We Are A Catholic Heritage By Donald Dayton And American Apocalypse Essay

Catholicism: A Very Short Introduction written by Gerald O’Collins is a short read that gives an insight to the Catholic church without getting confusing to the reader. It touches on the basics of Catholicism such as the history, practices, and core beliefs. Through each chapter Gerald O’Collins a research professor in the field of Theology at St. Mary’s University College and Twickenham, as well as formally Dean in Gregorian University for the faculty of Theology, shares his knowledge on the Catholic religion one question at a time.

Between 1820 and 1860, Americans constructed 40,000 new churches compared to the 10,000 they constructed in the 40 years before 1820. At the end of the revival period, ”one-third of all Americans attended church regularly.”(P.400) Many of the early revival preachers embraced Christian evangelicalism, the established groups sought to take advantage of the popular enthusiasm to build their particular denominations. Methodists and the Baptists established themselves as leading American denominations as a result of the Second Great Awakening. The two faiths had a mutual sense of affinity with regard to doctrine, but the Baptists created a radically decentralized hierarchy that empowered local ministers and individual churches.

“Conservative evangelicals who had returned to the Democratic Party in 1976 now defected back to the Republican Party, solidifying a trend in the making.” The Religious Right had effectively crystallized a general trend in the electorate. After the election of 1980, the Religious Right became “synonymous with the GOP in popular imagination” and socially conservative values became synonymous with the conservative movement. Despite the dissolution of the organizations that comprised the Religious Right later in the 1980s, its influence on conservatism in America had solidified and, until this day, has remained a decisive factor in both local and national

The third impact of democracy on American religion is a sense of grand ambition. The hope and optimism that were so central to democracy often resulted in dreams and aspirations of significant social change and progress. Methodists like Garrettson were particularly noteworthy in their ambition. Though the Methodist system used a hierarchical system of governance, that system was intended to be a force for liberation. We see this grand ambition of liberation clearly in the life of Garrettson. Shortly

Hatch’s book is one of an era and a topic that I had never studied before. Hatch’s book covers the period from the end of the American Revolution through the mid-1840s. However, I believe the topic should be considered through today’s rise of the televangelist and the mega-churches of America. Hatch outlines the rise of churches (as egalitarian based) based on the belief, which coincided with the rise of the American population and its expansion westward.

“Heart religion” is another strong characteristic of evangelicalism. Since the reformation, when Martin Luther (1483-1546) called the sacramental system of the medieval Roman church as the “Babylonian Captivity of the Church”, protestants had the tendency to distrust tradition . But the process of the Protestantism was changing the meaning of faith from faith-expectancy to faith- doctrine. People even once attempted to verify one’s position as a Christian by accepting correct creeds . Only when the era of Evangelicalism came, personal conversion was seen as a norm for Christians, there was an outburst of desires to have powerful, transforming personal encounters with God. Religion became a personal choice based on personal experience not just

DH Williams. Retrieving the Tradition and Renewing Evangelicalism: A Primer for Suspicious Protestants. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1999.

In the United States, Evangelicalism is an umbrella group of Protestant Christians who believe in the necessity of being born again, emphasize the importance of evangelism, and affirm traditional Protestant teaching on the authority and the historicity of the Bible. A quarter of the US popinulation, evangelicals are diverse and drown from a variety of denominational backgrounds, including Baptist, Mennonite, Holiness,

Evangelicals, that is to say, have shaped a name for themselves, on the one hand, through their engagement in domestic policy, and on the other hand, via their building up of a great reputation in foreign policy. This chapter is divided into three sections, the first one, The Alteration of Evangelicals’ Perspective from Domestic to Foreign Cases, provides a compelling description of evangelicals’ impact on America’s role from inside to outside its borders. It aims at exploring the nature and the development of global interests of the evangelicals through the development of the Christian Right activities. We also try to examine how evangelicals’ faith have effected international affairs via actions and reflections on foreign issues especially

I walked in with a friend and we took a seat near the bar. It was a quaint little restaurant; the tables were very close together but then that was because the stage took up half of the floor space. And tonight, for the first time, I realized how large it really was. Usually when I came here, I never paid attention to the music. I never thought of this as a music venue. In my mind, when I go to listen to music it has to be at a concert hall like Roy Thomson or the Musikverein.

In 1770, there were less than 1000 Methodists in America. A half century later, there were more than 250,000 members. Throughout his book, Taking Heaven by Storm, John Wigger tries to explain how a relatively unknown religion exploded into one of the largest Protestant religions there is today. He brings to light the significance of this substantial religious movement. He also goes into great detail the reasons that this particular religion became so popular so quickly. Not only does he emphasize the social influences that affected Methodism, he also tries to explain how the religion itself shaped the culture as well. Throughout the book, he portrays this movement not as ordinary and predictable, but as modern and mercurial – “boiling hot”,

As of today, religion still maintains an impact throughout the domain of the South. Religion in the South supports infrastructure educational and social services. It also inhibits the growth of the traditional denominations to prosper, ranging from Baptist, Methodist, Lutheran and even Catholic. Baptist make about 50% of church affiliation population in the south while Methodist is about a quarter and Presbyterian around 10% or so ( Wison 1).Throughout the entire range of life of many religious denominations since they were first introduced to the South, they have been able to preserve their culture even during the social changes. Many new To fully understand the southern religious establishments, we must compromise motives, interaction and movements that are associated with southern Christianity. Evangelicals retooled their polity and message

The modern day controversies that have challenged the integrity of God’s Word have necessitated the question of whether fundamentalism was ever sanctioned and orchestrated by God. The Holy Bible and historical reflection, and even, present day scientific data reveal that the origin of fundamentalism and its ongoing transformation is in fact God’s healthy apparatus to preserve the integrity of the factual claims of Scripture. Thus, the rise of fundamentalism is God’s manifestation to combat such spiritual apparitions as higher criticism and the contamination of the world’s social gospel.

Winthrop outlines three detailed reasons to reform in his sermon that include glorifying God, manifesting in the work of the spirit, and providing Christian fellowship and helping others (Winthrop 1). He provides thorough questions and answers to why and how people should live wholesome Christian lives that include lending money and forgiving (Winthrop 2). He provides not only simple ways to live a charitable life of honoring God, but detailed reasons why. This is effective because it is easy to understand for people and encourages them to want to live this lifestyle. In “Sinners in the Hand of an Angry God,” Edwards only talks about God’s wrath, hell, and how all people are “damned from birth” (Edwards 1). These frightening subjects do not promote a Christian lifestyle change, only a rude awakening. Edwards even specifially states that his sermon is intende to be an “awakening for unconverted persons” (Edwards 1). This is less effective than Winthrop’s sermon because it may scare people into the Christian faith, but it gives little detail of living a changed Christian life. Also, Edwards approach is so extreme, it may have an opposite effect on some listeners and scare them out of Christianity due to the harsh way he describes God and his anger. Edwards provides a frightening awakening message that proves less potent than Winthrop’s positive description of becoming a Christian

If you've read my other books, you will have noted I am much harder on Evangelical Fundamentalism than the 'high church'. There are, however, some hard-core fundamentalists who toe the company line to the letter, yet there are some who are mildly influenced by the organized approach to faith. For instance, if you go to a small country church, typically, it will be very small if it becomes intolerant of (what some call) ‘liberal Christianity.’ Most community churches have looser ties to parent organizations. If they were intolerant, they’d find their local financial support deeply affected. Therefore, when you walk into a rural church, hard-line doctrines are seldom emphasized. Most churches of this type get by with (what I call) biting your