BEMA Episode Link: 201: AD 1800–1925
Episode Length: 23:13
Published Date: Thu, 07 Jan 2021 01:00:00 -0800
Session 5
About this episode:

Marty Solomon and Brent Billings leave the French Revolution behind and move into the modern era. How was the newfound land of freedom and independence handled? How did it impact the theology and ecclesiology of the people?

AD 1800–1925 Presentation (PDF)

Discussion Video for BEMA 201

Union in Truth by James B. North

Transcript for BEMA 201

Notes

*Note: The following notes are handwritten by me, Adam, and I reserve the right to be wrong.

BEMA Episode 201: AD 1800-1925 - Study Notes

Title & Source Summary

Episode: BEMA 201: AD 1800-1925 Hosts: Marty Solomon and Brent Billings Focus: The Second Great Awakening, American religious independence movements, and the rise of various Christian denominations and movements in the modern era

This episode explores how Christianity in America responded to the cultural shift toward freedom and independence following the French Revolution and the Age of Enlightenment. It examines the Second Great Awakening, the tension between colonial denominationalism and American independence, the birth of new religious movements including the Stone-Campbell Restoration Movement, and Christianity’s struggle with emerging scientific and secular worldviews in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

Key Takeaways

  • The Age of Enlightenment and scientific method challenged Christendom’s traditional reliance on creeds and doctrinal statements
  • The Second Great Awakening (early 1800s) emerged as a response to Christianity’s declining cultural influence, featuring camp meetings that emphasized revival, confession, and Holy Spirit experiences
  • American culture of freedom and independence fundamentally clashed with European colonial denominationalism, creating pressure for new religious expressions
  • Multiple movements arose simultaneously around 1800-1830, all responding to perceived corruption in traditional Christianity: Stone-Campbell Restoration Movement, Mormonism (LDS), Seventh-Day Adventists, and Jehovah’s Witnesses
  • The Stone-Campbell Movement sought to restore early church practices from Acts and rejected creedal requirements for communion and fellowship
  • Scientific challenges (Darwin) and social critiques (Marx) forced Christianity to reconsider its relationship with modernity
  • The Social Gospel movement, led by figures like William Booth (Salvation Army), attempted to recapture biblical emphasis on caring for the poor and marginalized
  • The Scopes Trial sparked Christian fundamentalism as a reaction against secular humanism, creating a “culture war” mentality
  • The Scofield Bible profoundly influenced modern evangelical eschatology, popularizing dispensationalist views that diverged from historic Christian teaching

Main Concepts & Theories

The Second Great Awakening

The Second Great Awakening (early 1800s) represented Christianity’s attempt to recapture spiritual vitality in the face of Enlightenment rationalism. Unlike the First Great Awakening associated with Methodism and John Wesley in the mid-1700s, this revival movement emphasized:

  • Camp Meetings: Outdoor revival gatherings where denominations came together for fellowship, worship, and preaching. The first widely recognized camp meeting occurred in Kentucky in 1801.
  • Experiential Faith: A shift from purely intellectual assent to creeds toward personal spiritual experience, confession, repentance, and Holy Spirit manifestations
  • Ecumenical Spirit: Temporary breaking down of denominational barriers in pursuit of genuine spiritual renewal
  • Pentecostal Roots: Many attribute the rise of Pentecostalism to these camp meeting experiences where the Holy Spirit was “poured out in abundance”

This movement represented a response to the question: “Where’s the art? Where’s the beauty? Where’s the Holy Spirit?” in Christianity that had become overly focused on systems, academics, and Protestant theological debates.

Colonial Denominationalism vs. American Independence

A fundamental tension emerged between European ecclesial structures and American cultural values:

  • Colonial Pattern: Immigrants brought their national religious identities to America (German Lutherans, Dutch Reformed, Scottish Presbyterians, etc.), establishing homogeneous religious colonies
  • Creedal Requirements: Traditional denominations maintained European practices like requiring affirmation of confessions (Westminster Confession, etc.) for membership and communion
  • American Values: The new culture emphasized freedom, independence, and individual choice, creating cognitive dissonance with inherited religious structures
  • Agricultural Metaphor: Marty describes this as “trying to plant some kind of plant that wasn’t going to grow in that climate”—old European systems couldn’t thrive in American cultural soil
The Stone-Campbell Restoration Movement

This movement exemplifies the American religious response to colonial structures:

  • Origin Story: Barton Stone, a Presbyterian minister, was appalled when asked to sign the Westminster Confession before receiving Eucharist
  • Core Conviction: Restore the faith experience of the early church in Acts rather than perpetuate denominational traditions
  • Unifying Vision: While Christianity was splintering, Stone’s movement and Thomas Campbell’s parallel work eventually united, drawing together people from different denominational backgrounds
  • Tragic Pattern: The movement initially succeeded in uniting diverse believers but later lost this beauty and splintered itself

Marty notes: “I often hate its application, but I love its ideals that it stood for.”

Simultaneous Religious Movements (1800-1830)

Multiple movements arose at the same historical moment, all responding to disgust with Christianity’s direction:

  1. Stone-Campbell Restoration Movement: Sought to restore New Testament church practices
  2. Mormonism/LDS: Joseph Smith’s new revelation and religious movement
  3. Seventh-Day Adventists: Ellen G. White’s prophetic movement emphasizing Sabbath and Old Testament law
  4. Jehovah’s Witnesses: Charles Russell’s movement with distinctive theological positions
  5. Others: John Darby and connections to dispensationalist eschatology

All these movements capitalized on “a newfound culture of freedom and independence, to start a new revived expression of a faith that they felt was corrupted and dying.”

Christianity and Scientific Modernity

The 19th century brought unprecedented challenges to traditional Christian worldviews:

  • Darwin’s Evolution: Scientific explanations for origins that challenged literal Genesis readings
  • Marxist Critique: Political ideologies that appeared anti-Christian in their materialist assumptions
  • Christian Responses: Varied from outright rejection to critical engagement, with some Christian thinkers affirming certain components while maintaining faith
The Social Gospel Movement

William Booth (Methodist pastor, founder of Salvation Army) championed social consciousness:

  • Core Conviction: Recapture the practical emphasis on caring for the poor and marginalized
  • Historical Context: Industrialization was rapidly increasing the gap between rich and poor
  • Biblical Roots: Connected to biblical themes of the alien, orphan, and widow; the marginalized and mumzer/mamzer
  • Controversy: Despite negative connotations in conservative evangelical circles, the movement attempted to recover an essential Gospel component
  • Parallel Movement: Secular humanism was articulating similar social concerns in the political realm

Marty affirms: “There is very much a social component to the Gospel from Genesis to Revelation.”

Christian Fundamentalism and the Culture Wars

Following World War I, American Christianity turned attention to fighting secular ideals:

  • Scopes Trial: The 1925 trial in Dayton, Tennessee became a flashpoint, leading to the eruption of Christian fundamentalism
  • Culture War Mentality: Christians saw themselves in battle with secular humanism
  • Historical Parallel: Reminiscent of the church’s initial reaction to Copernicus and Galileo—potentially misidentifying the enemy and the truth to be preserved
  • Splintering Effect: Division made it harder for Christianity to learn from its mistakes
The Scofield Bible’s Influence

One of the first study Bibles with marginal notes, the Scofield Bible had enormous impact:

  • Mass Distribution: Widely printed, published, and distributed across America
  • Eschatological Framework: Propagated dispensationalist theology and rapture doctrine
  • Cultural Impact: Influenced works like Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins’ “Left Behind” series
  • Theological Shift: Introduced eschatological views that were not the orthodox default of previous Christian history

Marty’s assessment: “The Scofield Bible wrecked Christian theology in the modern era.”

Examples & Applications

Geographic Diversity in America

Brent notes the unique American religious landscape: “If you’re in England and you don’t like what the Anglican Church is doing, where are you going to go? If you’re in America and you don’t like what whoever is doing, you just shift over to the west a little bit. There’s plenty of room.”

This geographic freedom enabled religious experimentation and diversity impossible in more homogeneous European contexts.

Marty’s Personal Background

Marty shares his complex religious heritage to illustrate the diversity of American religious experience:

  • Raised in Reformed Church of America (RCA), one of America’s oldest denominations
  • Trained and pastored in the Stone-Campbell Restoration Movement (Christian Church/Church of Christ)
  • Jewish by heritage
  • Extended family (father’s side) are committed Latter-Day Saints (Mormon)

This background demonstrates the religious pluralism of American experience and the importance of generous, hospitable dialogue across traditions.

War’s Impact on Progress

Marty observes: “It’s interesting how war always hinders progress. Shocker there. War always seems to get in the way, every time.”

After World War I, instead of continuing theological and social development, American Christianity turned its energy toward fighting secular ideals, leading to fundamentalism and culture war mentalities.

Modern Camp Meetings

Brent’s recent experience at a Baptist camp meeting demonstrates the continuity of Second Great Awakening practices into contemporary Christianity—gatherings still emphasizing fellowship, worship, confession, and spiritual revival.

Potential Areas for Further Exploration

  1. Detailed Stone-Campbell History: The movement’s theological distinctives, its various branches (Christian Church/Disciples of Christ, Churches of Christ, Christian Churches and Churches of Christ), and its ongoing influence in American Christianity

  2. Comparative Analysis of 19th Century Movements: Deeper examination of what Mormonism, Seventh-Day Adventism, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and the Restoration Movement share in common and where they diverge theologically

  3. Dispensationalism and Eschatology: How John Darby’s theology influenced the Scofield Bible, the development of rapture theology, and its impact on contemporary evangelical thought

  4. Social Gospel Theology: The biblical basis for social justice emphasis, its relationship to evangelism, and how to integrate social concern with orthodox Christian theology

  5. Christianity and Scientific Method: How faith communities can engage scientific discovery without repeating the mistakes of the Galileo era

  6. American Exceptionalism in Religious History: How American culture uniquely shaped Christian expression compared to European contexts

  7. Fundamentalism’s Development: The theological and cultural factors that led from the Second Great Awakening to 20th-century fundamentalism

  8. Ellen G. White and Seventh-Day Adventism: The role of prophetic authority in new religious movements and Adventist distinctives regarding Sabbath and Old Testament law

  9. The Salvation Army Model: How William Booth combined evangelism with social action, and lessons for contemporary Christian social engagement

  10. Learning from Historical Mistakes: How splintering and division prevent Christian communities from learning collectively, and what mechanisms might enable better intergenerational and inter-denominational learning

Comprehension Questions

  1. What were the main differences between the First Great Awakening (mid-1700s) and the Second Great Awakening (early 1800s), and what cultural factors contributed to the rise of the second awakening?

  2. Explain the tension between colonial denominationalism and American independence. How did this tension give rise to movements like the Stone-Campbell Restoration Movement?

  3. What common threads connected the various religious movements that emerged around 1800-1830 (Stone-Campbell, Mormonism, Seventh-Day Adventists, Jehovah’s Witnesses), and what does this tell us about the religious climate of early 19th-century America?

  4. How did the Social Gospel movement attempt to recapture a biblical emphasis, and why did it receive negative reception in some conservative evangelical circles? What does Marty suggest about the biblical legitimacy of social concern?

  5. What parallels does Marty draw between Christianity’s response to the Scopes Trial and fundamentalism, and the earlier church response to Copernicus and Galileo? What dangers might these parallels suggest for contemporary Christianity?

Summary

BEMA Episode 201 traces a critical period in American Christian history from 1800-1925, revealing how Christianity responded to the dual challenges of Enlightenment rationalism and American independence. The Second Great Awakening emerged as an experiential, Spirit-focused response to dry intellectualism, manifesting in camp meetings that temporarily united denominations in pursuit of authentic revival.

However, deeper tensions emerged between inherited European denominational structures and the American cultural emphasis on freedom and independence. This clash produced numerous movements simultaneously—all seeking to restore what they perceived as authentic Christianity lost in institutional corruption. The Stone-Campbell Restoration Movement exemplifies this pattern: beginning with the ideal of unity by rejecting creeds and restoring New Testament practices, yet eventually splintering like the traditions it critiqued.

The period also saw Christianity wrestling with modernity through scientific challenges (Darwin), social critiques (Marx), and the need to recapture concern for the marginalized (Social Gospel). The Scopes Trial crystallized these tensions, launching Christian fundamentalism and culture war mentalities that may represent a misidentification of the true enemy—reminiscent of the church’s earlier resistance to Copernican astronomy.

Throughout this complex period, the increasing splintering of Christianity made collective learning from mistakes increasingly difficult. Yet the episode reminds us that despite theological differences, all people bear the image of God, and categorical thinking (cult vs. orthodox, right vs. wrong) often obscures rather than illuminates truth. The invitation remains: trust the story, recognize the immense potential in all people, and learn from both the ideals and mistakes of those who have gone before us.

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