1. Immigration: the demographic revolution
A. The two major factors in post war America
1. Rapid urban expansion
2. Immigration
B. The period of the greatest impact (until now) was between 1851-1860, but the peak years in terms of volume was 1910-1920 - in total there were 45 million people involved.
C. This created two tremendous effects:
1. Ethnic pluralism
2. Religious pluralism
D. A table of immigration into the U.S.
1821-1830 - 143,439
1831-1840 - 599,125
1841- 1850- 1,713,251
1851-1860 - 2, 589,214
1861-1870 - 2, 314,824
1871-1880 - 2, 812,191
1881-1890 - 5, 246, 613
1891-1900 - 3, 687,564
1901-1910 - 8, 795,386
E. Which creates a multi-form heritage
1. Massive uprooting
2. Severed human ties (loneliness in a strange land)
3. A type of lasting nostalgia
F. The two concomitants of the immigration experience
1. Tenacious ties to European culture
2. The confrontations of cultures - the immigrants brought with them the old but when they got here they had a desire to change.
G. There were three identifiable stages of this clash.
1. Conflict
2. Tension
3. Gradual resolution
H. The five major categories of accommodation to the American religious situation:
1. Those who were nominal state Christians in Europe but when they arrived they joined secret societies - like the Masonic Order
2. Immigrating sectarians - like the Mennonites
3. Those who were ready to identify with the American free church tradition
4. Those who were loyal to the European state churches and when here they joined some diocese of that church in America
5. Those who came to organize new autonomous churches
I. There were two major ideas that helped to spur on the massive immigration:
1. Deepening sense of American nationalism
2. A deepening sense of America’s redemptive mission
J. The growing concern over immigration
1. The influx from Northern and Western Europe reached its zenith in 1882 = these people greatly desired to change
2. In 1882 immigrants started coming from Eastern and Southern Europe - in the same year America began restricting immigration.
3. These later immigrants grouped themselves into ghettos - did not assimilate quickly.
4. Russians, Poles, Slavs, Magyars, Greeks and Italians provided most of the labor for the development of heavy industry during the last 3rd of the 19th century.
5. On the Pacific coast, the Chinese coolies were in great demand
6. By 1880 more than 100,000 had arrived.
—resented by white workers
— highly competitive
K. Organized religion in American bore the marks of immigration:
1. Between 1870-1910 the Lutheran Church membership grew to third place among Protestants due to German and Scandinavian immigration.
2. The Scandinavian people settled in the Miss. Valley - Minnesota became their center.
3. For a while, Catholics chiefly came from the British Isles but when Irish immigration peaked they came from all over Central and South America and Eastern Europe.
4. When the Declaration of Independence was signed there were only 25,000 Catholics in the United States but by 1908, they were par with other organized religions.
5. But the Catholics had what was called “leakage” to other groups or backsliding for four major reasons:
(A) insufficient number of priests
(B) impersonal nature of parish structure in the big cities.
© Preoccupation with economic concerns
D. Attraction to secularism
6. The six major things that the Catholics condemned in America:
(From Pope Pius IX in the Syllabus of Errors of 1864)
(A) that Protestantism was acceptable to God.
(B) Socialism, communism, secret societies ought be permitted and were not
© That church and state were separate.
(D) Civil power should have complete control of education (the church ought to according to them).
(E) That the state has jurisdiction over marriage and divorce
(F) Church should accept liberal and modern conceptions of society
7. By the 1860s, American Catholics were ready to test the infallibility of the Pope.
8. All of this reinforced the prevailing American view of the Catholic church as a “foreign power.”
9. The Church and Americanism:
a. Catholic church tried to develop an intelligentsia that could win the respect of intellectuals
b. There was a move toward attempts at converting Protestants
c. Some Catholic American leaders wanted to see the Am. Church be free to adopt its surroundings
d. Later, Pope Leo XIII condemned that kind of American Catholicism. Said the church ought not try and ‘harmonize with culture.’ Denied that the individual ought to have greater latitude in ones own personal spiritual life.
e. At first the Cath. Church sought public money for their schools but eventually backed off.
f. The reason is there was an anti-Catholic reaction.
—their numerical growth through immigration
— their possible political ambitions
— the issuance of the Syllabus of Errors
— the pronouncement of the infallibility of the Pope
ALL OF THIS CREATED THE IMAGE OF A RELIGION BASICALLY INCOMPATIBLE WITH AMERICAN INSTITUTIONS. (UNTIL RECENTLY)
10. THE JEWS:
a. The predominant group of Jews were German
b. Reformed Judaism was easily and completely assimilated into American life (they presented their faith in humanistic and ethical terms) it was secularized.
e. Conservative Judaism was always there but very weak.
11. The Eastern Orthodox:
they came to escape poverty, revolutions and war.
12. Greek Orthodox - 1957
13. Russian Orthodox
14 Arminians
a. Deny the dual nature of Christ
b. Came from Turkey to escape persecution
15. The Asiatic Faiths
a. Always small in number – govt. moved to limit their immigration
b. Buddhist mission came in 1914
2. Industrialism and Urbanism
A. In 1890 the Department of Census announced the end of the frontier!
B. Three industries became giants by the opening of the 20th century
1. Oil
2. Electricity
3. Steel
C. Profound Results
1. Required heavy capital expenditures
2. Skilled leadership
3. Huge working middle class
4. Development of urban and social centers
5. A marked decline in rural Americans, by 1900, 40% lived in cities of more than 2500.
6. Urban immigrants suffered tremendously in lack of housing, police, transportation, streets and sewers.
7. The establishment of “big business” as a regular part of American life (i.e. efficiency and profitability)
8. Decline of social importance of the middle class.
9. The old families were by-passed who made the national decisions.
—college educated
—the old gentry
10. The rise of the importance of wealth over birth breeding and morality.
—ambition became the most important ingredient
11. The rise of “business thinking” as the dominant mode of American thought
A. In government
B. In education
BUSINESS THINKING BECAME THE CRITERIOS OF SOUND THINKING IN AMERICAN JARGON.
12. The rise of Darwinism as a business
13. The further erosion of the protestant establishment.
14. A negative effect on the American family
—a shift from a producing to a consuming society
15. Provincialism was broken down
— telephone, telegraph
—transoceanic cables
—mass circulation of papers
—business philanthropy
—labor saving devices
—modern machines
16. The role of woman was affected
—middle and upper class sought more education
–-more political participation outside the home
—more women entered the work place thus competing with men!
D. The churches’ reaction to all of this
1. Protestantism had long before yielded to the idea of compartmentalization and secularization of life.
2. The church then adopted the ‘social ethic.’
—wealth and optimism
3. These churches were concerned with humanitarian interest and now are noted for their:
A. Concern for social status
B. Soaring budgets
C. Wealthy and influential communicates
4. This was the age of the golden tongued orators:
Henry Ward Beecher, T. Dewitt Talmage, Russel H. Conwell
5. The Catholics provided some link with old Europe and the immigrants among them found help for the rigors of transition
6. The churches never really had an audience in the hard core industrial cities — the people did not respond —hence, the city was always a difficult area that has stymied the churches ever since–and to this day we still struggle with the large cities.
7. In the urban centers the churches built gymnasiums and sponsored neighborhood social programs
8. During this time certain sectors of the Am. Population were hard it by economic realities:
A. Blacks in Southern fields
B. Immigrants in the Northern slums
C. Farmers on Western homesteads
D. Children in Eastern factories
E. Soon Protestant middle America rises to politically challenge the immigrants on the East Coast.
1. Urged institution of the federal income tax
2. Urged abandonment of the gold standard
3. Urged a 8 hour work day
4. Government ownership of railroads and telephone service.
ALL OF THIS WAS TO OFFSET THE CONCENTRATED POWER OF THE INDUSTRIAL AND BANKING COMMUNITIES.
F. The churches and some evangelists in particular considered industrialization and urbanism to be only a temporary problem.
1. Since, a Christian would rise to comfort and respectability anyway (the doctrine of prosperity)
2. The unemployed were shiftless — it was nothing more than a character and moral flaw not to rise to a position on modern America. Poverty was intentional.
G. The rise and development of the social gospel:
1. Thinkers of the social gospel were looking forward to an improved social order (The Social Gospel, 1908. Walter Rauschenbusch [1861-1918] was a Baptist minister among the poor)
2. Individual regeneration was not enough
3. Wanted to improve the whole of society
4. Three liberal viewpoints of theology that fueled the movement!
a. the immanence of God
b. the organic character of nature and human life
c. the ideal of the kingdom of God on earth
5. The social gospel was an effort to reform a capitalistic society.
6. Prominent personalities–
a. Washington Gladden 1836-1918– Pastor of First Congregational church in Columbus Oh.
b. Walter Rauschenbush 1861-1918 - Pastor Second German Baptist Church in Hell’s Kitchen area of New York Cities Westside
—studied Leo Tolstoy, Marx and began to emphasize the ‘kingdom of God on earth.’
—devoted much time and energy to social and economic problems
—much less time on theological doctrine
c. Charles M. Sheldon in 1897 publishes “In His Steps”
7. Three main ideas that impelled naturally the idea in America
a. the innate goodness of man
b. the triumph of mass evangelism
c. growing interest in psychology and sociology.
8. In the mainline denominations of the Protestants:
a. the membership became almost exclusively middle class and professional
b. the buildings reflected the new wealth (an organ was a symbol of affluence)
c. Churches and colleges looked increasingly to business for support
d. They began to interpret their activities more from the view point of administration and finances.
e. In the local church efficiency became regarded as highly as evangelism.
f. As a reflection of this tendency “successful businessmen” came to be elected with greater frequency to boards and were given more responsibility in administration of the congregation.
g. As a result two things became the chief interest of the churches
—church organization
—church polity
THIS IS THE IDEA OF SYSTEMS CONTROL AND EFFICIENT STRUCTURE.
9. The Salvation Army was founded in 1878 by William Booth and is representative of this movement.
10. Goodwill Industries founded in Boston in 1902 by Edgar J. Helms a Methodist minister also saw religion in terms of a “system.”
WWII – THE POSTWAR YEARS AND THE DECLINE
1. The global conflict
A. Adolph Hilter comes to power in Germany in 1933.
B. Am. Knew that it was only a matter of time before they would have to fight – and so began a slow armaments program.
C. The churches were reluctant to endorse again a war movement —some denominations issued anti-war statements.
1. 1940 draft law created ‘great protest’
2. The pacifist concluded that both sides in the war were wrong which was the fundamental error.
3. Finally, Pearl Harbor decided the issue.
D. After war came the churches did their best to support the effort
1. Provided Chaplains
2. Gave four and one-half million dollars to set up a conscientious objectors program.
3. The government paid more than 12 million for the construction of 604 chapels on military bases.
4. Churches became involved in helping refugees.
E. The Federal Council of Churches issued its 6 pillars of peace which had a great impact on the way churchmen thought about the war and the post-war world.
1. Peace must provide a political framework for continued collaboration of the U.N.
2. Bring into international scope all economic measures that will have widespread repercussion
3. Create an organization to adapt the treaty structure to changing world conditions.
4. Proclaim national autonomy for all the nations and insure it
5. Create measures for controlling military establishments
6. Proclaim and protect the right of individuals to practice their religion and intellectual liberty.
F. The churches overwhelming endorsed the formation of the U.N.
G. But did not make the mistake of making the war a holy war as their fathers in 1917 and then suffered disgrace.
H. In the inter-war years the churches had suffered the decline of moral influence on society.
I. Factors that led to a renewed interest in religion
1. The collapse of the European Order
2. The rise of Hitler
3. Ideological challenges which led Am. To renewed interest in their heritage.
4. Which included their religious traditions
2. The Post-war period: 1945-1960
A. 3 factors that characterized the 15 year period after the war
1. The dawn of the age of affluence
a. industrial expansion accelerates
b. a lot of capital was available after the war.
2. A change in American lifestyles
a. by 1950 two-thirds of the pop. lived in metropolitan settings
b. mechanization of agriculture
c. improvement of roads
d. tv
e. rise of suburbs
f. advent of the “organization man”
3. The churches now had a view toward “home missions”
a. as migrants were coming in.
b. problems of psychological adjustment to social institutions
B. Some of the political currents were parallel:
1. Cold war
2. The old European empires collapsed
3. New nations emerged in Africa
4. The hot war In Korea
C. 3 major results of this:
1. The sense that Am. Patriotism began to rise in the churches, in other words, the churches stopped or did not criticize the social order
2. There was great concern over communism - McCarthy
3. There was a great need for the consolations of religion in an age of uncertainty
D. The post-war years brought unprecedented growth in the churches:
1. 1957 - 96% of the people cited affiliation to a specific group.
2. A marked increase in church attendance
3. The most remarkable thing is the increase in church building construction
1945- 26 million dollars
1950- 409 million
1960 - 1, 016 billion
—the construction was primarily spent on new buildings where congregations were moving out of town into the suburbs.
E. The 5 types of revivals that took place
1. A stress on new forms of civil religion
2. Increase of popular interest in generalized forms of religion
3. Resurgence of traditional evangelical revivalism
4. A movement for liturgical renewal
5. A theological revival as a continuation of the neo-orthodoxy
F. The development of “Patriotic Piety”
1. Am. Religion
2. Overarching effect on Am. society
3. So religion and Americanism was brought together to an unusual degree.
4. What developed in this period was called ‘faith in faith.”
G. Some preachers of the age:
1. Norman Vincent Peale - leader In the “faith in faith” religion.
2. Billy Graham - leader in the revival of revivalism
3. Carl Henry
H. Some interesting trends
1. attendance at “early” servies
2. decline in mid-weak services
3. Sunday morning worship is the only time for the average Am. to be inspired.
4. Consequently there is a developing of revival of worship as the primary means of religious communication (Sunday morning is it)
5. A departure from textual and expository sermons
—growing religious illiteracy
—prefers to preach life-situation sermons (topical)
—preaching sometimes becomes “story telling” (lots and lots of illustrations
6. Since the 1920s there has been a great deal of interest in youth—especially on the college campus
7. Radio and tv more popular
8. Religious films
III. THE COLLAPSE OF CULTURE:
A. All of this date from the beginning of the 1960s.
B. There were a number of things that began to undo the country:
1. Loss of national assurance
2. Increasing awareness of public violence and environmental exploitation
3. Notion of America as a chosen nation expires
4. Increasing pluralism
5. Changing of the protestant establishment
6. Rise of Black Religion
7. Rise of the Protest Movement
8. Rise of the harmonial movement
9. Rise of mysticism and Eastern religion
C. Radical theology gained a new impetus:
1. All kinds of radical intellectual currents surfaced.
2. Relativism became the accepted norm
3. A worldly focus
4. A shift from personal holiness to concern for the neighbor.
D. There was a general quest for social and institutional relevance
E. There were no final truths in religion, art, morals, politics.
F. There was a great inner church conflict between young preachers and the old.
G. The Jesus people
1. Fluid
2. Communal
H. Impact of the 60s
1. Undermined government authority (forced the close of the Vietnam war)
2. Eroded Am. confidence and optimism.
3. Sweeping civil rights laws
4. Women’s liberation movement- a political force
5. General erosion of authority
6. Drug and alcohol abuse
7. Divorce
8. Overt sexuality
9. Failure of the war on poverty
IV. Religion in the 1970s
A. Great pluralism and diversity in religion
1. The Divine light mission
2. TM=very popular
3. Satan Worship
4. Rise of Jesus Freaks
B. Institutional Religion went into ferment!
1. The 70s were characterized by the sense of exhaustion after the 60s
2. There was a shift of media focus from mainline denominations to more theologically and socially conservative groups.
–the advent of the para church groups
3. The 3 fold nature of mainline protestant crisis:
a. the crisis of meaning and purpose
b. crisis of belief
c. crisis of authority
C. During the 60s and 70s the Catholic Church made the biggest transition
1. Vatican Council II
2. Parochial schools lost out because of economic pressure
3. Changes in lifestyle and attitudes of the Catholic parents
D. The charismatic movement began to grow
E. Some recent Trends
A. The evangelical movement is fragmented
1. A new emphasis in revivalism
2. separatistic piety of the 20th century
3. The charismatic phenomenon
4. Rise of influence in the para-church organizations.
B. Rise of the Electronic church
1. Offers the illusion of intimacy
2. Personalized & and targeted mailing list
3. They have struck a new populace
C. The development of the New Right
D. Rise of Secular Humanism
1. Materialism
2. Pollution
3. Depletion of natural resources
4. New uncertainties induced by technology - nuclear war
5. Mass medai replaces the home congregation
6. Erosion of ethics
7. Church congregations only serve self
Other things to consider
1. Chicano power
2. Rampant nationalism
3. Use of surrogates in war
4. Human rights
5. Environmental issues/growth of suburbia
eating up the land
6. The third worlds view of missions (neo-colonialism)
7. By the year 2000 the continents of Africa, Asia, and Latin Am. had 2/3s of the believers in the world.