Era 6: Modern Church (2): Revival & Missions (AD 1700–1900)

21/ The Rationalist Option

Descartes and Cartesian Rationalism—Empiricism—Deism—David Hume and His Critique of Empiricism—New Currents in France—Immanuel Kant

· How did the different schools of philosophy affect Christianity, including: [a] Cartesianism (Descartes), [b] Empiricism (Locke), [c] Deism, [d] Skepticism (Hume), [e] Rationalism (Voltaire, Montesquieu, Rousseau), [f] Kantianism (Kant)?

22/ The Spiritualist Option

Jakob Boehme—George Fox and the Quakers—Emanuel Swedenborg

· The leading spiritualists (including Boehme, Fox, and Swedenborg) all claimed direct revelation from God. Were these claims credible? How should we judge their works? Are they presentations of truth?

23/ The Pietist Option

German Pietism: Spener and Francke—Zinzendorf and the Moravians—John Wesley and Methodism

· What were the impacts of Pietism? Can we still observe the impact of Pietism on today’s Christians?

· What were the impacts of the Moravians?

· What were the impacts of the Methodists on today’s church?

24/ The Thirteen Colonies

Virginia—The Northern Puritan Colonies—Rhode Island and the Baptists—Catholicism in Maryland—The Mid-Atlantic Colonies—The Great Awakening

· Those who were against the Great Awakening accused it of undermining the solemnity of worship, and substituting emotions for study and devotion. Was there any truth in these criticisms? Was the movement really too superficial?

· Was the movement a deliberate and intended effort? What were the objectives of the movement?

· What impacts of the Great Awakening can be seen today?

PART III: THE NINETEENTH CENTURY

Chronology

25/ Political Horizons: The United States

The Independence of the Thirteen Colonies—Immigration—The Second Great A wakening—Manifest Destiny and the War with Mexico—Slavery and Civil War—From the Civil War to World War I—New Religions

· Was the rise of different denominations God’s plan?

· What were the differences between the fundamentalists and the liberals? Which one is more Biblical?

· Is “social gospel” Biblical?

· What events triggered the revival movement?

· What are the main errors of: [a] Mormonism, [b] Jehovah Witness, and [c] Christian Science?

26/ Political Horizons: Europe

The French Revolution—The New Europe—Developments in Great Britain

· What were the meanings of economic liberalism and political liberalism in the 19th-c? Do the same terms mean the same today?

· What initiatives did the Protestant church get involved in during the time of social upheaval in the 19th-c?

27/ Political Horizons: Latin America

A Panoply of New Nations—The Church in the New Nations

· Comte theorizes that humanity has gone through 3 stages of development: theological, metaphysical, and scientific. What does this theory imply about the church?

· What were the effects of large immigration on the church in South America?

28/ Protestant Theology

New Currents of Thought—Schleiermacher’s Theology—Hegel’s System—Kierkegaard’s Work—Christianity and History

· What were the intellectual challenged presented to Christianity in the 19th-c?

· What were the different solutions explaining the relationship between faith and reason given by: [a] Schleiermacher, [b] Hegel, and [c] Kierkegaard?

29/ Catholic Theology

The Papacy and the French Revolution—Pius IX—Leo XIII—Pius X

· In what way did the development of Catholic theology follow an opposite trend to Protestant theology? What examples can be used to illustrate this trend?

· How do we show that papal infallibility is unbiblical?

30/ Geographic Expansion

Colonial Expansion—The Missionary Enterprise—Asia and Oceania—Africa and the Moslem World—Latin America—The Ecumenical Movement

· How did the missionary movement lead to the ecumenical movement?

· The World Missionary Conference in 1910 deliberately exclude the discussion of Protestant missions among Catholics in Latin America. Was this decision correct? Should the same decision made again today?

· What were the impacts of the conference?