American Presbyterians and Revival: Lessons from the Nineteenth Century (2022)
American Presbyterians and Revival: Lessons from the Nineteenth Century
2022Christianity is able to exist in every imaginable political and social climate. Through its history, it’s been supported and opposed, yet it has always flourished. The nineteenth century was a period of vast and rapid change, and Christians in America had to navigate those changes, both inside and outside the church. In this teaching series, Dr. W. Robert Godfrey surveys Reformed and Presbyterian history in nineteenth-century America, all to help the church today better navigate the changing world around us and the challenges we face together.
Seasons & Episode
A move toward individualism was a characteristic of early-nineteenth-century America. In terms of what this meant for Christianity, people began to react against ministerial training, religious authority, and doctrine itself. Zeal was prioritized over knowledge, and even in the Presbyterian Church, there were challenges to fundamental Christian doctrine. In this lesson, Dr. Godfrey explains how this revolt against knowledge worked itself into Presbyterianism.
The controversy between the Old School and the New School formally emerged in the 1830s. Troubling doctrines were being introduced to the Presbyterian Church by such men as Albert Barnes, Lyman Beecher, and Charles Finney. In this lesson, Dr. Godfrey explains the tensions that were arising in the church, the judicial processes that were occurring in the church, and the characteristic differences between the Old School and New School.
The New School dominated General Assemblies in the early 1830s, but things began to change as the Old School began to unify over the seriousness of the New School’s doctrinal errors. In 1837, the Old School gained momentum at the General Assembly, passing sweeping measures to end the toleration of doctrinal errors in the church. In this lesson, Dr. Godfrey recounts the dramatic events of the 1837 General Assembly and the equally dramatic events of the 1838 General Assembly.
In addition to the characteristic concerns for doctrine and devotion among the Old School, how to develop discernment and when to administer church discipline were defining questions for the Old School. In this lesson, Dr. Godfrey concludes his survey of the paramount concerns of the Old School: doctrine, devotion, discernment, and discipline. He also introduces the American church’s movement away from dominance in society to a marked decline, even to the point that society has turned against Christianity.
Christianity is able to exist in every imaginable political and social climate. Through its history, it’s been supported and opposed, yet it has always flourished. The nineteenth century was a period of vast and rapid change, and Christians in America had to navigate those changes, both inside and outside the church. In this teaching series, Dr. W. Robert Godfrey surveys Reformed and Presbyterian history in nineteenth-century America, all to help the church today better navigate the changing world around us and the challenges we face together.