(Something I found a long time ago)
‘The Church began in power, moved in power and moved just as long as she had power. When she no longer had power she dug in for safety and sought to conserve her gains. But her blessings were like the manna: when they tried to keep it overnight it bred worms and stank. In church history every return to NT power has marked a new advance somewhere, a fresh proclamation of the gospel, an upsurge in missionary zeal; and every diminution of power has seen the rise of some new mechanism for conservation and defence’. The history of the church has been one of ebb and flow down through the ages - just as in OT times.
The church has continued despite persecutions - the light shines in the darkness (John 1.5). Missionary zeal has never vanished - renewals have often been preceded by times of particular crisis. There were persecutions under Nero and others until 305AD - a miracle that the church survived at all. By 395AD Christianity was the official state religion - an institutional church - by the tenth century there was much corruption. There was a spiritual renewal and church reform in the twelfth century which led to fresh missionary zeal. The Waldensees challenged the worldliness of the church. There was creative and formative thinking by Peter Abelard (1079-1142) and Thomas Aquinus (1224-1274). The fourteenth and fifteenth centuries saw a decline - barren scholasticism and endless internal strife - unscrupulous means of raising funds - the beginning of the Reformation - Luther at Wittenberg in 1517 - which led to endless denominations - which may have speeded up the spread of the gospel - but at what cost?
[Authority and Priesthood (Catholic and Eastern Orthodox) v Biblical authority (Protestant)].
Luther and John Calvin (1509-1564) were the main architects of the Protestant Reformation - giving rise to Lutheran, Presbyterian and Reformed churches as well as the Puritans in England. A traumatic and violent time! The peasants revolt! Calvin and Geneva - a ‘model city’ where worldly pursuits were banned and discipline was strict.
Both in the Reformation and the Counter Reformation there was intense suffering and numerous martyrdoms (Northern Ireland being one of the results). Reform of the church and the rediscovery of biblical doctrines took place - but at a very high price in human suffering. Some like the Anabaptists wanted to go further than Luther or Calvin and return to the primitive model of the NT (the Mennonites of Pennsylvania are direct descendants).
The Reformation in England allowed biblical reform to make rapid progress - a middle way between the extremes of Romanism and Puritanism - later many Puritans sailed to America where their influence is still strongly felt in the reformed churches.
The RC Counter Reformation - much was corrected - with a ‘commando’ unit founded by Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556) - the Society of Jesus or Jesuits - well trained both to counter the rapidly increasing Protestant threat and to engage in missionary expansion (especially in America, Africa and Asia).
At the same time Puritans, Quakers and Baptists fled to America followed later by Lutherans and other reformers seeking refuge from atrocities in Europe.
The age of revival - as a result of the Reformation there was a spread of evangelical faith in Jesus as Lord and Saviour - in evangelism - a strong appeal to the authority of the Bible. Men like Count Zinzendorf (1700-1760) who founded the Moravian Church, stressed the need for a personal experience of Christ.
Wesley was influenced by the Moravians but his experience of new birth and consequent enthusiasm was rejected by the Anglican Church. A major influence in the spread of this new evangelicalism lay in the very popular hymns written by the Wesley brothers - singing the great doctrines to rousing tunes. The spiritual revival spread rapidly in Britain and America - but it resulted in splits in almost every denomination.
The age of reason - an intellectual attack on the Christian faith by men like Voltaire (1694-1778) led to fresh theological thinking and a renewed examination of the reality and credibility of Christian claims.
The age of missions - the great commission taken seriously from about 1795. Meanwhile the RC church was being shaken by the violent revolutions of 1830 and 1848. Pope Pius IX (1846-1878) attacked virtually all modern religious movements as heretical. Vatican I in 1869 brought into being Papal infallibility. The new initiatives from Rome led to widespread revival of the Catholic faith in Europe and influenced the Tractarian (High Church) movement in England.
The Tractarian Revival or the Oxford Movement sought to redress the evangelical emphasis on the Bible by appealing again to the traditions of the catholic, apostolic church and its apostolic ministry. John Keeble and others were strong sacramentalists who restored a sense of dignity in worship, and discipline in prayer and communion.
Evangelical reformers - while missionary movements were sending recruits to all parts of the world, several leading evangelicals in England were pressing for urgent social reforms - slavery - factory conditions - child labour. The upper classes became sensitive to the irresponsible frivolities of the times - the result was repressive Victorian morality.
The Western style of the Christian faith was planted into totally different cultures - it resulted in a lot of bloody persecution!
The twentieth century - a population explosion (only about 1,000m in 1850) - a knowledge explosion - intellectual attacks on the Christian faith - starting with Darwin. Then WW1 shattered many utopian dreams of the Millennialists. Later the superficiality of much of the twenties was crushed by the depression. Biblical criticism questioned the validity of many Christian beliefs, liberal theology stripped away the divine and supernatural elements of the gospel, denominational and ecumenical debates ground slowly on and evangelism sagged. Sometimes serious conflicts between those who preached a spiritual gospel and those who propounded a social gospel. Pentecostalism is now a major force especially in Latin America and Africa - baptism in the Spirit and speaking in tongues (as the initial evidence of baptism) - a revival broke out in 1906 in Azusa St LA! The later ‘charismatic renewal’ has been embraced by many. On the other side of the coin we have had communism.
Towards tomorrows Church - the church has not only survived but has been able to change and adapt - flourishing under pressure?
There is a profound awareness of the utter futility of life without God and at the same time a hunger and thirst for spiritual reality. Can we catch the vision?
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