The Church in the 18th Century

1
The Church in the 18th Century
2
Expanding vision

• 1. Philanthropic enterprises
• 2. Early missions
• 3. The Americas
• 4. William Carey
• 5.The Baptist Missionary Society, 1792
• a) Carey preached on Isaiah 542 (enlarge
  the place of thy tentlengthen thy cords)
• b) His motto Attempt great things for God
  expect great things from God.

3
The Evangelical Revival

• George Whitefield(1714-1770)
• 1) childhood
• 2) Oxford
• a) servitor
• b) Holy Club
• 3) study of drama
• 4) conversion

4
Whitefields ministry

• 5) Ordination as CE deacon/ priest
• 6) Georgia
• 7) Conversion of Wesley brothers
• 8) Open air preaching
• 9) The Great Awakening in America (1725-60)

5
The Great Awakening

• Whitefields integral role
• Results in church splits
• in New England Congregationalism,
• in Middle colony Presbyterianism,
• b) increased church membership Baptists begin to
  grow
• c) higher moral consciousness and social reforms
• d) renewed interest in Indian missions
• e) more schools, basically for training of more
  ministers
• f) colonies drawn closer together by new
  spiritual bond and recognized intercolonial
  leaders

6
Summary of ministry

• Whitefields continuing work in England
• Large-scale preaching throughout the homeland
• Countess of Huntingdon
• Summary of Whitefields accomplishments
• 1) not an organizer, yet powerful influence 2)
  great fund raiser for schools and orphanages
• 3) Influence on Wesleys
• 4) established Welsh Methodists

7
Wesley/Whitefield split

• Arminian/Calvinist controversy
• Whitefield writes a pamphlet in defence of the
  Sovereignty of God in salvation (1740)
• Wesley attacks Calvinism as an obstacle to the
  sinners hope
• The battle raged more hotly after Whitefields
  death -Augustus Toplady (Rock of Ages)
  published books showing that the CoE was
  originally Calvinistic and he edited the Gospel
  Magazine in opposition to
• Wesleys The Arminian Quarterly

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Wesleys relation to the CE

• 1) Wesleys attitude I will live and die
  in the CE.
• a) conservative, holding to the divine right of
  Kings
• b) early Methodist services never competed with
  CE services
• 2) attitude of Bishops of CE opposed
  enthusiast or popularist or jealous?
• 3) Wesleys struggle over providing ordained
  leadership

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Outcomes of Revival

• American Methodism becomes independent of England
  with rapid growth in 60 years, from 18,000 to
  1,000,000
• Establishment of the Methodist Episcopal Church
  in America
• Renewal of many denominations
• Social and moral reforms
• Penal reforms
• Clapham Sect of England (1) Basically,
  aristocratic, evangelical yet conservative
  movement within the CoE (2) promoted
  Abolitionist movement, missionary enterprises,
  and broader educational
• opportunities the English slave trade was
  abolished in 1807, and slavery in 1833 (3)
  leading luminaries -John Newton, William
  Wilberforce, Charles Simeon, Grenville Sharp

10
Meanwhile

• Spread of Rationalism to Germany
• 1. applied to sacred writings and church dogma
  the Bible studied objectively as an historical
  and
• literary document
• 2. Immanuel Kant (1724-1804)
• a. born into a pietistic German home
• b. set limits on the ability of human knowledge
• 1) God cannot be known by rational proofs
• 2) metaphysical knowledge is impossible, thus
  making faith necessary to know theunknowable God.
• c. To Kant, Faith was a leap in the dark
• d. God was the highest good we can conceive