Navigating Church History - Essay Example

Navigating church history The development and growth of Christianity after the death and resurrection of Christ has a long history running through eras and continents and countries. Christianity in the 19th century was characterized by evangelical revivals witnessed mainly in Protestant countries and later accompanied by the development and influences of scientific theories like Darwinism on various churches (Cairns, 1996, p.23). Thus, one consequence associated with Darwinism is the modernist theology. In Europe, there were massive changes in the Catholic Church whereby it experienced a split leading to the establishment of the Old Catholic churches. This division led to a widespread from religious belief as well as observance in Christian teachings and doctrines in addition to supporting for secularism. The Age of Enlightenment and the subsequent years led to the spread of secularization in Europe. Increase in radical implications of cultural as well as scientific influences brought by the Enlightenment in the 19th century forced the Liberal Christianity, which at that time was exemplified by Germans, seek ways and avenues of responding to modernism. This action brought many changes in Christianity including development of significant approaches to the Bible, development of new attitudes concerning the purpose of religion within a social set up as well as openness to questioning of the novel definitions and views on Christian orthodoxy (González, 2010, p. 45). These developments led to the establishment of Christian fundamentalism aimed at rejecting and counteracting the radical impacts of philosophical humanism since it was majorly affecting the growth and expansion of Christianity. This was mainly focused on ensuring correct interpretation of the Bible and blocking the success of the scientific atheist into churches. With time, the Fundamentalist Evangelical movement broke into two main groups or wings; Fundamentalist movement and the Evangelical movement that became the banner of recent moderate movement (Grass, 2008, p 28). Even after the Reformation, schism within Protestant believers continued contributing to the emergence of new theologies. For example, the Enthusiasts who rose from the splinting received their name due to their emotional zeal and this comprises the Quakers, Methodists, and the Baptists (Hurlbut, 1954, p. 56). Moreover, a different faction tried to reconcile the modern ideas with Christian faith and influencing them to abandon ideas perceived to be illogical such as the Chalcedonian and Nicene Creeds. These subgroups comprised the Universalists and Unitarians. Consequently, the 19th century was characterized by rise in Biblical criticism, novel knowledge of religious diversity within various continents and the growth of science leading many Christians to them to adopt deism. Liberal Christianity otherwise known as liberal theology resembles the postmodern Christianity. It covers diverse, philosophically informed moods and movements in the 19th and 20 century Christianity. Moreover, liberal Christianity refers to insights established at the era of Enlightenment whereby individuals were viewed as political creatures with high regard to liberty of thought and expression. Catholic Church The Catholic Church forms the largest as well as the oldest form of Christian sect in the entire world. It is dated back in the 1530s and was the church of the country within England as well as the entire Western Europe where it was under the leadership of the Pope (Cairns, 1996, p.33). The church experienced various growth and developments until in the 19th century. However, despite being the largest, as well as the oldest, it had played a minor or insignificant role in the 19th century within Scotland, Wales, and England. Since the period when Henry VIII established the Church of England that is also known as the Anglican Church, the Catholic faithful who were also minority became discriminated, and denied various civil rights such as the serving within Parliament possessing certain types of property or even attending learning institutions such as the Oxford University (Grass, 2008, p 38). However, after experiencing various forms of oppression, several events that took place in the 19th century changed and shaped the position and role of British Catholics and the church. After lengthy period of ban of Catholic Church as well as persecutions of the Catholics, Catholic worship was legalized in 1791 (Cairns, 1996, p.45). The Emancipation Act established in 1829 ensured that Catholics recovered a majority of the civil rights that they were earlier denied. Consequently, the Parliament in 1840 removed the official tax- supported position of the Anglican Church within the Ireland, which was dominated by Catholics. The Anglican Church The Anglican Church experienced great vigor and massive changes in the 19th century. More cathedrals were updated for worship in conjunction to the repairs and structural programs conducted on the cathedrals. Consequently, various developments recorded in the Anglican church saw the removal of screens enclosing the choir in addition to those restricting accessibility to church services. These initiatives increased church accessibility thereby increasing church attendance (Grass, 2008, p 58). Moreover, despite the religious vigor, the role of the church in the society in 19th century was diminishing due to the emergence of various parliamentary acts. The acts permitted non-Conformists, the Roman Catholics, and non-Anglicans to vote as well as becoming Members of Parliament. Oxford movement The movement was formed mainly to restore Catholic faith as well as practice to the Church of England as there was a feeling for the need to revive the church to the previous monastic life thus the Anglo- Catholicism. Anglo Catholicism constitutes people, practices, and beliefs in the Anglicanism, which stresses on the Catholic heritage with that of the various Anglican churches thereby rejecting practices of the Reformed heritage. Despite the term being coined in the 19th century, various movements supporting the Catholic nature of Anglicanism were already into existence (Cairns, 1996, p.58). After the establishment and transient of the Act of Supremacy coupled with the Henry VII’s separation with the Catholic Church and its doctrines, the Church of England maintained to observe Catholic doctrines even after the schism. Ten Articles published in 1536 and became the first Anglican articles of devotion agreed and recognized pre- Reformation doctrines of the Church in England (Cairns, 1996, p.78). The articles advocated and observed the invocation of saints, sacrament of confession, honoring, and invocation of saints, the real presence, or existence of Christ within the Eucharist and prayer for the dead. However, belief or conviction in purgatory was not essential. Consequently, Henry VIII disliked the Bishops ‘Book published in 1537 and which showed a slight bias in support of the Reformed positions while being unpopular among the conservative members of the church (Cairns, 1996, p.78). The major shift from Reformed ideas and affirmed Catholic view regarding various matters including the mass of the dead and transubstantiation was caused by the release of the Six Articles in 1539. Henry’s son known as Edward VI caused a significant shift in Anglican doctrine. He repealed the Six Articles and who promoted and ensured that the Church of England became Protestant with change of doctrines in support of the continental reformers (González, 2010, p. 55). The nature and form of early Anglicanism was significant to the Anglo- Catholicism faithful of the 19th century who would argue in support of their practices and beliefs citing their existence in the earlier periods. The Caroline Divines composed an associate of powerful Anglican scholars active in the 17th century and who criticized Puritanism and Calvinism. The group emphasized on the importance of apostolic succession, Episcopal polity and the sacraments. Moreover, the group supported liturgy, aesthetics, and revival of use of statues and images in worship. Thus, Caroline Divines was significant since the Anglo- Catholic leaders in 19th century borrowed and used various works of the group. The effort of Caroline Divines within the 17th century with the support of various leaders of the Oxford Movement enhanced Anglo- Catholicism (González, 2010, p. 65). Therefore, the Oxford Movement which commenced in the University of Oxford in 1833 ushered an era of Anglican history regarded as the Catholic Revival. The Oxford Movement which started in the Victorian era guides the contemporary Anglo- Catholic movement also known as Tractarianism. The 19th century comprised an era of whereby various factors resulted in the misgivings witnessed among believers. Consequently, the period recorded a reduction and loss of focus in church life coupled with the spread of unconventional doctrines and practices within the Church of England (González, 2010, p. 67). The 1833 initiative by the British government of decreasing the number of bishoprics and archbishoprics in the Church of Ireland propelled John Keble to issue a sermon based on National Apostasy within the University Church in Oxford. The sermon led to the emergence of the Oxford Movement. Since its establishment, the Oxford Movement examined the church and the manner by which it conducted itself. Therefore, the movement tried to reform the church to its earlier status by eliminating all the unnecessary doctrines and practices that threatened the original doctrines as well as practices of the Church of England (González, 2010, p. 95). Thus, the Oxford Movement revived the ancient forms of worship as well as the revival of the Holy Communion as the main component of Christian worship. This is because, in both the 17th and 18th centuries, the Holy Communion used to be celebrated three to four times a year within most parishes with more focus put on the readings of the Bible especially the sermon. Since these practices had been eroded or partially observed, there was a need to reform and ensure a return to such ancient practices. The major purpose of the movement was to protect the Church of England and consider it as a divine institution that observes the doctrine and practices of the Apostolic Succession as well as the Book of Common Prayer and which serves as a rule of guide of faith (Hurlbut, 1954, p. 78). The major idea of the group was to promote the idea that Anglicanism was not a component of a Protestant denomination but a branch or part of the historic Catholic Church alongside the Roman Catholic Church in addition to, the Eastern Orthodox churches. This was supported by the notion that Anglicanism had maintained and preserved various historical apostolic sequences of priests together with bishops and, therefore, the Catholic doctrines and sacraments. The main leaders of the movement included John Henry Newman, Edward Bouverie Pusey, and John Keble. It group became more powerful as it gained support from various sectors of the society. However, it faced frequent opposition and attacks from latitudinarians within the university as well from other bishops of the church. John, an Anglican priest, did the initial attempt of promoting Anglo- Catholicism. John formed a community of men within Littlemore, close to Oxford within 1840s (González, 2010, p. 105). This action by John opened doors for the establishment of several communities of nuns, monks, sisters, and friars within the Anglican Communion. Later on in 1848, Mother Priscilla Lydia Sellon established a union known as the Anglican Sisters of Charity. She further became the first lady to participate in religious vows in the entire Anglican Communion ever since the English Reformation (Hurlbut, 1954, p. 89). Two years later in 1850, there was consecration of the first building in Abbeymere, Plymouth that was meant to house an Anglican sisterhood. This consecrated building was used for various activities such as laundry, schools for the destitute, printing press as well as a soup kitchen. There was a small group within the Oxford Movement that shifted towards submitting to the supremacy and influence of the Roman Catholic Church. However, in 1845, the university condemned the notion of the Ideal of a Christian Church together with the author, W. G Ward who was a pro- Roman Catholic scholar. George Cornelius Gorham, an Evangelical clergyman, sued the church and celebrated his victory against the church authorities over the idea and notion of the Oxford movement (Hurlbut, 1954, p. 89). The win of George led to a series of meetings and conversations to the Roman Catholic Church. However, despite the happenings, a large number of adherents of the Oxford Movement remained faithful to The Church of England. Despite presence of hostilities from the government as well as the press, the movement spread and became large. The Anglican religious communities vary whereby some are active while others are contemplative. However, the most distinguishing characteristic of the monastic life among Anglican faithful is the widespread practice of the mixed life. This entails a blend between a life of meditative prayer combined with active service. There are similarities between Anglican religious lives with the Roman Catholicism such as the taking of vows of chastity, poverty, and obedience. Moreover, the religious communities dwell together guided by a common rule with recitation of the Divine Office as well as celebrating the Eucharist in daily life (Hurlbut, 1954, p. 90). Moreover, the Anglo- Catholicism led to the emergence of a small group of Anglo- Catholics regarded as Anglo- Papalists who still observe the papal supremacy despite not being in spiritual union with the Roman Catholic Church. Consequently, associates of the personal ordinates for the earlier established by Pope Benedict XVI who are also considered as Anglican Catholics (Cairns, 1996, p.78). The Oxford movement advocated for liturgical practices that were influential similar to its social movements. Consequently, the group revived both female male and monasticism within Anglican Church’s doctrines and practices. Contemporary developments Ever since the 1970s, Anglo- Catholicism has witnessed a division into two distinct groups. The source of the inspiration for the movement was the need to reject latitudinarianism, as well as liberalism in support of the traditional faith and belief in the doctrines of the Catholic Church (Hurlbut, 1954, p. 78). Thus, the doctrines and teachings came from those advanced by the Church Fathers in addition to the common principles and teachings from the historical western and eastern Christian churches. Until the 1970s, many Anglo- Catholics opposed liberalizing development including the abdication of holy orders on women. Contemporary traditionalist Anglo- Catholics support tradition and maintains the Anglican doctrine thereby conforming to those of the Eastern Orthodox churches and the Roman Catholic Church. Consequently, the group observes and defends the doctrines on sexual morality thereby rejecting the ordination of women in the Church of England. However, the excessive liberal higher criticism on sexual morality led to the emergence of alternative Anglo- Catholicism known as liberal theology. This group, therefore, accepts the ordination of women as well as the use of inclusive language in Biblical translations. Further, the sect observes liturgy together with progressive attitudes and perceptions in relation to homosexuality (González, 2010, p. 115). Thus, this group of Anglicans regard themselves as liberal Catholics and examples include the Society of Catholic priest and Affirming Catholicism. A third group of Anglo- Catholicism condemns aspects of conservatism and liberalism since it establishes its doctrines based on the 20th century Roman Catholic teachings known as Nouvelle Theologie. This group especially draws its teachings from the works of John Milbank as well as Henri de Lubac thereby forming the radical Orthodoxy (González, 2010, p. 120). Some of the Anglo- Catholicism have abandoned Anglicanism to and created the continuing Anglican churches witnessed in the Traditional Anglican Communion, as well as Anglican Catholic Church. Moreover, others have all together abandoned Anglicanism and joined either Eastern Orthodox churches or the Roman Catholic due to the believe that the liberal doctrinal modifications have established Anglicanism not reflecting the original Church Catholic and thus the current group is a misleading branch of the Church. The Cambridge Camden Society This revival group emerged in 1839 and was more focused with issues to do with churches. For instance, it focused on the church design, the style of church furnish, conduct of services and the manner and type of music played in churches. The group being influential advocated for re- equipping of churches with regard to fittings, furnishings, clothes of the clergy in addition to the chalices used for Holy Communion (Hurlbut, 1954, p. 134). The society also influenced the layout of the churches through construction of vestries. Further, chancels were reintroduced back into fashion as well as the introduction of the church choir into the church. This was a completely new invention since before 1830s, parishes lacked church choir. Moreover, the 19th century was a period whereby churches were almost beginning a fresh since almost everything was introduced into the churches. During that period, churches introduced church manuals that served as guidelines or set principles and code of ethics for the church faithful. A good example for such manual was the Directorium Anglicanism that was published in 1858 (Hurlbut, 1954, p. 136). During the period, ritualism developed into a movement in the Church of England and this contributed to the restoration and revival of the church activities as well as the buildings thereby ensuring that proper organization of events and activities of the church. The entire changes in the church were thus partly- design led and function- led. In conclusion, Christianity has recorded massive changes since its inception. The growth of the church and in general the number of Christians contributed to the emergence of challenges threatening its traditional role in the society. The challenges led to the establishment of various movements such as the Oxford Movement. Other movements and developments in the church had a significant impact in the establishment of the Christian history in England in the 19th century. References CAIRNS, E. E. (1996). Christianity through the centuries: a history of the Christian church. Grand Rapids, Mich, Zondervan Pub. GONZÁLEZ, J. L. (2010). The story of Christianity. Volume 1, Volume 1. New York, HarperCollins. GRASS, T. (2008). Modern church history. London, SCM Press. HURLBUT, J. L. (1954). The story of the Christian church. Philadelphia, Winston. Read More