Reformation Period 1517-1792

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Reformation Period1517-1792

• This was the beginning of change, but the Reform
  Church brought a lot of baggage with it (i.e.
  church-state concepts, infant baptism,
  sacramentalism, formalism, and territorialism).

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Reasons the Reformation began

• Renaissance education emphasized critical
  thinking
• Availability of printed material Bible
• Abuses of the Roman Catholic Church
• Pope Leo Xs lifestyle
• Sale of Indulgences and Relics
• Sales of Church offices simony
• Mariolatry, saints intercession, infallibility of
  pope, celibacy
• Once you hear the moneys ring, the soul from
  purgatory is free to spring Tetzel

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Martin Luther (1483-1546)

• Luther was a professor at Wittenberg University
• Religious truth found only in the Bible
• Sales of indulgences reduced/cancel purgatory
  suffering ensuring heaven
• Supported lavish lifestyles of Church leaders
• Financed the building of St. Peters Basilica for
  400 years
• Criticized Church practices and leadership in 95
  Theses

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Spread of Lutheranism
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Spread of Lutheranism 1560
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John Calvin (1509-1564)

• French student associated with Radical movement
  in Paris, fled to Geneva wrote Institutes at 19
• Calvinism/Presbyterianism
• Sovereignty of God who determines everything and
  every destiny of man
• Theocracy in Geneva (church-state)
• Established a training Institute in Geneva which
  sent out graduates to spread Calvinism

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Spread of Calvinism from Geneva
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Reformation Period 1517-1705

• Protestant Reformation was attempt to return to
  apostolic Christianity
• New truth did not affect missions for 200 yrs
• Roman Catholic counter reformation resulted in
  more missionariesRCC gained more than lost!
  (approx 1560-1650)
• Reasons for apathy among early Protestants
• Some taught Commission only for apostles
• Lutheran and Reformation churches fighting among
  themselves 30 yrs War left Germany in economic
  and social chaos
• Protestants tended to Deterministic Theology God
  does it without human intervention!
• Protestants had no religious order dedicated to
  evangelizing as did the Catholics Franciscans,
  Dominicans and Jesuits

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Limited Missionary Effort for 200 yrs

• In 1555 French Calvinist Huguenots went to Brazil
• Chaplains primary concern was French, not
  Brazilian
• Little success (less than 1-yr) and soon murdered
  by Portuguese Catholics
• In 1649 the Society for the Propagation of the
  Gospel in New England formed to reach the Indians
  of New England
• John Eliot spent two years learning language of
  Algonquians and by 1663 completed NT translation
• Formed Christian Indian praying towns

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Limited Missionary Effort for 200 yrs

• In 1664 Baron Von Welz criticized the Lutheran
  church for lack of missionary interest, gave up
  his title, sailed to Surinam, SA
• Official refutation of Welzs view was
• 1) difficulty of missionary task,
• 2) difficulty of recruiting,
• 3) depravity of heathen making conversion nearly
  impossible,
• 4) great need at home,
• 5) it is the responsibility of the few Christians
  already there

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Reasons for the Great Omission

• Difficult circumstances of the Protestants
• Always a minority in Europe, fighting for
  existence
• Authorized killing Protestants, like the St.
  Bartholomew's Day Massacre in 1572 where 3000
  killed resulted Edict of Nantes, 1598, gave
  rights to Huguenots
• Protestants drawn into Religious Wars to survive
  
• Protestants argued among themselves
  theologically each with threats of capital
  punishment
• Lutherans and Calvinists joined to persecute the
  Anabaptists, who wanted radical reform of
  Protestant church
• Protestants only reluctantly took advantage of
  Protestant countries colonial expansion then
  only as chaplains of their people, often
  prohibiting the preaching within the colonies

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More Reasons for Omission

• Lack of Para-church Orders (mission agencies)
• Nothing compared to the Franciscans, Dominicans,
  Augustinians, and Jesuits
• Not until para-church mission boards formed did
  Protestant missionary movement begin (1792)
• Common Rationalizations for disinterest
• 1. Charity begins at home to justify unconcern
• Rebuttal We can never reach our homeland, so
  time will never come to send out missionaries!
• 2. Heathen are too depraved and quote, The holy
  things of God are not to be cast before such dogs
  and swine (Mat 76)Does not refer to heathen
  but false teachers!
• Rebuttal All men are equally depraved (Rom
  322-23), nor did they understand the power of
  the Spirit to convict and convince men of truth

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Theology of the Reformers

• Exegetical excuse Commission only given to
  Apostles problem phrase, until the end of the
  age!
• Exegetical excuse Col 123 ingressive aorist
  participle, the gospel that you have heard,
  which is beginning to be proclaimed in all
  creation under heaven.
• Political excuse Held that the Commission was
  the responsibility of the government
• Anabaptists held to a separation of church and
  state
• Reformers held to a Landeskirche, a territorial
  churchany church outside the territorial church
  is illegal
• Theological excuse it is Gods responsibility
  to save the heathen, not ourssince regeneration
  is not necessarily related to preaching or faith,
  we are not needed to evangelize!
• Theological excuse Most believed that the end of
  the age was soon, so there was no time to
  evangelize though it is clear that no one can
  know the time (Mt 2436)

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Final Reasons

• Limited concept of Missions
• Thought the church was merely to grow within its
  national boundary as ripples across a pond
• Thought reaching numerically more people, was
  equal or better than reaching all peoples
• Thought a special call from God to be a
  missionary was necessary to make a commitmentthe
  expressed desire of Christ was not sufficient!
• Spiritual Weakness of the Reformation
• The Reformation was not a revival in which
  millions were born again
• Most were sweep along with the territorial church
• Reformers did not spell out a clear doctrine of
  regeneration or the new birth still depended
  upon baptism and communion (sacraments) and the
  church
• Sardis church, I know your deeds you have a
  reputation of being alive, but you are dead Rev.
  31

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Beginning of Missionary Movement

• Pietists of central Europe started movement
• Reacted against barren orthodoxy and formalism of
  Reformation churches
• Philip Spenser (1635-1705) sought to renew church
  through small groups, personal conversion
  experience, Bible study, prayer, godly living,
  compassion and missionary zeal
• In 1705 first mission, Danish-Halle Mission, sent
  out first missionaries, Bartholomew Ziegenbalg
  and Heinrich Plutschau, to Danish colonies in
  East Indies
• Second step was Moravian Church in 1722 Count
  Zinzendorf gave refuge to Anabaptists. In less
  than 10 yrs 226 Moravians sent to 10 countries.
• Puritanism under Jonathan Edwards, a missionary
  to the Indians, challenged through Concert of
  Prayer for spread of Gospel to worldorigin of
  Wed. night prayer meeting

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Early Missions to S. America
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Launching of Missions

• 1792 William Careys book An Enquiry into the
  Obligations of Christians to Use Means for the
  Conversion of the Heathen
• Careys mentor responded, Young man, sit down.
  When God pleases to convert the heathen, He will
  do it without your aid or mine
• Carey founded the Baptist Missionary Society
  took family and 2 associates to India for 40 yrs
• Carey called Father of Missions
• Soon all European denominations had a mission

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European Explorations
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Three Early British Missionaries

• Robert Morrison, Pioneer to China (1782-1834)
• After training sailed to China in 1807
• China was very closed to foreign devils plus
  British Trade Companies opposed them (opium
  trade)
• Prohibited to learn Chinesehe witnessed secretly
  and translated Bible
• Motivated Parliament to permit missionaries to
  evangelize

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Three Early British Missionaries

• Robert Moffat Pioneer to Africa
• Evangelist, translator, educator, diplomat and
  explorer
• A Scotch Calvinist saved through new Methodist
  movement
• Arrived in 1816, Married on the field, started
  mission compound,
• mediated tribal warfare, failed to evangelize
  through trade language,
• translated Bible but British presses refused to
  print it, first converts in 1829,
• eventually would win about 200, after 53 years in
  Africa with 1 furlough returned to promote
  missions in British Isles

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Three Early British Missionaries

• David Livingston (1813-1873) Explorer in
  AfricaMost famous missionary
• Semi-nomadic ministry of exploration and witness,
  opening central Africa
• Henry Stanley, American newsman, went to find and
  interview Livingston found him in 1871later
  challenged and surrendered to be a missionary

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American Join World Evangelism

• Samuel J. Mills, left a farm, went to college
  to prepare for ministry in 1806
• At Williams College he was challenged by 4 other
  students often met for prayer
• During a storm they fled to a haystack for
  protectionFamous Haystack Prayer Meeting
• Adoniram Judson joined Haystack prayer group at
  Andover Seminary
• Together they formed the American Board of
  Commissioners for Foreign Missions in 1810
• In 1812 Judson and seven colleagues sailed for
  India as first of thousands of American
  missionaries
• En route Judson and Luther Rice became convinced
  of believers baptism Luther returned to start
  mission

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Missionary flow from America
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3 Eras of Mission Activity

• First Era to the coastlandsWilliam Carey
  (1761-1834)
• Mobilized by early student movements
• Typically nondenominational missions
• Astonishing readiness to sacrifice
• Second Era to the inland areasHudson Taylor
  (1832-1905)
• Mobilized by Student Volunteer Movement
• Many Faith Missions planted churches in every
  geographical area by 1940.

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3 Eras of Mission Activity

• Third Era to the unreached people Cameron
  Townsend (1896-1982) and Donald McGavran
  (1897-1990)
• Mobilized by Inter-Varsity Fellowship, Campus
  Crusade Student Foreign Mission Fellowship
• Townsend discovered languages groups needing
  translations, started SIL and Wycliffe Bible
  Trans.
• McGavran focused on social groupings and Church
  Growth Principles
• People Group concept was born defined as
  ethno-linguistic groups (cultural traditions and
  prejudices)
• Missions is defined as From all nations, to all
  nations.