Evangelicalism In Modern Britain
The religious history of England has always been of great interest to me on two accounts. First, I am an ordained Anglican Priest having my ordination papers commissioned in Canterbury, under the Anglican Bishop. Second, as an International Missions Mobilizer I teach workshops wherein we discuss three groups of nations—Unreached nations, Emerging Christian nations, and Post-Christian nations, we categorize England, Britain, along with all of the United Kingdom and Europe as post-Christian nations. Yet at one time in the history of this nation there was a strong Christian presence with high church attendance and influence that stretched all over the world.[1] Men from England such as Charles Spurgeon, Charles and John Wesley, George Whitfield, David Livingstone, William Carey and many others were major world influencers for Christianity. In his book, Evangelicalism in Modern Britain: A History from the 1730s to the 1980s, D. W. Bebbington, discusses the rise of the great movement that became known as Evangelicalism. I love Bebbington’s wording describing the variety of expression of this movement as, “a wine that has been poured into many bottles.”[2] This new phenomenon of the eighteenth century was marked by its passion for evangelism over everything else, holding strong to the need for conversion, trusting the Holy Spirit to sustain the believer’s new life, the priesthood of all believers, and the importance of the Bible.[3]
Unfortunately, this powerful movement that affected the vey fiber of the society from whence it emerged began to turn more toward the form of Godliness and denied the power of a transforming God. Bebbington notes that in the wake of great revival with both church and clergy growth there was a negative imposing of high Victorian values on society, regardless of whether or not those in society were religious observers or not.[4] Critics arose denouncing the evangelicals with their self imposed values as attempting to be its brother’s keeper. Sabbath attendance at public place of worship were open to scrutiny by social superiors.[5] It was this very legalistic diligence to scripture with family prayers, both morning and evening, and dutiful observance of Sunday, lest you be reported to some board for a formal inquiry, that caused many to rebel from such strict upbringing.[6]
To further elicit inward rebellion and promote outward criticism was the involvement of Evangelicals against social amusements. Although, Wilberforce himself was quoted as saying that “there was no antagonism between religion and any amusement that was really innocent,”[7] the problem was, how does one evaluate what was really innocent. Rather then deciding to struggle in differentiating between the appearance of evil and the really innocent, most Evangelicals “tended to shelter behind blanket prohibitions that avoided the need for careful evaluation in doubtful cases, or that the list of taboos varied over time.”[8] This constant prohibitions against, the theater, the arts, novels and a variety of other amusements garnished the evangelicals the stereotype as “killjoys.”[9] But protesting social amusements were not the only battles that Evangelicals decided to wage in on.
One of the other factors that furthered the “fall from grace” and the relinquishment of influence that Evangelicals once had on society was their “displacement within the Church of England by men of higher churchmanship.”[10] As if opposition against social amusements, and suspicious scrutiny against its own members were not enough to “stand for and/or against,” the Evangelicals began to be preoccupied with the high church ritualistic menace that they felt was a perceived evil.[11] Though high church, with all the bells and smells as we say, proved to be attractive to many Evangelicals it was nonetheless deemed a threat and such acts as “the elevation of the bread and wine for adoration seemed, in the full sense of the word, ‘idolatrous.’”[12] An organization was formed, the Church Association, designed to conduct legal cases against ritualists. Even with clear modes of procedure found in the Public Worship Regulation Act of 1874 prosecutions failed to stem the advancing tide of ritual practices.[13]
As I read account of Evangelicalism in Modern Britain my heart swelled with pride and also with sadness as I could see the miss-steps of such a prominent God-loving organization. There was one passage that continually came to mind, for the past of Evangelicalism, the movement presently, and for myself. “Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh? May we learn from the past and not repeat the same mistakes. Let love be our highest aim. For love will cover a multitude of sins.
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