Philosophical and Spiritual Happenings of the 1800's

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KingdomBuilder
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Philosophical and Spiritual Happenings of the 1800's

Post by KingdomBuilder »

The 1800's really fascinate me. They are close enough to have had a tremendous impact on us, yet just far enough for us to not even know it.
In this thread, I'd like to discuss philosophical and spiritual/theological movements of the 1800's that occurred here, in North America, and that have created a lingering impact on churches/ Christianity in the region.
"Movements" can be large or small, long or short... So feel free to contribute any point of discussion!
I'm mostly interested in discussion the causation, emphasis, and impact of said movements, and how their impact and driving mindset linger today. I'd be especially interested in hearing y'all's, CA's, opinions as to whether any impacts from these movements have trickled into your own circles.
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Re: Philosophical and Spiritual Happenings of the 1800's

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Aside from Anabaptists, I'd say the second most brought-up group on this forum would be the Restorationists. We have a few attendees of these groups on the forum (including myself), which may actually say a tad bit in itself. Restoration theology has led to some of the most identifiable and controversial denominations within Christianity today. LDS, JWs, SDA, CoC, DoC, and a few others would all be loosely tied together through this origin.

Restorationism emerged in the wake of the Second Great Awakening (may have to discuss that one later ;) ) on the basis that, despite the Reformation, the Church had gone seriously astray/ apostate. Restorationism is, in essence, a desire to restore the church today with the Church we see in the New Testament (to varying degrees).
A short list of the fruits of this:
- rejection of denominational names ("Christians" was the initial, primary identifier of the Restoration preachers and congregations. Even today, LDS, JWs, SDA, CoC,and DoC have names that allude to this. They are very absolute and fundamental in their titles), stemming from the belief of one Church and body of Christ, undivided.
-Rejection of creeds
-Non-resistance in the original CoC and CC/DoC movemnts, and continued in JW's/SDA (LDS have a rather bloody theology, though).
-Heavy emphasis on doctrine found explicitly in the Scripture ("Where scripture speaks, we speak, and where scripture is silent, we are silent." was an early CoC/DoC saying)
-a higher focus on church authority and Elders than most Protestants (though most Restorations do not claim the "Protestant" title)
-More conservative, overall. Less apt to go "modern" in terms of church life than most Protestants.
-Stronger identity with their origins than many Protestants
-often a higher degree of a claim to "truth" than many may be comfortable with (often rightfully so)
Last edited by KingdomBuilder on Wed Dec 06, 2017 1:04 pm, edited 3 times in total.
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Re: Philosophical and Spiritual Happenings of the 1800's

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Considering the timeline and some apparent similarities in doctrine, I cannot help but wonder if Restorationism impacted the advent and theology of the Church of God in Christ, Mennonite? What do you think? Maybe some of our CGCM attendees could have an input here.
I cannot help but wonder that if CGCM was more well known, could it be included in the same list as LDS, JW, SDA, CoC, and DoC? It's obviously a relatively loose tie that binds these churches together, so I wouldn't consider it too absurd.
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Re: Philosophical and Spiritual Happenings of the 1800's

Post by Josh »

The impact of the Holiness movement reverberated deep into Anabaptist circles, leading to such oddities as ultra conservative Mennonites who mandate men shall not have beards.

The impact of the “church of God” movement impacted certain Anabaptist circles as well.

Overall, the revivalism of the 1800s changed Anabaptists. I am not sure if it were for the better or worse.
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Re: Philosophical and Spiritual Happenings of the 1800's

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KingdomBuilder wrote:Considering the timeline and some apparent similarities in doctrine, I cannot help but wonder if Restorationism impacted the advent and theology of the Church of God in Christ, Mennonite? What do you think? Maybe some of our CGCM attendees could have an input here.
I cannot help but wonder that if CGCM was more well known, could it be included in the same list as LDS, JW, SDA, CoC, and DoC? It's obviously a relatively loose tie that binds these churches together, so I wouldn't consider it too absurd.
John Holdeman was more influenced by revival preachers of the Church of God strain, alongside Wesleyan Holiness influences.

Of particular interest is how popular one true church teaching became in the 1800s.
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Re: Philosophical and Spiritual Happenings of the 1800's

Post by mike »

Mormonism.
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Re: Philosophical and Spiritual Happenings of the 1800's

Post by Josh »

A small movement worth noting is Christadelphianism, which to this day is one of the few surviving peace churches that still maintains fairly strict practice of nonresistance.

The largest movement was Adventism, which left rather odd legacies such as Millerites, Sabbatarianism, and probably oddest of all, Armstrongism.

But the most significant thing of all in the 1800s was, in my opinion, John Darby's influence on the rest of Christianity. His invention of dispensational premillennial eschatology left few evangelical denominations unscathed, and the influence of that movement on Anabaptists is particularly noteworthy.

It's interesting to see that the locus of influences on church movements in the 1800s resided in North America and in the UK/Ireland. In the 1500s and 1600s, continental Europe was of far more importance.
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Re: Philosophical and Spiritual Happenings of the 1800's

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mike wrote:Mormonism.
I'll refer to them as LDS in this thread, as it reflects the movement from which they came.

Or if I really want to add some length to a post, I may call them The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. *faints*
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Re: Philosophical and Spiritual Happenings of the 1800's

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Josh wrote:John Holdeman was more influenced by revival preachers of the Church of God strain, alongside Wesleyan Holiness influences.
Is this the lineage of the modern-day Church of God denomination?
Of particular interest is how popular one true church teaching became in the 1800s.
I agree. DoC (and it's sister, CoC) are much more congregationally-based than many. In my congregation, the lingering attitude of a true and false church does exist quite noticeably. The True Church isn't confined to any denominational tradition, but it is made up of individual congregations and members. Here, it is preached that there are apostate, or false, churches in every tradition. Some would happen to have many more than others as a result of their doctrine and history.
Last edited by KingdomBuilder on Wed Dec 06, 2017 6:16 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Philosophical and Spiritual Happenings of the 1800's

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Josh wrote:But the most significant thing of all in the 1800s was, in my opinion, John Darby's influence on the rest of Christianity. His invention of dispensational premillennial eschatology left few evangelical denominations unscathed, and the influence of that movement on Anabaptists is particularly noteworthy.
This is a good one, Josh. I'd be interested in hearing your (and others') elaboration on the bolded.
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