Historical Highlights 1800AD-1899AD

July 17, 2010

1801:

 Second Great Awakening begins at Cane Ridge Revival

1804:

 Barton Stone and several of his followers break all denominational ties and begin calling themselves merely “Christian—beginning of the “Restoration Movement”

1807:

 British Parliament votes to abolish slave trade due in large part to William Wilberforce

1809:

 Restoration Movement (Primitivism)—it takes a prominent place in American Christianity. It is propelled by the desire to return to “NT Christianity” and purge the church of history (confessions/creeds) and tradition—Thomas and Alexander Campbell are key players with Stone

1812:

 Princeton Theology (Reformed Confessionalism); Archibald Alexander, Charles Hodge, A.A. Hodge, B.B. Warfield, and J. Gresham Machen (ends in 1921); Judson”s, first American sent missionaries head for Burma

1825:

 Unitarianism picks up adherents (denial of the Trinity)

1826:

 American Temperance Society is founded, churches are its main source of members

1827:

 Charles Grandison Finney begins holding revivals and using his “new measures,” revivalist techniques that justify the use of direct public pressure to secure “convictions”

1829:

 Perfectionism: sparked by the Second Great Awakening, teaches that a second work of the Holy Spirit (after conversion) creates complete happiness and holiness in believer. It is influenced and influences Methodism and the Holiness Movement. It survives today mainly in Pentecostal churches

1830:

 Mormonism: founded by Joseph Smith, recognizes four scriptures: bible, Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, and Pearl of Great Price, becomes a powerful Cult in last part of 20th century

1830:

 Pretribulationism: doctrine that Christ will snatch away Christians before the Great Tribulation, John Nelson Darby is key figure

1834:

 Millenarianism: a belief in a 1,000 year period of divine order on earth

1836:

 Transcendentalism: comes out of Deist movement, quasi-religious meditations on union of humans and nature and emphasizes intuition over logic (Emerson and Thoreau)

1840:

 Revivalism: Religious enthusiasm and intensity, conversion of the unregenerate and spiritual renewal of saved—its main tools are crusades and prayer meetings

1843:

 Millerites predict the end of the world, October 22, 1844—this group later forms the Seventh-day Adventists in 1863, Ellen White is key figure

1845:

 Baptist churches split into Southern Baptists and Northern Baptists; baseball invented

1849:

 Liberalism (modernism): “adapts” Christianity to fit intellectual and social climate of the day (evolution, psychology, etc.)

1865:

 China Inland Mission (Hudson Taylor) and Salvation Army (William Booth)

1869:

 Papal Infallibility, belief that when pope speaks ex cathedra (as a pope), he speaks irreformable truth

1870:

 Dispensationalism: maintains that history is divided into time periods (7+) where man is tested in respect of obedience to some specific revelation of the will of God, he is found wanting and God sends another (Darby and later, Scofield); Jehovah”s Witnesses are formed (Charles Taze Russell)

1873:

 D.L. Moody conducts large evangelistic meetings in US and UK

1874:

 The “Gift People” begin speaking in tongues, first recorded occurrence in US

1875:

 Christian Science: matter is an “evil illusion” but the spirit is real and can generate spontaneously healing (Mary Baker Eddy)

1891:

 Basketball is invented!

1895:

 The Five Points of Fundamentalism drawn up to combat growing liberalism (verbal inerrancy, divinity of Jesus, virgin birth, substitutionary atonement, and the physical resurrection and bodily return of Christ)

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