History of Christianity

This article outlines the history of Christianity and provides links to relevant topics.

20th Century

Christianity in the 20th century was characterized by accelerating fragmentation. The century saw the rise of both liberal and conservative splinter groups, as well as a general secularization of Western society. The Roman Catholic Church instituted many reforms in order to modernize. Missionaries also made inroads in the Far East, establishing further followings in China, Taiwan, and Japan. At the same time, persecution in Communist Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union brought many Eastern Orthodox Christians to Western Europe and the United States, leading to greatly increased contact between Western and Eastern Christianity. In addition, Christian ecumenism grew in importance, beginning at the Edinburgh Missionary Conference in 1910.

Related Topics:
20th century - Far East - China - Taiwan - Japan - Christian ecumenism - Edinburgh Missionary Conference

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Catholic reforms

• Second Vatican Council
• Ecumenical initiatives
• Anathemas (excommunications) from the Great Schism mutually revoked by the Pope and the Patriarch of Constantinople
• Pope John Paul II

Non-catholic developments

Another movement which has grown up over the 20th century has been Christian anarchism which rejects the church, state or any power other than God. They also believe in absolute nonviolence. Leo Tolstoy's book The Kingdom of God is Within You http://www.kingdomnow.org/withinyou.html published in 1894 is believed to be the catalyst for this movement.

Related Topics:
Christian anarchism - Nonviolence - Leo Tolstoy - The Kingdom of God is Within You

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The 1950's saw a boom in the Evangelical church in America. The post World War II prosperity experienced in the U.S. also had its effects on the church. Although simplistically referred to as "morphological fundamentalism", the phrase nonetheless does accurately describe the physical developments experienced. Church buildings were built in large numbers, and the Evangelical church's activities grew along with this expansive physical growth.

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Another noteworthy development in 20th century Christianity was the rise of the modern Pentecostal movement. Although its roots pre-date the year 1900, its actual birth is commonly attributed to the 20th century. Sprung from Methodist and Wesleyan roots, it arose out of the meetings at an urban mission on Azusa Street in Los Angeles. From there it spread around the world, carried by those who experienced what they believed to be miraculous moves of God there. These so-called miraculous, Pentecost-like manifestations have steadily been in evidence throughout the history of Christianity- such as seen in the two Great Awakenings that started in the United States, et al. However, Azusa Street is widely accepted as the fount of "the modern Pentecostal movement." Pentecostalism, which in turn birthed the Charismatic movement within already established denominations, continues to be an important force in western Christianity.

Related Topics:
Pentecostal - Charismatic movement

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Modernism and the fundamentalist reaction

As the more radical implications of the scientific and cultural influences of the Enlightenment began to be felt in the Protestant churches, especially in the 19th century, Liberal Christianity sought to bring the churches alongside of the broad revolution that Modernism represented. In doing so, new critical approaches to the Bible were developed, new attitudes became evident about the role of religion in society, and a new openness to questioning the nearly universally accepted definitions of Christian orthodoxy began to become obvious.

Related Topics:
Enlightenment - 19th century - Liberal Christianity

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In reaction to these developments, Christian fundamentalism was a movement to reject the radical influences of philosophical humanism, as this was affecting the Christian religion. Especially targeting critical approaches to the interperetaton of the Bible, and trying to blockade the inroads made into their churches by atheistic scientific assumptions, the fundamentalists began to appear in various denominations as numerous independent movements of resistance to the drift away from historic Christianity. Over time, the Fundamentalist Evangelical movement has divided into at least two main wings, with the label Fundamentalist following one branch, while Evangelical has become the preferred banner of the more moderate movement. Although both movements primarily originated in the English speaking world, the majority of Evangelicals are now elsewhere.

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The Rise of Evangelicalism

In the U.S. and elsewhere in the world, there has been a marked rise in the evangelical wing of Protestant denominations, especially those that are more exclusively evangelical, and a corresponding decline in the mainstream liberal churches. In the post-World War I era, Liberalism was the faster growing sector of the American church. Liberal wings of denominations were on the rise, and a considerable number of seminaries held and taught from a liberal perspective as well. In the post-World war II era, the trend began to swing back towards the conservative camp in America's seminaries and church structures. Those entering seminaries and other post-graduate theologically related programs have shown more conservative leanings than their average predecessors.

Related Topics:
Protestant - Liberalism

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The neo-Evangelical push of the 1940's and 1950's produced a movement that continues to have wide influence. In the South the more moderate neo-Evangelicals, represented by the likes of Billy Graham, have experienced a notable surge displacing the caricature of the pulpit pounding country preachers of fundamentalism. The stereotypes have gradually shifted. Some, such as Jerry Falwell, have managed to maintain credibility in the eyes of many fundamentalists, as well as to gain stature as a more moderate Evangelical.

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Evangelicalism is not a single, monolithic entity. The Evangelical churches and their adherents cannot be easily stereotyped. Most are not Fundamentalist, in the narrow sense that this term has come to represent; though many still refer to themselves as such. There have always been diverse views on issues, where popularly Evangelicals seem too easily pigeon-holed, such as openness to cooperation with non-Evangelicals, the applicability of the Bible to political choices and social or scientific issues, and even the limited inerrancy of the Bible.

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However, the movement has managed in an informal way, to reserve the name Evangelical for those who adhere to an historic Christian faith, a paleo-orthodoxy, as some have put it. Those who call themselves "moderate evangelicals"(although considered conservative in relation to society as a whole) still hold fast to the fundamentals of the historic Christian faith. Even "Liberal" Evangelicals label themselves as such not so much in terms of their theology, but rather to advertise that they are progressive in their civic, social, or scientific perspective.

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There is some debate as to whether Pentecostals are considered to be Evangelical or not. Their roots in Pietism and the Holiness movement are undisputedly Evangelical, but their doctrinal distinctives differ from the more traditional Evangelicals, who are less likely to have an expectation of private revelations from God, and differ from the Pentecostal perspective on miracles, angels and demons. Typically, those who include the Pentecostals in the Evangelical camp are labeled neo-evangelical by those who do not. The National Association of Evangelicals has numerous trinitarian Pentecostal denominations among their membership. Another relatively late entrant to wide acceptance within the Evangelical fold, is the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

Related Topics:
Pentecostal - Pietism - Holiness movement - National Association of Evangelicals - Seventh-day Adventist Church

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Evangelicals are as diverse as the names that appear- Billy Graham, Chuck Colson, J. Vernon McGee, Benny Hinn, J.I. Packer, John R.W. Stott, Pat Robertson, Jimmy Carter, etc.- or even Evangelical institutions such as Dallas Theological Seminary(dispensationalist), Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary (Calvinist, Boston), Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (Chicago), Wheaton College (Illinois), the Christian Coalition, The Christian Embassy (Jerusalem), etc. Although there exists a diversity in the Evangelical community worldwide, the ties that bind all Evangelicals are still apparent. A "high view" of Scripture, belief in the Deity of Christ, the Trinity, salvation by grace through faith, the bodily ressurection of Christ, to mention a few.

Related Topics:
Chuck Colson - Benny Hinn - J.I. Packer - John R.W. Stott - Pat Robertson - Jimmy Carter - Trinity Evangelical Divinity School

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There has also been a polarization of the Anglican Communion worldwide chiefly because of actions taken by some Anglicans and Episcopalians in the U.S. and Canada.

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Evangelism in the 10/40 Window

Evangelicals defined and prioritized efforts to reach the "unreached" in the late 20th and early 21st centuries to focus on countries roughly between 10 north and 40 degrees south latitude. This area is mostly dominated by Muslim nations, many who do not allow missionaries of other religions to enter their countries.

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The spread of secularism

In Europe there has been a general move away from religious observance and belief in Christian teachings and a move towards secularism. The "secularization of society", attributed to the time of the Renaissance and its following years, is largely responsible for the spread of secularism. For example the Gallup International Millennium Surveyhttp://www.gallup-international.com/survey15.htm showed that only about one sixth of Europeans attend regular religious services, less than half gave God "high importance", and only about 40% believe in a "personal God". Nevertheless the large majority considered that they "belong" to a religious denomination. Numbers show that the "de-Christianization" of Europe has slowly begun to swing in the opposite direction. Renewal in certain quarters of the Anglican church, as well as in pockets of Protestantism on the continent attest to this initial reversal of the secularization of Europe, the continent in which Christianity originally took its strongest roots and world expansion.

Related Topics:
Europe - Secularism - Religious denomination

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In North America, South America and Australia, the other three continents where Christianity is the dominant professed religion, religious observance is much higher than in Europe. At the same time, these regions are often seen by other nations as being uptight and "Victorian", in their social mores. In general, the United States does lean towards the conservative in comparison to other western nations in its general culture, in part due to the Christian element found primarily in its mid-western and southern states.

Related Topics:
North America - South America - Australia

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South America, historically Catholic, has experienced a large Evangelical and Pentecostal infusion over the past ca. 80 years due to the influx of Christian missionaries from abroad. For example: Brazil, South America's largest country, is the largest Catholic country in the world, and at the same time is the largest Evangelical country in the world (based on population). Some of the largest Christian congregations in the world are found in Brazil.

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Australia has seen renewal in different parts of her Anglican Church, as well as a growing presence of an Evangelical community. Although more "traditional" in its Anglican roots, this nation-continent has seen growth in its religious sector. Some of its religious programming is even exported via satellite.

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