The History of the Church Introduction Ages of the Church • The Age of catholic Christianity • The Age of Imperial Christianity • The Age of Christendom • The Age of Reformation • The Age of Reason and Revival • The Great Awakening • The Second Great Awakening • The Layman’s Prayer Revival • The Rise of Liberalism • The Rise of Pentacostalism 2 July 22, 2012 Ages of the Church • So we have studied the ages of the church from the book of Acts to the latest televangelist in an Armani suit! • We have seen the first church, simple, fast growing, establishing its identity. • Next came the Imperial Church. Emperor Constantine, seeing the cross and winning the battle, made Christianity the State Church, requiring that all become Christians. We saw how that turned out. • With the split between east and west, the Bishop of Rome became the Pope of the Catholic Church and the age of Christendom began with the withholding of the sacraments and a king in sack cloth on his knees in the snow. 3 July 22, 2012 Ages of the Church • Next, a corrupt church and a few strong voices created Protestantism. Immediately there were differences and splits. • Christianity moved to the New World and we saw the first Great Awakening, the establishment of Colleges, the creation of more denominations. • It took another Great Awakening and the Layman’s prayer revival to keep Christianity blossoming and growing in America. Christians tend to forget from generation to generation. • Then came the Germans, the philosophers and the Liberal Christians trying to reconcile God with Science. 4 July 22, 2012 Ages of the Church • This was answered by the Fundamentalist and an attempt to return to the root of Christianity. The Holiness Movement and the Pentacostals tried to return to the church of the book of Acts. Of course the Charismatics saw a great opportunity and from Radio to TV, the healings, the money and the eye shadow kept flowing. So, with the exceptions of a close look at Eastern Orthodoxy and some offshoots with magic glasses and golden tablets, we think we have this History of the Church nailed down. Right?? 5 July 22, 2012 Ages of the Church – Which Dénomination Are You? • According to Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, there exist roughly 43,000 Christian denominations worldwide in 2012. That is up from 500 in 1800 and 39,000 in 2008 and this number is expected to grow to 55,000 by 2025. • Currently, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary estimates that a new Christian denomination is formed every 10.5 hours, or 2.3 denominations a day. • Wikipedia does a great job listing the largest denominations. Religion Facts compares the major denominations. And the Hartford Institute for Religion Research has links to hundreds of official denominational websites. 6 July 22, 2012 Gotta Catch ‘Em All 7 July 22, 2012 8 July 22, 2012 9 July 22, 2012 10 July 22, 2012 Ages of the Church • Catholicism – (1,200,000,000 adherents) Click for beliefs. Restorationism (20,000,000) Click for beliefs. • Roman Catholic Church (1,187,000,000) Click for beliefs. >> Seventh-day Adventists (17,000,000) Click for beliefs. >> Church of Christ (5,000,000) Click for beliefs. • Protestantism – (792,000,000 adherents) Click for beliefs. >> Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) (1,000,000) Click • Pentecostalism/Charismatic (612,000,000) Click for beliefs. >> Assemblies of God (60,000,000) Click for beliefs. for beliefs. >> New Apostolic Church (11,200,000) Click for beliefs. Anabaptism (4,500,000) Click for beliefs. >> Foursquare Church (8,000,000) Click for beliefs. >> Church of God in Christ (6,500,000) Click for beliefs. >> Mennonites (1,500,000) Click for beliefs. • Baptist (100,000,000) Click for beliefs. >> Amish (250,000) Click for beliefs. >> Southern Baptist Convention (16,000,000) Click for beliefs. Eastern Orthodoxy – (230,000,000 adherents) Click for • Lutheranism (87,000,000) Click for beliefs. beliefs. >> Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (5,000,000) Click for beliefs. Oriental Orthodox Church – (82,000,000 adherents) Click • Methodism (75,000,000) Click for beliefs. for beliefs. >> United Methodist Church (12,000,000) Click for beliefs. Anglicanism – (85,000,000 adherents) Click for beliefs. >> African Methodist Episcopal Church (3,000,000*) Click for beliefs. Episcopal Church in the U.S.A. (2,400,000) Click for • Reformed Churches (75,000,000) Click for beliefs. beliefs. >> Presbyterian Church U.S.A. (3,000,000) Click for beliefs. Nontrinitarianism – (36,000,000 adherents) Click for >> United Church of Christ (1,000,000) Click for beliefs. beliefs. • Non-Denominational Evangelicalism (40,000,000) Click for beliefs. Jehovah’s Witnesses (7,700,000) Click for beliefs. >> Calvary Chapel (25,000,000) Click for beliefs. Mormonism (14,700,000) Click for beliefs. >> The Vineyard (15,000,000) Click for beliefs. Nestorianism – (600,000 adherents) Click for beliefs. 11 July 22, 2012 Ages of the Church We have seen that a small, despised movement from a corner of Palestine move out to become the dominant faith of the mighty Roman Empire, an empire steeped in fiercely defended traditional pagan religions. The spread of the Christian church in its earliest centuries is one of the most amazing phenomena in all of human history. The church was considered a religio prava , an illegal and depraved religion. Wave after wave of persecution was unleashed to squash it. At least two of the persecutions were empire-wide and intended to destroy the church. The earliest Christians did not have church buildings. They typically met in homes. (The first actual church building to be found is at Dura Europos on the Euphrates, dating about 231.) They did not have public ceremonies that would introduce them to the public. In 313, Emperor Constantine I issued the Edict of Milan, officially legalizing Christian worship. In 380, with the Edict of Thessalonica put forth under Theodosius I, the Roman Empire officially adopted Trinitarian Christianity as its state religion, and Christianity established itself as a predominantly gentile religion in the state church of the Roman Empire. In the early Middle Ages, missionary activities spread Christianity towards the west among German peoples. During the High Middle Ages, eastern and western Christianity grew apart, leading to the East-West Schism of 1054. Growing criticism of the Roman Catholic ecclesiological structure and its behaviour, led to the Protestant movement of the 16th century and the split of western Christianity. Since the Renaissance era, with western colonialism, Christianity has expanded throughout the world. Today there are more than two billion Christians worldwide, and Christianity has become the world's largest religion. Truly we have seen God’s work on His creation! We have also seen man’s work on His creation. I hope that this study had shed light on the roots of the Church and its history as we understand how we got here! 12 July 22, 2012.