INTRODUCTION
We are looking at the history of the church, going all the way back to Pentecost, and following along to see from a historical point of view what happened to the church that Jesus built and was established on the Day of Pentecost—how it went into apostasy. We’ve been through the Reformation, and we are now into the establishing of the colonies in the United States. We’re into the 1600’s to the 1900’s. We saw how that the settlers in the New World were, for the most part, motivated in coming to the New World for religious freedom. They were looking for tolerance in what they wanted to do religiously. And so, much of the activity that surrounded the settling of the colonies had something to do with religion, and we looked at some of that in the last lesson.
What we want to do is sort of set the stage for the way America would look in the early to mid part of the 19th Century and on into the early part of the 20th Century. We want to see how religion is going to develop, in a very broad sense, and thus, we will be able to maybe have an appreciation when we begin—probably next week—to look at the movement that we refer to as the Restoration Movement. We will know something of what the religious landscape in America looked like at that time, and, perhaps, have some understanding of part of what the motivation was for those early leaders of the Restoration Movement, men like Barton W. Stone, Alexander Campbell, and so on—what motivated them to do some of the things that they did.
REFORMATION REVIEW
However, we want to briefly have a little bit of a review of the Reformation. I think that that’s necessary because of the time which has elapsed between lessons, but will also bring us up-to-date in our minds about some of these activities which have transpired recently.
You recall that in the early 16th Century to the mid-17th Century, there were efforts that were ongoing on the European Continent to reform the Catholic Church. There were a number of individuals involved, and we commented how interesting it was that some of this, not all of it, but some of this was actually taking place simultaneously in different locations on the continent of Europe. These men were not cooperating one with another, but each one was motivated for his own reasons, from his own experiences, from his own misgivings about what was going on in the Catholic Church; they had a desire to reform what was going on, to reform the Catholic Church from within.
We’ve talked about men like Luther, Zwingli and Calvin. We also mentioned a name that won’t be quite as familiar to you, but one Menno Simons [an Anabaptist preacher in the Low Countries], and others. And as a result of their efforts to reform the Catholic Church, there were a number of protestant groups and different doctrines which would emerge, such as Lutheranism, Calvinism, the Anabaptist movement, and others.
Well, then, we looked at the Reformation that took place in the British Isles. Here again, some of this was taking place simultaneously with what was occurring on the European Continent. And we saw that how the actions, the desires, of King Henry VIII resulted in England severing her ties with the Catholic Church, and how that the Church of England was established because of that.
However, basically the Church of England was just the Catholic Church with a new name. And so, there were many in England who had a desire for further reformation. A group called the Puritans emerges, because their desire was to “purify” the Catholic Church. Then, there were some others that we talked about—some who were considered to be even more “radical” than the Puritans. They weren’t interested in just purifying the Catholic Church; they wanted to be separate from the Catholic Church, and so they’re referred to as Separatists, or Independents. The Pilgrims who came here to America in the early part of the 17th Century were among those Separatists. Others who trace their roots to this Separatist movement include the English Baptists and the Congregationalists. Then, there were some other reformers that we talked about, namely John and Charles Wesley; it would be from their efforts that the Methodist Church was established. There was one named George Fox. His efforts and his followers established the Quakers, or Friends. And then, there also some reforms that were going on in Scotland under the leadership of one named John Knox. Because of his efforts, the Presbyterian Church would come about.
That brings us up-to-date with where we are in terms of the present period of time, looking at the beginning of the 17th Century and the beginning of the settlement and the development of America.
THE TRANSPLANTED DENOMINATIONS
Catholicism
What we want to notice is that there were denominations; there were a variety of religious groups, which would settle in the New World. We want to talk, first of all, about the Catholicism. Of course, the Roman Catholic Church had tremendous influence in Europe, and so, as the Europeans came to the New World, many of them brought the Catholic religion with them. Early on in the settlement of the New World, shortly after Christopher Columbus discovered the New World in 1492, King Ferdinand sent Catholic missionaries to this New World. They came in through the southern part of the Americas, and they established missions along the way. They came into what is now the United States, in fact, into our areas and on up through the West Coast, once again establishing these missions all along the way. Their purpose was not so much settlement as it was to convert the Native American population that they came in contact with.
Well then, also, to the north the French would come into the area that is now Canada. They would bring with them the Roman Catholic religion, as well.
And so, it would be that early on there would be an influence of the Catholic Church here in America. I ran across some interesting statistics. This is interesting only from the standpoint of tracing and seeing the very rapid growth of the Catholic Church and the numbers to which it swelled. These numbers are accurate as far as I know. In 1789, Catholicism could claim somewhere between 19,000 and 24,000. In 1807, they had 150,000. In 1820, they had 244,000. That’s a period of only, what? 13 years [1807 to 1820]? And they almost doubled in size? In 1850, the number was 1,726,000. So, in the next 30 years [1820 to 1850], they increased by a little over seven times [244,000 x 7 = 1,708,000]. And by the year 1870, there were 10,626,000! Now, again, the reason that I mention that is simply, that that is rather phenomenal growth! And it is attributed to two primary reasons.
One of the reasons was the immigration of Catholics from Europe. Remember that initially from the early part of the 16th Century on into the early part of the 17th Century the Catholic missionaries—the Jesuits, the Franciscans, and others—were coming in not to settle, not to colonize, but to convert. Well, some of those conversions were successful, but Catholics weren’t coming from Europe in large numbers at that time. But then, as America started to grow, and in the 17th Century and beyond, as the immigration into America began to take place in large numbers, those individuals coming at that time were coming into the eastern part of America. They were coming not to evangelize, not to convert the native population; they were coming to settle. And so, we see that there is a change, then, in this approach. Again, these later Catholic arrivals weren’t coming because they were Catholics; they were coming because they wanted to come to the New World. But, a large number of those coming in those days were Catholics. Thus, we see this phenomenal growth so that by the 1870’s they could claim more than ten million! That’s a lot!
Well, the other reason that this growth is attributed to is a high birth rate. Catholic families in those days—and, I guess, even in our day to some degree—have rather large families.
There were a couple of other things that were part of the, well, sort of the personality of Catholicism in America that would take place that would also enhance the growth; that is, parochial schools that they would establish, beginning in the early days and, of course, continuing even to our day. This would help to sort of insulate that community and keep the population from, as one writer put it, “leakage”; that is, this would help to keep people from coming out of Catholicism for something else. And so, we see, then, that there was a very, very large population of Catholics here in America.
European Protestantism
Now, we look at Protestantism in America, which, in those early days, was really a reflection of European Protestantism. Once again, for the most part, people who were coming to America—coming here to settle, coming here for religious freedom—were transporting and transplanting their religion that they had in Europe, primarily England, especially in those early days. And so, just to be reminded of what some of these denominations were and where they came from and how they were established, we would notice, for example, that when the Jamestown Settlement was established in 1607, it was the Church of England that would become their official religion. (This area is now, of course, Virginia.) That would remain so until 1776. And, of course, what took place in 1776? It was the American Revolution. Once the American Revolution took place, then ties with the Church of England would be severed, but the Church of England in America would simply be renamed, in effect, the Protestant Episcopal Church. It would be established in 1789. This is a similar transition to what took place in England when England severed ties with the Catholic Church, and they primarily took the Catholic Church and renamed it the Church of England. They had the same liturgy, the same hierarchy, the same religious practices, and so on. Well, the same thing, in effect, took place here in America in 1789 when the Church of England did, more or less, a name change. They continued with the same spiritual traditions, the same liturgy, the same practices, and so on. So, we see, then, the establishing of the Episcopal Church here in America.
Congregationalism was established in England by John Robinson in 1609. The Pilgrim Fathers would be an extension of Congregationalism, which was one of the Separatists groups that was established. When they landed in 1620, they set up colonies in Plymouth, Massachusetts, in Connecticut, and other places, and they would establish Congregationalism by law as the accepted religion of those colonies.
Lutherans migrated first from Holland. That was in about 1623 to 1624. They settled in New Amsterdam, which would later be renamed New York.
The Baptist Church was established here in America in 1639 by one named Roger Williams in the city of Providence, Rhode Island. Of course, the Baptist Church would grow to be one of the largest denominations here in America. There would be a number of changes and divisions which would take place in the Baptist Church. The major one took place in 1845, and it was over the issue of slavery. The Baptist church would divide into the Northern and Southern Baptists.
The Presbyterian Churches hold their American origin due to the efforts of one named Alexander Whitaker, who settled in Virginia in 1611. And in 1640 the first Presbyterian Church was started there.
The Quakers, or Friends, came to America in 1656. They first settled in Massachusetts, in Virginia and in New York. These individuals were considered to be very “radical,” very “far out.” One of the things that we talked about in our last lesson was the fact that many of these ones who had come here to the New World seeking freedom in religions, seeking tolerance for their beliefs, and so on, were themselves very intolerant. And so it would be that these Quakers, or Friends, because of what was viewed to be the radical nature of their beliefs, were not warmly received in most places. So, one named William Penn would establish sort of a haven for them in 1681 in an area that would later become known as Pennsylvania.
The Methodist Church is also today one of the largest protestant bodies in America. They first came to America, not as a distinct Methodist group, but as sort of independent followers of Wesley, and as members of the established Church of England. It would be through the efforts of two men, primarily, Thomas Cope and Francis Asbury, who would establish what would later become and be called the Methodist Episcopal Church here in America. Of course, they would later drop the “Episcopal” from their name, and they would settle in and become and be known as the Methodist denomination.
We see, then, that these are the principal, the primary, groups that were exported from Europe—imported, in a sense, to the New World, to this young nation. We can see that there indeed was a wide variety of religious groups. All of them, to this point that we have seen, had their origins in Europe, either on the Continent or in the British Isles.
American Denominationalism
However, there would be something that would take place here in America. I guess, maybe in a sense, the people didn’t feel that they had enough choice. But because, most historians say, of the broad expanse of this New World, the freedoms and the liberties that were associated with life here, there would be other religious groups which would come about. These, then, would be strictly American denominations. I would point out that we’re certainly not going to talk about all of them; we’re going to talk about the principal ones, and we’re only going to talk about them up to about the middle to the end of the 19th Century. Because, once again, we want to see what America looked like during that period of time.
You know, there are literally thousands, now, of various denominational groups. I might mention to you that here’s an interesting book—maybe some of you have this in your library. It’s quite well known. It’s called Handbook of Denominations in the United States. Some of the information that I’m sharing with you in this lesson has come from this book. This is the “New Tenth Edition,” and I think I’ve had this particular one in my library for about five or six years. So, there may be an “Eleventh Edition” out now, because it’s difficult to keep up with all of the new denominations being established.
One of the interesting things which has been occurring for about the last 30 or 40 years in denominationalism here in the United States is that there are many individual, separate groups that establish themselves, and each of them are considered, or accounted, as a separate denomination. A denomination these days may only have one congregation located in one city, but that’s the way they are being established. Thus, the proliferation, the overwhelming numbers, of denominations is now literally in the thousands, where in the past the number was in the hundreds. Let’s notice some of these few uniquely American denominations which have come about without, really, the benefit, without the influence, of Europe.
One of the best-known groups, perhaps, is the Seventh-day Adventist group. There are, actually, a number of different Adventist groups, but the best-known is the Seventh-day Adventists. They are, by far, the most prominent. They are noted because of their emphasis on the imminent return of Christ, and because of their emphasis of the seventh day, the Sabbath Day, in their worship. The Seventh-day Adventists owe their beginning to one named William Miller. That is the name that you’ll hear most frequently associated with the Seventh-day Adventists. He was a farmer from Lower Hampton, New York. He began to claim some extraordinary powers. He claimed, among other things, to have found a new interpretation of the Old Testament book of Daniel. This and some other of his prophecies led him to teach that the end of the world was coming, that Christ was coming, and it would be between March 22nd, 1843, and March 22nd, 1844. Many of his followers sold their property in anticipation of this second coming of Christ. And then, when that event did not occur in that time frame, Mr. Miller admitted that he had made a miscalculation, and actually the correct date was October 22nd, 1844. Well, once again, by October 22nd, 1844, there were more than 50,000 Adventists in this country. Hundreds of them, perhaps even thousands of them, disposed of their property as this date, October 22nd, 1844, approached. They gave things away; they settled all of their earthly accounts, and they waited prayerfully for the fateful day to come. Well, you know that the day came…and it passed…and there was no second coming. As a result, this time there would be vast numbers of the Adventists who would just simply become discouraged, would leave this movement, and return, perhaps, to their former denominations. Nevertheless, in 1845 they formally organized their church, and in 1855 they set up headquarters in Battle Creek, Michigan. Here are two names that are also frequently associated with the Seventh-day Adventist movement, and they are James and Ellen White. As one writer said, their names are synonymous with the Seventh-day Adventists.
There was also a movement that was uniquely American, in a sense, and that was something that was called the Holiness Movement, or the Holiness Churches. This is what we know today and refer to primarily as Pentecostalism. This movement actually began between 1880 and 1890. It began in order to put “new life” and “vitality” into, well, as the historians put it, the “Christian movement.” And generally speaking, these churches believed in the second working of grace; they believed in the miraculous gift of the Holy Spirit; and they hold some very interesting other beliefs, as well. And, of course, this movement—and we’re speaking under broad terms—but this particular movement, this Holiness Movement that had its origins back in the late 1800’s, is now the fastest growing religion in America. And it is growing very rapidly throughout the world—Pentecostalism.
There was also the Church of God that is uniquely American. One named John Winebrenner started the Church of God Movement in 1825. They had their headquarters in Cleveland, Tennessee. In a similar way to the Holiness Movement, they believe in the baptism of the Holy Spirit. They believe in the continuation of the miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit. In fact, quite often these days, there is a fairly close association with the Church of God and the Holiness Movement. Many of the Churches of God consider themselves to be Pentecostal.
Then, there are the Latter-day Saints [LDS]. Of course, that is the abbreviated title for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and they are most commonly known to us as the Mormons. You probably know a little bit about their history, but once again, this is a purely American movement. One named Joseph Smith of New York claimed to have seen a series of visions in about 1820, and the “golden tablets,” so called, which were “discovered” and were “translated” and would become the Book of Mormon. And, of course, that movement was fraught with a great deal of difficulty, as they were forced to move numerous times. They tried to establish themselves in Ohio, and then in Indiana, and in Missouri; but they would eventually end up in Utah, in Salt Lake City, Utah. Of course, the two founders—the individuals who were associated with the movement— were Joseph and Hyrum Smith. One named Brigham Young later became the leader of the Mormon Church.
Finally, there is the Jehovah’s Witness movement. That was established by Charles T. Russell in late 1800’s—about 1870. It, as well, has been a very active movement. Like the Mormons, they do a lot of evangelism, are out meeting and greeting people. They have a tremendous printing work that they do. They print books and tracts and other materials, literally in the millions every year, for distribution. That is part of the reason that they are as successful as they are in propagating their beliefs.
CONCLUSION
That was just a little bit of a review and overview. These would be the primary groups that would be dotting the American religious landscape in the late 18th and 19th Centuries when a movement would begin taking place in various locations, which would become known as the Restoration Movement. We will begin talking about the Restoration Movement in our next lesson.