The Roots of Postfundamentalist Evangelicalism (and Fundamentalism) (Part 3)

I’m writing about the book, Pocket History of Evangelical Theology, published by InterVarsity Press, by Roger Olson. I listed the roots of what Olson calls postfundamentalist evangelicalism (otherwise known as “evangelicalism” today). For a more detailed definition of postfundamentalist evangelicalism, see this post. For an expansion on the first two roots of evangelical theology, see this post. For a discussion of the next three roots, see this post. Today we move on to the next roots in Olson’s list.

Once again, I’ll list Olson’s roots, and then we’ll expand on number 6 and 7. The last one will be explained in the next post.

  1. Pietism
  2. Revivalism
  3. Puritanism
  4. Wesleyanism
  5. The Great Awakenings
  6. Old Princeton Theology
  7. Holiness-Pentecostalism
  8. Fundamentalism

Pietism (see this post), Revivalism (see this post), Puritanism (see this post), Wesleyanism (see this post), The Great Awakenings (see this post)

One thing that I perhaps should mention is that evangelicalism (and fundamentalism) is the sum of reactions to the Enlightenment. In this sense, both movements are reactionary, but with turtle-like reactions of decades to a problem now centuries old. In his chapter on Princeton, Olson defines the Enlightenment as “a revolt against the stifling authorities of tradition and dogmatic religion and a search for truth through autonomous human reason without any appeal to special revelation, faith, or tradition.” (p. 61) Religiously, the Enlightenment found expression in “deism, unitarianism, and liberal Protestantism.” These movements responded to the Enlightenment by embracing it.

Olson says, “Pietists and revivalists thought that the best response to dead orthodoxy and modern paganism was also the best response to Enlightenment secularism and skepticism: proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ and appeal to people to repent and trust in Christ alone for salvation. … Fundamentalists, however, believed that the best response to the ‘acids of modernity’ was tearing down ‘proud arguments’ and militantly exposing them as errors, as well as strong reaffirmation of traditional, orthodox beliefs.” (p. 62)

With these background thoughts, we turn to Old Princeton theology.

Old Princeton Theology

Off the bat, Olson says, “The prehistory of fundamentalism as an antimodernist and antiliberal evangelical movement begins with the so-called Princeton School of theology…” (p. 62) This “school” had at its head the well-known names teaching at Princeton at the end of the nineteenth and into the twentieth century, Archibald Alexander, Charles Hodge, A. A. Hodge, B. B. Warfield, and J. Gresham Machen. They believed that “authentic Christianity’s enduring essence is orthodox doctrine” (p. 63) and made its defense a priority. In promoting orthodoxy, they sometimes made “an uneasy alliance” (p. 63) with revivalism. Hodge in particular wanted to use Enlightenment methods to defeat its effects on Christianity. He wanted to show that theology is “scientific in the modern sense,” (p. 64) rather than superstitious, anti-intellectual, or obscurantist.

Besides systematizing theology, Hodge’s contribution to Bibliology cemented his position in the history of evangelical theology. Olson credits Hodge with developing the doctrine of verbal, plenary inspiration. Olson says this “profoundly influenced later fundamentalism and conservative evangelical theology.” (p. 65) B. B. Warfield “attempted to nail down even more firmly this high doctrine of Scripture.” (p. 66) Olson says Warfield was “even closer to fundamentalism than Hodge.” (p. 66) In Warfield’s career, modernism began its influence in the Princeton faculty and Warfield engaged in battle with it. “Because of this conflict with the skeptics, Warfield defined the Christian doctrine of Scripture more precisely than most Protestant theologians before Him.” (p. 67) Both Hodge and Warfield influenced many beyond Princeton’s immediate circle of influence.

J. Gresham Machen was the last of the great Princeton theologians. A student of Hodge and Warfield, he came on the scene when modernism began to hold increasing sway. “Whereas Hodge and Warfield had been loyal opponents of the increasingly influential liberal mood of theological and biblical studies in the Presbyterian Church, Machen advocated division rather than compromise or coexistence.” (p. 71) With Machen separatism entered the equation among the Princeton men.

In contrast to Pietism/Revivalism, Princeton theology stood in the heritage of Puritanism, emphasizing “theological correctness” and the foundation of orthodoxy in an inerrant Bible. Pietism/Revivalism emphasized “conversional piety,” focusing on salvation, sanctification, and discipleship. As such, Princeton theology formed a “second pole” in the developing evangelical/fundamentalist consensus. (All quotes in this section, p. 72.) Looking back at these influences, we see necessary emphases in both “poles” that delight the heart of any fundamentalist today. Warm-hearted orthodoxy, that is what we are after.

Holiness-Pentecostalism

The Holiness-Pentecostal movement had little influence on fundamentalism, but nonetheless has come to have a profound influence on evangelicalism. Olson says,

“Two movements that especially influenced Evangelicalism and evangelical theology in the twentieth century are the Holiness-Pentecostal movement and fundamentalism. Many people tend to equate them or subsume the former under the latter as an especially emotional form of fundamentalism. However, this is not correct. In spite of certain similarities, the Holiness-Pentecostal movement and fundamentalism moved on separate tracks.” (p. 74)

The influence of the Holiness-Pentecostal movement on evangelicalism is, then, a distinctly post-fundamentalist phenomenon. In the course of developing the new evangelicalism (Olson’s “postfundamentalist evangelicalism”), evangelicals were modifying fundamentalism in part by embracing the Holiness-Pentecostal movement, “while shunning its most extreme forms and manifestations.” (p. 74)

Olson reviews briefly some of the history of the movement, and then gives some analysis. “Pentecostalism represented an intense form of revivalism.” (p. 79) “Pentecostalism is thoroughly Arminian in its theology of salvation, emphasizing not divine sovereignty in predestination but instead proclaiming unlimited atonement and every person’s ability to respond freely to the gospel unto salvation.” (p. 80) “The Holiness-Pentecostal movement … was intensely experiential and emotional.” (p. 80)

In the early part of the twentieth century, most evangelicals ignored the Holiness and Pentecostal movements. By the 1970s and 1980s, however, Pentecostalism began to exert more influence. Where one sees their influence most is on worship, an interest in “the higher life,” and an interest in “the gifts.” Their impact on so-called “contemporary worship” is an enduring legacy. “They have always remained, however, a distinct subset of Evangelicalism.” (p. 81) [My comment: they are definitely a “largish” subset these days.]

One More Preliminary Conclusion

I’ll leave off a discussion of the influence of Fundamentalism on evangelicalism until next time. I have to say, Olson’s analysis seems to me mostly right. We share a legacy with evangelicals of Pietism/Revivalism and Puritanism/Princetonism (to coin a term). Fundamentalists seek to maintain the best of both these poles of emphasis. Evangelicals no doubt see Fundamentalists as extremists especially on the Princeton-Machen-Separatism axis, but I would note that groups like the GARBC were separatists before Machen and that separatism is the only alternative for orthodoxy, otherwise you compromise orthodoxy. On the other hand, the warm hearts of revivalism are absolutely necessary to perpetuate biblical fundamentalism. We really can’t do without either emphasis.

The Roots of Postfundamentalist Evangelicalism (and Fundamentalism) (Part 2)

I’m writing about the book, Pocket History of Evangelical Theology, published by InterVarsity Press, by Roger Olson. Last time I listed the roots of what Olson calls postfundamentalist evangelicalism (otherwise known as “evangelicalism” today). For a more detailed definition of postfundamentalist evangelicalism, see this post. For an expansion on the first two roots of evangelical theology, see this post.

Once again, I’ll list Olson’s roots, and then we’ll expand on the middle three of them. The last two will be explained in the next post.

  1. Pietism
  2. Revivalism
  3. Puritanism
  4. Wesleyanism
  5. The Great Awakenings
  6. Old Princeton Theology
  7. Holiness-Pentecostalism
  8. Fundamentalism

Pietism (see this post)

Revivalism (see this post)

Puritanism

The Puritans are important in the development of evangelicalism and fundamentalism primarily through their influence in the life of Jonathan Edwards. (Secondarily, the Baptist movement owes its beginnings first to Puritans and subsequently the English Separatists. This development, not noted by Olson, contributes to both evangelicalism and fundamentalism insofar as Baptists are a part of both movements. But back to the Puritans…) “The Puritan movement began in Elizabethan England in the late sixteenth century. … Puritanism broadly defined began as the English movement to purify the Church of England under Queen Elizabeth I … of all vestiges of ‘Romish’ doctrine and practice.” (38) The Puritans were statists, admiring John Knox of Scotland and his reformation of Scottish society into a constitutional monarchy with an established Presbyterian church. “The Puritans wanted a similar thorough reform of England.” (39) This anti-Romish impulse for purity and orthodoxy eventually led to the Plymouth Colony in America and a society formed on Puritan ideals. Out of this society later came Jonathan Edwards and the Great Awakening with assistance from the English evangelist, George Whitfield. Puritanism, then, forms a significant well-spring of evangelical and fundamentalist thought.

Olson says, “Evangelicalism as a movement was born in the 1730s and 1740s Great Awakening.” (46) By evangelicalism here, he means, I suppose, “pre-fundamentalist evangelicalism.” That is, the evangelical movement that followed the Great Awakening eventually became the fundamentalist and evangelical movements we know today.

Wesleyanism

Wesleyanism is the influence of John Wesley on the evangelical movement. Wesley, unlike Whitfield, was Arminian in his theology. He and his brother Charles were friends of Whitfield (and Wesley preached Whitfield’s funeral sermon), but they diverged sharply in soteriology. Nevertheless, Wesley’s emphasis on personal conversion paralleled the emphasis of Edwards and Whitfield. All of them called for individual salvation and decried any notion that church membership or ritual could make a man right with God. “For Wesley, true ‘scriptural Christianity’ begins in a person with the experience of being ‘born anew’ by the Spirit of God. Of course, he did not deny the efficacy of the sacrament of infant baptism, but he did deny that it alone establishes a person’s right relationship with God. For Wesley, authentic Christianity is experiential Christianity and must be freely chosen; it can never be inherited or the product of an effort to ‘turn over a new leaf.’” (48)

Further, Olson says, Wesley “believed that only God can save a person and that if a person is saved it is entirely due to God’s grace, but people must respond to God’s grace and to the gospel with a free decision of repentance and faith.” (48)

Wesley’s views of salvation and individual conversion form a major root of evangelicalism (and fundamentalism). His views of sanctification likewise influenced a large following, but their impact was only on a segment of the evangelical world, not the whole.

The Great Awakenings

Olson calls the Great Awakenings “the Crucible of Modern Evangelical Theology” (52, emphasis added). Olson says, “Something quite new appeared out of the Great Awakening and Edwards’s and Wesley’s sermons and essays — a massive movement, a subculture of experiential Christianity solidly rooted in Protestant orthodoxy.” (52) Noting the differences between these two (who he calls the “fathers of evangelical Christianity”), he says that their “two streams of thought about salvation” entered evangelicalism and remain present, but also make evangelical theology “an unstable compound always about to explode into internecine rivalry, if not warfare.” (53-54) Alas, we all know this is true.

The Great Awakening subsided but later events gained the name “the Second Great Awakening.” Prominent in this history was Charles G. Finney, but he is not the sole proponent of the Second Awakening. While his bad theology should receive no applause, no one can deny that his methods and the fervent activity of many other contemporaries profoundly shaped evangelicalism/fundamentalism with an emphasis on the authority of the Bible and the need for individual conversion. This influence is the influence of revivalism, but it is in the “crucible” of the First and Second Great Awakenings that its ideas formed.

Preliminary conclusion number two

Puritanism predates Revivalism, and “the Great Awakenings” are nothing more than specific instances of revivalism taking hold in America, especially. Likewise Wesleyanism is essentially Revivalism, but a specific flavor of it. It is interesting to me that Olson puts Revivalism ahead of Puritanism as a root of the movement. It is also interesting how much evangelicalism owes to Revivalism and Revivalists. When thinking about where we are today, we would do well to consider what God thinks of these movements and, if they are biblical and God-honouring (as I think they are), what we can do to implement Revivalism in our own ministries.

The Roots of Postfundamentalist Evangelicalism (and Fundamentalism) (Part 1)

Returning to the book, Pocket History of Evangelical Theology, published by InterVarsity Press, by Roger Olson, today I want to discuss the roots of Postfundamentalist Evangelical theology. For a definition of Postfundamentalist Evangelicalism, see my prior post. The roots of Postfundamentalist Evangelicalism and Fundamentalism are identical, except for one point, which we will get to shortly. The two movements are branches of the same tree. Some people say Fundamentalism is a subset of Evangelicalism (including good friends), but I disagree. I think history bears me out. The two movements have a common ancestry, but they also have a definite point of divergence. I’ll say more on that later, as well.

Returning to the Roots

In Olson’s book, the first chapter defines evangelicalism. Having achieved that goal, he turns to Part II: The Roots of Evangelical Theology. This comprises eight chapters for eight roots (or threads in the tapestry, to use a different metaphor). The roots Olson lists are:

  1. Pietism
  2. Revivalism
  3. Puritanism
  4. Wesleyanism
  5. The Great Awakenings
  6. Old Princeton Theology
  7. Holiness-Pentecostalism
  8. Fundamentalism

Since Olson sees fundamentalism as a “root” of postfundamentalist evangelicalism, it is here where their root structure differs. Obviously, fundamentalism can’t be a “root” of itself. This may seem trivial, but it is one of those key facts which disproves the notion that fundamentalism is a subset of evangelicalism. Fundamentalism is a smaller movement than evangelicalism, but it isn’t evangelical in the modern sense of the word (which is Olson’s sense). The reason some see fundamentalism as a subset is because of a mostly shared root system and the fact that fundamentalism is smaller. The reality is that we have two divergent movements built on the same root system.

Having said that, let’s do some quick definition of the roots of postfundamentalist evangelicalism. Today we will look at just the first two, then pick up on the others in subsequent posts.

Pietism

Pietism began around one hundred and fifty years after the Reformation. By this time, many states had established (i.e. state-sponsored) Reformed churches and a certain settled formalism ensued. Pietism grew up out of a concern over this formalism, desiring a more heart-felt religion for those professing Christ. “Pietists are always concerned that Christianity be something more than historical knowledge and mental assent to doctrines; they want to distinguish authentic Christianity from false or merely nominal Christianity by identifying the ‘real thing’ by life-transforming experience of God in conversion and devotion to God in the ‘inner man’ and by discipleship that is shaped by the Bible, aims towards perfection, and seeks to be ‘in the world but not of the world.’” (Olson, 23)

Revivalism

Revivalism has some connections with Pietism, but is its own distinct movement. Ethnically, it is more a British and American phenomenon, even though there were (and are) Pietists in America. Olson’s initial definition of revivalism goes this way: “Revivalism was the phenomenon in Great Britain and North America that saw emotional preaching calling masses of mostly already baptized people, often outdoors, to make decisions to repent and follow Jesus Christ.” (33) The distinctive mark of revivalism as opposed to pietism is “the need for each person publically to repent and receive Jesus Christ by an act of inward faith as well as outward profession.” (34) Revivalism included Christians of differing theological beliefs (Calvinists and Arminians), who shared a similar fervor and a desire for awakening the lost or the backslidden to a public testimony of Christianity. The division in theology persists among evangelicals (and fundamentalists) today, but what the revivalists united on was that “they … elevated experience over doctrine as the true centerpiece of Christian existence.” (37)

Preliminary conclusion

The roots of Pietism and Revivalism are important components of evangelicalism and fundamentalism. Some of the new “Conservative Evangelicalism” wants to go back to a Reformed religion, bypassing almost all of evangelicalism’s roots. Especially the earliest and most persistent roots of Pietism and Revivalism receive the most scorn. This disdain for historical impulses galvanizing evangelical history is mystifying. Surely they contributed to the success of genuine Christian expansion worldwide for hundreds of years. Perhaps we should consider that religion of the heart is at least as important as the religion of the mind.

theology of the heart

A few years ago I sat in on a seminary class with one of my sons. The professor was one who taught me back in my days in grad school, Dr. Robert Bell. In this lecture he made a comment that I have often thought about since. He was discussing two opposing theological systems. Then he said something to this effect: “Most people have a theology of the head and a theology of the heart.”

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these are dangers?

A response to Kent Brandenburg’s post, “Why is the idea of the universal church dangerous?” Kent was responding to my question quoted below.

A few weeks ago now, I was asked, "Why is the idea of local church only so important? Or, to put it another way, why is the idea of the universal church dangerous?"  This post will answer that question.

ONE, the universal church as a teaching or belief eisegetes scripture or distorts the plain meaning of the text.

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Landmarkism in embryo form?

I think we can safely say that one of the marks of Landmarkism is the “local-only” view of the church. When we say that we are NOT saying that everyone who holds this view is a Landmarker, but those who hold to Landmark views would hold to a local-only view.

Would that be stating things correctly? Duncan’s article and Dr. Moritz’ article seem to bear this out.

I’d like to think about the historical record a bit more in this post.

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Landmarkism and Local Only

Number One Son has posted some notes on a connection between Landmarkism and the Local Church Only view.

I don’t think he is saying that the local only view is exclusive to Landmarkism, but that there is at least a connection.

Anyway, for those interested, thought you might like to see it.

don_sig2

ek•kle•si•a (part 2)

In my earlier post I defended the notion of calling the body of Christ “the universal Church.” My point was based on the idea that the meaning of ekklesia, the Greek word for church, was advanced beyond its original simple meaning of ‘assembly’ (from secular Greek usage) to refer to any body of believers in the Lord Jesus Christ whether they were in assembly at any given point in time or not.

From Eph 1.22-23, 1 Cor 12.13, and Heb 12.23, the data points to something more than a local body. I recognize that some will try to work these passages into a local-only view. I don’t agree with their conclusions but appreciate the valiant effort.

Today I want to contrast the two ideas and address a few other passages that require an additional term in the concept of the church as the body of Christ.

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ek•kle•si•a

I’ve been doing a little study on the term ekklesia recently. That’s the Greek term translated ‘church’ in the New Testament (at least most of the time). The word is important to Baptists because of the prominence of eccliesiology (the doctrine of the church) to the Baptist distinctives.

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an interesting verse for my Calvinist friends

NAU  Luke 7:30 But the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected God’s purpose for themselves, not having been baptized by John.

The word for purpose here is a very interesting word. Thayer defines it this way:

counsel, purpose … especially of the purpose of God respecting the salvation of men through Christ

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