American Presbyterians and Revival: Lessons from the Nineteenth Century

When Reformed Christianity came to America, along with it came a long-held belief about the cooperation between Christianity and the civil magistrate. Puritans saw the New World as an opportunity not only for right worship but also for a proper political and social system that supported the church. In this lesson, Dr. Godfrey explains how, despite the Puritan ideal, early colonial life in America was the beginning of the end of “imperial Christianity.”

At the time of the American Revolution, the colonial population of America was heavily influenced by Reformed Christianity. Yet things changed. Not only was a new American identity forming, but religious expression itself had also been changing due to the influence of the Great Awakening. In this lesson, Dr. Godfrey explores the changing landscape of the New World to show how it had indeed become a new world.

When Presbyterianism came to America, it did not have the opportunity to establish itself in the way that Congregationalists and Anglicans had in the colonies. No longer being the dominant religion as it was in Scotland, for example, Presbyterianism was confronted with many questions related to subscription to the Westminster Standards and what to believe concerning the Great Awakening. In this lesson, Dr. Godfrey introduces us to the birth and growth of Presbyterianism in the changing American landscape.

Entering into the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, Presbyterians were growing in number, yet the rest of the population of America was outpacing their growth. Presbyterians still had a significant intellectual influence on the changing American landscape. In this lesson, Dr. Godfrey describes this influence and other key historical developments by focusing in on one figure, Ashbel Green, who was always at the center of early-nineteenth-century Presbyterianism.

A move toward individualism was a characteristic of early-nineteenth-century America. In terms of what this meant for Christianity, people began to react against ministerial training, religious authority, and doctrine itself. Zeal was prioritized over knowledge, and even in the Presbyterian Church, there were challenges to fundamental Christian doctrine. In this lesson, Dr. Godfrey explains how this revolt against knowledge worked itself into Presbyterianism.

The controversy between the Old School and the New School formally emerged in the 1830s. Troubling doctrines were being introduced to the Presbyterian Church by such men as Albert Barnes, Lyman Beecher, and Charles Finney. In this lesson, Dr. Godfrey explains the tensions that were arising in the church, the judicial processes that were occurring in the church, and the characteristic differences between the Old School and New School.

The New School dominated General Assemblies in the early 1830s, but things began to change as the Old School began to unify over the seriousness of the New School’s doctrinal errors. In 1837, the Old School gained momentum at the General Assembly, passing sweeping measures to end the toleration of doctrinal errors in the church. In this lesson, Dr. Godfrey recounts the dramatic events of the 1837 General Assembly and the equally dramatic events of the 1838 General Assembly.

In 1838, the Presbyterian Church split between the Old School and the New School over doctrinal matters. Conflict over the issue of slavery, however, was growing, and the Civil War would eventually lead to a split in the churches between the North and the South. In this lesson, Dr. Godfrey continues looking at the response of the Presbyterian Church to slavery, and he explains why the Old School Presbyterians divided between North and South, while emphasizing the Old School’s continued priority of doctrine for the life of the church.

A concern for orthodox doctrine was not the only distinguishing characteristic of the Old School. The Old School also had a heart for worship—a heart for devotion. With all the changes of the nineteenth century, the Old School devoted considerable thought to public worship. In this lesson, Dr. Godfrey explores the conservative instincts of the Presbyterian Church as it reacted to the trends of revivalism.

In addition to the characteristic concerns for doctrine and devotion among the Old School, how to develop discernment and when to administer church discipline were defining questions for the Old School. In this lesson, Dr. Godfrey concludes his survey of the paramount concerns of the Old School: doctrine, devotion, discernment, and discipline. He also introduces the American church’s movement away from dominance in society to a marked decline, even to the point that society has turned against Christianity.

The Presbyterian experience in the nineteenth century provides us with numerous ways of reflecting on our own experience. Although Christian influence in America has diminished to the extent that our culture can be described as “post-Christian,” the secular alternatives that have been offered in the West are dismal compared to a vibrant Christianity. In this lesson, Dr. Godfrey concludes this series by calling the church to remain faithful in a dark world and finds encouragement for the church in Psalm 3.