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 19^th 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 22^nd, 1843, and March 22^nd, 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 22^nd, 1844. Well, once again, by October 22^nd, 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 22^nd, 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.

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 18^th and 19^th 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.