden: Blackwell Publishing, 1999.
Murray, Iain H. Evangelicalism Divided: A Record of Crucial Change in the Years 1950 to 2000. Edinburgh:
The Banner of Truth Trust, 2001.
Noll, Mark A. A History of Christianity in the United States and Canada. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans
Publishing Co., 1992.
Noll, Mark A. The Rise of Evangelicalism: The Age of Edwards, Whitefield and the Wesleys. Downer’s Grove:
Intervarsity, 2003.
Stanley, Brian. The Global Diffusion of Evangelicalism. Downer’s Grove: Intervarsity, 2013.
Strachan, Owen. Awakening the Evangelical Mind: An Intellectual History of the Neo-Evangelical Movement.
Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2015.
Trueman, Carl. History and Fallacies: Problems Faced in the Writing of History. Wheaton: Crossway, 2010.
Trueman, Carl. Reformation: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow. Fearn, Tain: Christian Focus Publications, 2011.
Wells, David F. ed., Reformed Theology in America, A History of its Modern Development. Grand Rapids:
Baker Book House, 1997.
Wolfe, John. The Expansion of Evangelicalism. Downer’s Grove: Intervarsity, 2007.
7