It would be nearly impossible to overestimate the impact of John and Charles Wesley on contemporary American Protestantism. From the hymns we sing, to the small groups we attend, to the empowerment of the laity to teach and preach, to the eventual ordination of women into professional ministry, the Wesleys – and the Methodist tradition...
Tag: puritanism
Church Hist. (Modern), Part 3: Revivalism and the First Great Awakening
The religious zeal that marked the first Puritan colonies was destined to wane. As new generations were born, and new waves of settlers arrived, new priorities and visions of the good life began to take shape. Many professed a Christian faith and had connection to the church, but not with the same rigor as those...
Church Hist. (Modern), Part 2: From Europe to the New World
The Reformation gave birth not to a solitary Protestantism, but to a wide variety of Protestantisms. (The Reformers came to quick agreement that the Bible – and not the traditions or authorities of the Catholic Church – was the ultimate arbiter of truth. What they could not agree upon was what the Bible intended to...