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THE TRANSFORMATION OF CHRISTIANITY: AN INTERPRETATION

OF THE 20TH CENTURY 

AN INAUGURAL PROFESSORIAL

LECTURE

 Professor William K. Kay

Catrin Finch Centre, Glyndŵr University, 11 Jan 2011

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1900 2000 Orthodox

Syrian Orthodox, Russian Orthodox, Greek Orthodox...

Roman Catholic Protestant

Anglican, old Protestant (i.e. Congregational, Baptist, Presbyterian) and Independent (including classical Pentecostal and neo-Pentecostal)...

Marginals

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A STATISTICAL COMPARISONPopulation 1910 2010

World Population 1759 6960

Christian population of world

612 (34.7%) 2292 (33.2%)

European Population

427 730

Christian population of Europe

403 (94.3%) 585 (80.1%)

Europe as % of world population

24.2 10.5

Figures taken from Todd M Johnson & Kenneth R Ross (2009), Atlas of Global Christianity, Edinburgh, Edinburgh University Press

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LITURGICALRoman Catholic

Greek Orthodox

Protestant

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EUROPE 1900 Main line Denomination

SundaysOrdained clergy

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Baptismal font:

65% of births baptised in CofEin 1902

Bishop CharlesGore

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EUROPE 1900 Extempore Protestantism

D L Moody and Ira Sankey, 1872-5

Salvation Army

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THE WELSH REVIVAL 1904 Evan Robert’s travelling evangelistic

bands: 100,000 commitments to Christ Social impact - crime figures all over

the Principality dropped. The meetings -informal, lengthy and

spontaneous Any member of the congregation,

including women or children, might suddenly lead the rest in prayer or start with the singing of a hymn.

Roberts himself convened the meetings and presided over them [but was not ordained]

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AMERICA & REVIVAL William Seymour 1906 Azusa Street mission

broke the social mould –all races Extempore yet biblical teachingpower and presence of the Holy Spirit in

prophecy, speaking in tongues, miracles and healings

Its own Newspaper- The Apostolic Faith spread the news

-1912

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EDINBURGH 1910

•1215 delegates from the larger missionary societies –all men, few from Asia/less from Africa / Latin America•Assumption: Christian West to the non-Christian East•Failure to see: the increasing flow of the Pentecostal movement and the impact of the two world wars

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WORLD WAR 1 The moral authority of Christianity was

enormously diminished The habit of churchgoing was disrupted

by war. The political authority of Christianity

was diminished. In defeat Germany lost its colonies and

therefore its missionary work in Africa and elsewhere.

Russia became Soviet Russia, the first state to be governed by militant atheists.

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EUROPE: COMMUNISM The Persecuted

Church in the Communist blocDestruction ImprisonmentGulagsYet Baptists,

Pentecostals kept going!

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FASCISM The evils of communism on one side

and fascism on the other seemed a pincer movement made in hell

Fascism covered Spain, Italy and Germany and sought to incorporate the church into its ruling philosophy

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ISSUES IN THE EUROPEAN CHURCH Mission slows down Anglican reform falters Ecumenism begins BUT the Revivalistic stream

Pentecostalism grew UK- George Jeffreys conducted his

revival and divine healing crusades

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GROWTH OF PENTECOSTALISM Missionaries...

European national leaders- T.B. Barrett, Lewi Pethrus, Karl Fix, G.

Polman, Donald Gee

American revivalism... Pentecostals went worldwide while

building at home

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WORLD WAR 2 Nazis attempted to control the church

in Germany and use it to promote their racist message.

The Confessing Church was formed to oppose this.

Karl Barth from Switzerland castigated Lutheran surrender to Hitler’s demands

Dietrich Bonhoeffer dies in a plot against Hitler.

Some Pentecostal churches in Germany were small enough to be left alone.

In Asia, you will recall The Bridge on the River Kwai and prisoner of war speaking the Lord’s Prayer before being shot.

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WORLD WAR 2 In UK Archbishop William Temple

acknowledged pacifism as a legitimate Christian witness.

From the Vatican, Pope Pius XII always considered communism to be a greater threat than fascism and tried to resolve the threats to his flock by concordats with Hitler.

Church attendance was again disrupted In Belgium and the Netherlands Nazi rule

was imposed upon the population. In Soviet Russia the situation was dire

Orthodox Church in 1943 -Stalin sought the Russian patriarch’s aid for morale. Others were persecuted.

Normal church activity was hampered. Sunday school, evening services, no rallies.

Churches were bombed out on both sides.

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WORLD WAR 2’S EFFECTS ON CHRISTIANITY Bombed out churches – to rebuild Humanitarian work of the Vatican

and other Christian groups respect

1948 World Council of Churches –ecumenism preferred NB First World Pentecostal

Conference 1947 Zurich England:

in 1944 Education Act insisted on the teaching of Christianity within all maintained schools as an antidote to fascist and Nazi values.

Coventry Cathedral

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Church growth

• Billy Graham: •LA London global

•Yet nuclear fears...

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GROWTH... TECHNOLOGY IN USA

Oral Roberts, T.L Osborn ... Many other healing evangelists go global – Magazines, Radio, TV,

From Poverty to health and prosperity theology 1960s ‘social revolution’

1960s saw a breaking down of moral and intellectual barriers.

Christian ideals -maintained by godly women - were now jettisoned

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TRANSITION: 1950S TO 1960S

Conformist 1950s

Nonconformist

1960s

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THE CHARISMATIC MOVEMENT Religious experience prioritised (an

outpouring of the Holy Spirit) Catholic

Lay academics at Duquesne University 1967

The Second Vatican Council, 1962David du Plessis

Mainline Protestant affectedRenewal, Restoration, Radical ChristianityNew Churches = ? neo-Pentecostal or neo-

charismatic or ‘Third Wave’[1980s] though they prefer now ‘Apostolic’ [2000s]

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VATICAN 2 (1962-65)

The Church is much more than an organization: it is the organism of the Holy Spirit, something that is alive, that takes hold of our inmost being (2001)

Joseph Ratzinger = the current Pope

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THE CHARISMATIC MOVEMENT Women leaders Home groups Modernised worship

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NEW CHURCHES (1970S)

Structure:Congregation[s] and their apostle,

-global travel, networksmanagement consultants, constructed

networks of churches bonded with personal relationship

Holy Spirit led by spiritual gifts - not committees or constitutions

mega-networks or mini-networks and interaction between networks

The Network structures

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MEGA CHURCHES Global scene – Korea – Latin America –

Africa entire set of social and spiritual

activities available website, multi-purpose building,

specialist staff and, often, broadcasting capability.

DangersPermeated with culturemusical directors, worship teams – pop

concert?! Yet biblical exposition included

Yoido Pentecostal Church Seoul, S. Korea

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MEGA CHURCHES IN ASIACity Harvest church, Singapore

Band, orchestras, big show style...

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A STATISTICAL COMPARISON Population 1910 2010

World Population 1759 6960

Christian population of world 612 (34.7%) 2292 (33.2%)

Roman Catholic (% of Christian pop) 291 (47.6%) 1155 (50.4%)

Orthodox (% of Christian pop) 124 (20.4%) 274 (12%)

Protestant (% of Christian pop) 115 (18.8%) 419 (18.3%)

Renewalists (=Pent + charismatics) 1 (0.2%) 614 (26.8%)

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RESULTS Decline in Orthodoxy Protestant and Roman Catholic parity

with world population Renewalists become the second largest

group Moreover Renewalists cross boundaries

between Protestant and Roman Catholic

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SHIFT IN GEOGRAPHIC CENTRE OF CHRISTIANITY

Examples of 1900s movement , and 2000s movement of ‘mission’

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