REVELATION BIBLE COLLEGE

DIPLOMA

CHURCH HISTORY

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What is Church?

The word Church is a Greek word Ec–ecclesia. It means “The

called-out ones.”

Studying a concise summary of Church History, is a great

blessing and significance to understand where we come from,
where we are going, and also how to deal with the future.
The perspective of time: He is a God of time but is not limited.
The things that are happening in Christian Dom today had
happened before. God has used people before, and he’ll use
people again and again. He is not a respecter of people, but a
respecter of principles.

From the book of Genesis, God marks out the existence of man to
the culmination of his purpose on Earth.
In Genesis chapter 1, the Earth was null and void, then we have
Adam arriving on the scene, he lives 130 yrs., and an entire
generation after him, and generations after, and then comes the
flood. (The deluge) then we find that there is a roughly a period of
1,700 years between Adam and the flood.

The Key characters here are Adam - 130yrs. Seth – 912 yrs.
Enoch -365 yrs. And God took him. He had a son Methuselah
who lived the longest on the face of the Earth. 969 yrs.
His son Lamech lived 182 yrs. Then comes Noah who finds
grace in the eyes of the Lord, and is preserved in the Ark with
eight others, in the ark, then the deluge comes.
After the flood God called Abraham from Ur of the Chaldeans.
Genesis 12, where we have the patriarchal age, with his sons,
then the entry into Egypt.

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We have the prominent names here Abraham, changed to Abram

Jacob who becomes Israel, and the uncompromising Joseph.
You have the captivity in Egypt which lasted for 430 years, and
then the Exodus, meaning “actual flight”.
After the exodus the children of Israel occupy the land of promise,
and God sets over them Judges. (The dispensation of judges)
Ending with the installation of Saul as King of Israel, and then
you have the Kingdom Era.

King Saul who ruled for 40 years. Then King David who ruled for
40 years. Then King Solomon who ruled for 40 years. Then the
division of the Kingdoms, Israel and Judah, because of iniquity.
After the Kingdom Era, we have the captivity in Babylon which
took 70 years. They went back home and there was a period of
restoration.
Then came the highlight of the ministry of Nehemiah, Ezra,
Haggai, and the prophet Malachi. Then was the close of the Old
Testament with the prophecies of Malachi that closed on paper.
They came back and build the temple in Jerusalem and they also
restored the Law and Judaism, and the practices prescribed.

There are 400 silent years, and the bible does not tell us about
them, some things are not in the Bible because there’s science of
theology called canonology., which helps us understand canon, or
what is the rule or standard, which writings are sacred enough to
be put in the Bible, and which are not. By careful study we learn
that some of the things mentioned in the New Testament,
In Matthew are never mentioned in the Old Testament.
We don’t understand where Pharisees came from or Sadducee s.

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They must have developed over the period of the silent years.
Even synagogues are not mentioned in the Old Testament. This
must have been the time when some of the things that affected
the early Church were birthed.

There arose a ruler in Rome, whose name was “Alexander the

Great” WHO RULED THE WORLD, and he waged war between
Egypt and Syria, but he did not conquer. He died prematurely at
the age of 33yrs. And his 4 generals took over the Kingdom. They
began to contend for Judea because Israel was on the land mass
between the North and the south. Syria was in the North and so
some of the generals who took over from Alexander waged war
between the ruling class of Egypt and Judea was the battle
ground.

The Kingdom succession that we’re familiar with in the Old

Testament came to cease. David’s house didn’t rule any more,
because the people who ruled the world at this time were never
descendants of David.
What had happened is that God had closed the kingdom with
Jesus seated on the throne, till he re-opens it again with Jesus
seated on the throne.

THE ARRIVAL OF THE N.TESTAMENT

At the arrival of the N. Testament the Lord Jesus becomes

incarnate,, and we find the first Advent of the Messiah. He’s born
in Bethlehem, and fulfils scripture from Isaiah 9:6 and he lives for

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30 yrs, and for 3 yrs. He carries out his earthly ministry, according
to the desire and purpose of God and that culminates his
crucifixion, on the cross his burial, and his resurrection, on the 3rd
day. What we find is that 50 days after crucifixion, a group of 120
people gather together in Jerusalem, at the command of the
messiah that they should not leave Jerusalem, until they receive
power from on-high. So they gather themselves and wait until the
50 days are fulfilled, and on the day of Pentecost, as we gather
from Luke’s account, the Holy Ghost comes, and they are
baptised with the Holy –Spirit, and God in us is birthed into the
Earth. So we find the day of Pentecost marks the birth of the
Christian Church.
The Church (1st century church) started with the ministry of the
twelve, Luke 6:13. Namely:

1. SIMON ALSO NAMED PETER

2. ANDREW – SIMON’S BROTHER
3. JAMES - THE SON OF ZEBEDEE
4. JOHN
5. PHILLIP
6. BARTHOLOMEW
7. MATTHEW
8. THOMAS
9. JAMES - SON OF ALPHAEUS
10. SIMON – THE CANAANITE
11. JUDAS – BROTHER TO JAMES
12. MATTHIAS (who replaced Judas Iscariot, the betrayer).
Acts 1: 20-26.

THE RISE OF THE EARLY CHURCH:

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The first Church was Jewish, it began in Jerusalem. They met in

homes, and had fellowship meeting. They broke bread and drunk
wine. They had no Pastor, or apostle, it was only one elder to
preside and guard against error, to comfort, to preach , to
encourage, and providing for those who had needs.
Titles like Bishop, Archbishops, or Archdeacons were not
apostolic terminology.

Bishop - is a Greek word Episcopus

Epis -- means on top.
Scopus - means to look or have oversight.

It had size and growth:

From 120 people Acts 2:41 records, so then those who had
received his word were baptised and that day there were added
about 3,000 souls.
Acts: 1:13 – they met in an upper room but not any more but not
any more, the addition of 3,000 turned them into an instant mega
Church. Acts 2:47.

It got bigger, everyday acts 4:4, and says it grew to 5,000. With
the women and children it could have doubled.
They loved one another, they broke bread, they were teaching,
worshipping, evangelizing, and praying.

It was a mega thriving ministry, moving in signs and wonders.

They were called with varying Apostleship just as we are called to
different offices, they were called to different areas.

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Peter remained with the Jews, Paul went to the gentiles, Thomas
went to India, and he arrived in South India and had a thriving
ministry in Bombay, where he died. (According to S. India ministry
archives.)
All of them had signs and wonders following them so they
launched out with the confirmation of the Holy Ghost, signs and
wonders following them, and their ministries.

PETER:
Peter came from Bethsaida on lake Galilee, and his first
and his fisherman father John originally named him Simon, he
was living in Capernaum with his wife, brother and mother-in law
when first introduced to Jesus by his brother Andrew. He quickly
became the leader of Jesus’ twelve close followers and he was
often their spokesman. He was the first to declare publicly that
Jesus was the messiah, at Caesarea Phillipi Jesus gave him the
nick-name “peter” (Cephas in Aramaic) meaning Rock.

Rash and red hot-blooded Peter was ready to die with Jesus, then
three times denied knowing him on the night of Jesus’ arrest. But
peter was one of the first to meet the risen Jesus who specifically
restored him to his position as Leader. After Jesus ascended,
Peter took the initiative in the appointment of a successor to
Judas among the twelve and was the chief preacher when the
Holy Spirit came on the day of Pentecost. Peter and John took the
lead in the Early days of the Church, disciplining Anania and
Sapphira after they deceived the believers, healing and preaching
and taking a special interest in the mission to Samaria.

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Later Peter had a vision which Launched the mission to take the
Gospel to the gentiles. Although he was wary of this view and
later wavered under criticism of strict Jewish Christians at
Antiorch, peter welcomed Paul’s work among the Gentiles and
gave it his full support at the council of Jerusalem.(which
welcomed gentile converts without imposing on them all the
rigours of Jewish law) Peter was imprisoned by King Herod
Agrippa 1 (Ad 41-44) but miraculously escaped the night before
he was due to be executed .

Peter’s later career is obscure, he may have worked in Asia

Minor, perhaps visited Corinth, but ultimately settled in Rome.
Here he described himself as a fellow –Elder which may mean he
was one of the Church Elders but not the sole Leader. Two New-
Testament letters bear his name, and he was probably the main
source of information for Mark’s Gospel. Peter is believed to have
been martyred at Rome during Nero’s persecution of Christians,
around Ad 64.

Although he did not found the Church at Rome, Peter’s

martyrdom in Rome gave it great prestige. Paul’s association with
the Church added to this and the Church of Rome, later claimed
to be the chief Church in the West of the Empire, and the only one
with assured Apostolic roots.

A considerable cult began to surround Peter and Paul from about

AD 200. by the time of the Emperor Constantine the site of
Peter’s martyrdom was held to be now occupied by the Vatican
Basilica of St. Peter’s .recent excavations have revealed a shrine
in honor of Peter dating from the late second century. In the
name of Pope Leo the great who died in 461 AD .Peter was given

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more prominence, the Popes of Rome now claimed direct spiritual

descent from Peter, the Leader of the twelve.

Several apocryphal works are attributed to peter. The Gospel of

peter was banned at Rhossus (near Antiorch) in AD 190 because
of it’s heretical tendencies. The Apocalypse of Peter, which
includes a graphic description of hell, and the acts of peter, which
claims to describe his martyrdom, also date from the later part of
the second century. Peter was crucified in Rome in AD 64 same
as Jesus but his head was turned upside down.

THE ARRIVAL OF PAUL:

Paul a man small in size,
with meeting eyebrows and a rather large nose, bald-headed,
bow-legged, strongly built, full of grace for at times he looked like
a man, and at times he had the face of an Eagle.

He was born into a Jewish family in Tarsus, where his parents

were Roman citizens. He was a strict Pharisee and even as a
young man was outstanding in his orthodox beliefs and in his
hatred of Christians. He was present at the stoning of Steven and
was commissioned by the high priest to arrest Christians at
Damascus.

Paul was converted through a vision of the risen Christ on his way
to Damascus. He was befriended by a Christian Ananias,
Attempts were made against his life,and he was lowered down
the city wall in a basket. He fled to Arabia then Damascus he later
came to Jerusalem where he was befriended by Barnabas and
introduced to Peter. Gurther Jewish threats forced him to go back
to Tarsus, and spent 10 years there. When the gentile mission

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began to flourish at Antiorch, Barnabas summoned him from

Tarsus to join the work.

Paul visit Jerusalem again taking famine relief funds and

discovered the Gentile missions with Peter. Then began
Evangelistic word making him the most outstanding Christian
Missionary in the 1st Century. He went with Barnabas and John
Mark to Cyprus and central Asia Minor, founding a number of
Churches. On his return he had a iolent disagreement with peter
at Antioch about how far the gentiles has to accept jewish
customs when they became Christians. However, this question
was settled soon after at the council of Jerusalem (Acts 15) Paul
now set out again this time with Silas, and they travelled through
Asia Minor and crossed into Macedonia.

Further successful missionary work followed, especially in

Macedonia, Corinth and Ephesus. After another visit to
Jerusalem, Paul left with Timothy for further Evangelistic work,
finally returning to Jerusalem with money collected for the poor
Christians there.
On his arrival Paul was seized by a Jewish mob, and would have
been lynched, but for the prompt intervention of the Roman
Garrison. He was kept in protective custody at Caesarea for two
years by the Roman Governor Felix, whose successor Festus,
suggested that Paul be tried at Jerusalem, but Paul refused to
face such a biased court and appealed to the Roman Emperor for
justice. Paul was taken under escort to Rome surviving a
shipwreck at Malta, on the way. After two years in Rome
(At which point the account in Acts ends)

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Paul - Saul of Tarsus is better known to us as Paul. Saul was his

Jewish name. and Paul his Roman name. For a time he violently
opposed the Christian movement, but suddenly the chief
persecutor became a leading witness to the risen Christ, as result
of his personal encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus,
after a period in Arabia. Paul returned home to Tarsus near the
South coast of modern Turkey. He may have spent the next 10
years or so preaching the Gospel there.

When the Jerusalem believers sent a man called Barnabas to visit

the Christians in Antioch, he fetched Paul from Tarsus to assist
him. This marked the beginning of well documented part of Paul’s
life which was to be so important for the expansion of Christianity.

Paul quickly emerged as leader of the strong group of Christians

in Antioch, who now became the beach head for a concerted
campaign to evangelize the gentiles. Jerusalem was to remain
important in the world-wide Christian community until the Roman
army destroyed the city in A.D. 70, and Paul reported back to the
believers there after each of his missionary journeys abroad. But
it was the church in Antioch that set the pattern for the future.
Paul was ideally equipped to be the greatest of all missionaries.
He belonged to 3 worlds, Jewish, Greek, and Romans. His
parents were strictly orthodox Jews, who used the Hebrew
language and observed Jewish customs at home.

They were sufficiently concerned about a correct religious up-

bringing to send Paul to Jerusalem at an early age, possibly to
live with an older married sister. In Jerusalem Paul learned the
traditions of his people and was ultimately taught by Gamaliel the
elder, one of the most famous Rabbis of the day.

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Paul also inherited Greek culture, which he permeated the

Eastern Mediterranean following the conquests of Alexander the
great. 335 -323 B.C.) Paul later showed his mastery of Greek in
his pastoral letters to Timothy and Titus 1and 2.

In addition, Paul was a Roman citizen, which gave him special

freedom of movement, protection in his travels and access to the
higher strata of society. Ultimately it meant that he probably died
by the sword, A Roman privilege rather than a cross.
What Paul achieved:
Paul’s missionary achievements were
immense, The years A.D. 35-45 remain obscure., but during the
next 10=12 yrs. His activity was astounding. Between 47-48 A.D.
when he set sail with Barnabas on his 1st missionary journey and
A.D. 57 when he returned to Jerusalem for the last time he
established flourishing Churches in Major cities in the Roman
Provinces of Galatia, Asia, Macedonia, and Achaia.

When he wrote to the Church in Rome, towards the end of this

period, his work in Eastern Provinces was now finished, and he
was heading to Spain.
Why did he play such a decisive role in Christian Mission?
First, it was he who championed the missions to the gentiles and
won it’s acceptance by the rest of the Church. Secondly, it was
Paul who developed the theological defence of the gentile mission
which was clearly in Romans 1-11. he worked very hard to keep
Jewish and gentile Christians united. He kept in constant touch
with the mother church in Jerusalem.

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Paul’s personal example as a self- supporting travelling

missionary and his concentration on important cities rather than
rural areas, provided a pattern for others to follow. Paul was not
the only pioneer missionary among the early generation of
Christians., in spite of the earlier hesitancy of peter and other
Apostles, they too probably travelled far and wide in the cause of
Christ.

Paul’s surviving letters are found in the new Testament. Galatians

was probably written before the council of Jerusalem. 1 and 2
Thessalonian s date from Paul’s first journey into Greece Romans
and 1 and 2 Corinthians come from his last visit in Greece before
his arrest in Jerusalem. Phillipians Colossians, Ephesians and
Philemon were probably written from Rome during Paul’s fires
imprisonment (although some scholars date them from an earlier
imprisonment in Ephesus) 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus were
probably written after Paul’s first stay in Rome.

Paul’s letters were highly valued during his lifetime, and were
probably collected together soon after his death. They were
already accepted on an equal basis with other scriptures. They
were certainly in their present collected form by the time of
Marcion the emperor (about AD140)

Paul’s theology was not well understood in the period immediately

after his death, This was partly because the heretic Marcion
rejected the Old Testament, and much that was Jewish in the new
Testament, and made great use of Paul’s writings to support his
own ideas.

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As long as Marcion’s heresy was a threat, mainstream

Christians, Teachers did not stress many of Paul’s distinctive
doctrines, such as law and grace. Augustine was the first to give
full weight to Paul’s theology.

Peter preached the Gospel in Rome, John evangelized long and

found the Church in the city of Alexandria, and Thaddeus the
Church in Edessa about 180 miles North-west of Syrian Antioch.

Thomas is believed to have taken Christianity to India, after

another 50 years.
Around A.D. 300, Christians formed a majority in parts of the
provinces of Asia, minor, and Africa. Paul died in A.D. 62 in
Rome.

In A.D 64, there was severe persecution which was mediated by

an eccentric ruler of Rome called Nero. He set fire to the city and
blamed the Christians. He set 3 council charges against the
Christians:
1. They were anti-social and believed in only one God.

2. They believed Christians were involved in cannibalism, -

because they talked about eating the body and drinking the blood
of Jesus, so they called them cannibals.

3. They openly confessed that they loved one another and so the
Romans thought it was erotism –or love making.

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They murdered them, dogs chased them, they burnt them alive,
they tortured them, they wiped them, and nailed them on crosses
they were bitten by dogs, covered by skins of beasts, and they
were beheaded, and thrown into forests to be eaten by wild
animals. Peter was nailed to the cross, upside-down. John was
boiled in a pot in Ephesus.

The Romans sucked the Church out of Jerusalem, the temple

was torn brink by brick, 1.1 million people left Jerusalem, and
moved to Gentile territory. In A.D. 74. the persecution was so
vivid that they had to choose between faith and life.

One thing that bore witness to the resurrection, was that they
were very courageous in the face of death, they died worshipping
and praising. When the Apostles went to be with the Lord, they
had trained other people to succeed them. Paul had trained
Timothy and Titus, Peter had trained Ignatius of Antioch,
Other successors were, Policap of Syrmna, and Justin Martyr.

Justin Martyr, was one of the men who wrote the Bible.

THE DEATH OF THE APOSTLES

 ANDREW brother to PETER was crucified in EDDESSA
(NEAR Ephesus in Greece)

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 BATHOLOMEW was beaten and crucified in INDIA

 JAMES the great older brother of JOHN was beheaded in
JUDEA in A.D. 44
 JAMES less brother to Jesus was beaten, stoned and
clubbed to death at 94 yrs old in JERUSALEM
 JUDE Brother of James was crucified in 72 A.D in EDESA
(IN GREECE)
 LUKE was hanged on a Nolly Tree in GREECE
 MARK was dragged to death in ALEXANDRIA
 MATHEW was killed with a weapon that had a blade and a
spike in 60 A.D In NADABAH (INDIA)
 MATHIAS was stoned and then beheaded in JERUSALEM
IN A.D. 67
 PAUL was beheaded with a sword in ROME in A.D69.
 PETER was crucified head down by request as unworthy
to die the same as Christ in ROME. AD. 70
 PHILIP was scourged, imprisoned and then crucified in A.D.
54 in HEOLIOPOLIS – REGIA (IN N. AFRICA- Egypt)
 SIMON was crucified in 74 A.D in BRITAIN
 STEPHEN was stoned to death in 34 A.D in JERUSALEM
 THOMAS was thrust through with a spear in INDIA
 JOHN brother to JAMES the great was boiled in a pot in
Ephesus. He was the only Apostle who did not suffer a
violent death. An attempt was made however after he
survived boiling in a pot of oil without injury a divine miracle,
he was exiled to the ISLE OF PATMOS where the book of
Revelation was written.

The Romans sucked the Church out of Jerusalem, the temple

was torn brick by brick, and 1.1 million people left Jerusalem and
moved to Gentile territory.

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In A.D. 74, the persecution was so vivid that they had to choose
between faith and life.

One thing that bore witness to the resurrection was that they were
very courageous in the face of death, they died worshipping and
praising. When the Apostles went to be with the Lord, they had
trained other people to succeed them.
Paul had trained Timothy and Titus,
Peter had trained Ignatius of Antioch,
Other successors were Policap of Syrmna, and Justin Martyr.
Policap of Syrmna, lost his life when handling the Church to
Apostle John.
Justin Martyr, was one of the men who wrote the Bible.

THE SAVAGE PERSECUTION:

In A.D. 250, there was a particular man who ascended the

imperial throne of Rome, his name was Dacius. He wanted to be
worshipped, and faced with a large number of Christians unlike
Nero, he provocation a decree that everybody must offer incense
to the Roman gods, and obtain a certificate to buy or sell. This
became a challenge to the Christians.

1. The first set of Christians refused to offer the incense and

offered to die.

2. The second set of Christians said we won’t offer the sacrifice

but we will get a certificate by the back door.

3. The third set of Christian’s backslide d and offered the incense.

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In A.D. 285 the persecution came to a close and the Roman

emperor divided the empire into two.
A. Eastern Roman Empire known as Constantinople
B. Western Roman Empire whose capital was Rome.

He set a senior Emperor in each house – Augustus and Caesar.

One of the junior Emperors Constantine, decided to break the
empires. He waged war against his opponents in the East.

While heading for battle he saw a vision of the cross above the
sun, he heard a voice say, in this sign you will conquer. He
instructed each man to inscribe a cross on their shields. He went
to battle believing the God of the Christians was going to give
them victory.

He won the battle at Malvern, and henceforth he worked for

freedom of worship in the entire Roman domain.

In A.D.313, there was freedom of worship and this became a big

turning point for the Christians.
Constantine became very popular, although he did not
immediately become a Christian. He still worshipped his symbols
of the Sun god. Although he became exposed he did not follow
the Christians.

25th December became a Christian holiday for the first time in 300
yrs. Christians never celebrated any festival.
25th Dec. was the celebration of the sun god. Jesus was not born
on 25th of Dec. It was forced into the Church by Constantine.
Xmas means (celebration) Jesus was seen as one of their gods.

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Church membership was introduced, you had to pay a certain

amount of money to be a church member, and have a tithing book
he began to favour them and returned to them property and land.
They were no longer persecuted.

They began to build magnificent buildings with magnificent décor,

they obtained massive land, and there was incentive for a priest,
and clergy men, because they were very influential.

They got a lot of money, so they became corrupt, and there was
bribery and corruption and extortion. They brought incense into
the Church, under the progressive teachings of Ignatius of
Antioch, who was one of the Apostle’s successors.

He was an old bishop who died in the 2nd century, who wrote a lot
of letters like Paul. He was the first to use the word CATHOLICAL
CHURCH.
Catholic means global or universal. He believed the church
should be one, but the Romans named it, ROMAN CATHOLIC
CHURCH.

Roman Catholic was powerfully in-charge all over Europe.

The spirit of the Mammon’s crept into the Church, and took away
the purity of the first Church.

Constantine arbitrated between 5 bishops,

1. Bishop of Antioch – Syria
2. Bishop of Alexandria – N. Africa (though he was pagan)
3. Bishop of Constantinople – East of empire
4. Bishop of Jerusalem – (a class by himself in his province)

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5. Bishop of Rome - West of empire

Constantine said the Bishop whose Church was in great cities

should be above, and so Rome became the headquarters of the
Church it became Roman Catholic Churches for 1,000 yrs. It had
all the say, and the Bishop was called “papa” and so the word
(pope) developed from there.

THE DARKAGES:

The decline of the Church……………… The Word of God was

trapped in the Roman language LATIN for a thousand years.
Certain people had access to the word of God so they
manipulated the masses.
Four steps watered down the Early Church:
1. Regional Bishops ---happened in stages. By 2nd century
they were emerging men of power and influence. – Many
churches to one Bishop.
2. Magic sacraments developed a belief that baptism and
formula saved. Some baptised as infants, some on
deathbeds.
3. Established Religion – communion developing ideas of
sacrifice and need for a priest.
4. Church became fashionable and respectable – there was
Nominal membership. People had to register to become a
member, they had to pay for weddings and funerals and
Baptisms.

There were many non-biblical practices and teachings. E.g.

The penance, the concept of purgatory, Roman catholic

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inquisition, or prayer books like catechism, the holy rosary,

stations of the cross, palm Sunday ash Wednesday, worship of
the virgin Mary, worship of saints, holy water, confession to a
priest, worship of the dead, as far as bringing coffins into the
Church. From simple salvation message to a huge institution.
Pope emerged as father of the Church, and leader with great
power and authority. There was a demand that he should be
called “Father” ” Christ’s injunctions to call no man Father
progressively ignored. Parts of church did not accept papal
authority but England did. And in A.D 660 papal authority was
established. The Church went downhill during the dark ages.

SAVAGE PERSECUTION ROMAN CATHOLICS:

Papal rivalry: They had two popes, The Churches split up into
the East and Western Churches, The eastern churches
became ORTHODOX Churches and Western remained the
same, (Western Europe)
When the Western Empire fell, the Roman Empire did not fall,
it was reconstituted. – It was resuscitated as the HOLY
ROMAN Empire. Though it fell in the west, it was reconstituted
under the auspices of the Church, and so the churches
became an influential party to decide who rules the Holy
Roman Empire.

So Rome held on to power and by that time there was no printing

press, until the 15th century, and so it was hard to get the Bible. so

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the people did not get hold of the scripture to read it for
themselves, so when they sinned, they made confession to the
priest, because he stood in the place of God.

The Church AD between 30 to AD 400

The period from the death of the apostles to the official toleration
and establishment of Christianity in the last years of the Roman
Empire takes the gospel from a handful of fishermen to all the
then known world. Book of Acts (AD30 to around AD60) is an
unfinished story. Gospel from Jerusalem to Rome – Capital of
spiritual world to the capital of the secular. ACT 1:8 but you shall
receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be
my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to
the ends of the earth”

Aided by:
Good Communications (Roman Roads)
One Common Language (Greek Peace (Pa Romana)
Jews of the Diaspora provided a ready audience

Christianity spread through facing three battles:

1. Spiritual Battle – began with the Jews
2. Mental Battle – began with the Greeks
3. Physical Battle – began with the Romans

The Spiritual Battle:

Had to fight for the uniqueness of the Gospel.

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Initially, Christians faced pressure from Jews who claimed

Judaism and Christianity could be mixed together. Stephen, the
first martyr died for this cause. Jesus taught His message
wouldn’t mix with any other Mark 3:22 (For there is nothing
hidden which will not be revealed, nor but that it should come to
light.)

AD 70 fall of Jerusalem misfortunes of mankind.” But the study of

History can also inspire and encourage, as you read of the lives of
the ‘heroes of the faith’ – of men and women who knew God and
accomplished great things for him. History, then, is not just a
tool of understanding; it is also a practical tool both of warning
and inspiration.

Many contemporary problems are perennial ones, which have

been faced by the Church over centuries. Sometimes there were
dealt with very ably, sometimes with disastrous results. But, as
Solomon observed, “There is nothing new under the Sun.”

The problems are though, as someone else noticed. “The one

thing we never learned from history is that we never learn from
history.

THE PHYSICAL BATTLE:

Physical opposition arose out of fears of Christian’s secrecy
and threat to the order. Wave, after wave of persecution under
Emperors.

Church has never grown so much as to when it suffers in 312

AD Emperor Constantine professed Christianity. End of

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physical battle in Roman Empire as Church and State are

merged. The battles continued unabated.

In AD 400 to A D 1000 The period of the Dark Ages. Three

battles were victories for the Gospel. The Church won
because they outlived, outfought and out died. Their
opponents.

MENTAL BATTLES:

AGE OF THE CHURCH FATHERS

Charlemagne was crowned the Emperor of the Holy Roman

Empire, and he got his strength to rule from the pope. The
pope became a prophet to the Emperor, what the Church did
not want the Emperor did not do – He forced celibacy of the
clergy.
In 400 A.D. a man called Jerome who was Catholic, translated
bible into Latin. That translation of the bible is known as “The
Vulgate”. The interesting thing about the Bible is that it
remained in Latin for over a thousand years, until John
Wycliffe translated it into English in the 14th Century.

The masses did not understand English, it was a language of

the learned and the scholars. The clergy understood, but the
masses didn’t.

And so it means the people depended on the clergy to tell them

what God was saying. The clergy took advantage and twisted

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the scripture for their own gain. So they manipulated the

people, a burden to force them to do what they made
confession to the priest, because he stood in the place of God.

This was one of the things that sparked off the reformation, and
everybody said it was enough, because they had to worship
the pope. Roman Catholicism held the sway and they told
people they ‘d go to hell if they didn’t do what they were told.
This period was called the “Dark Ages”, because the word of
God is light, and it was shut down.

In 1054 AD there was schism, split between the church in the

west and the church in the East.
The schism was along geographical lines, that is why you find
in some parts of Russia which fell on the Eastern side of the
Roman Empire divisions. Their practice is different from the
practice in London. They celebrate Ester a week after we do,
and they call their Church Elders Patriots, as opposed to
Bishops here.

The schism really took place because there was an argument

about Easter, when we should celebrate it, and when we
shouldn’t.

CONTROVERSY IN NORTH AFRICA:

Athenasius the young deacon opposed Arius the powerful and
charismatic Bishop. AD 325 Council of Nicea called to settle
the controversy. Produced the Nicene creed. (Great
statement of Faith) –

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DISPUTE IN NORTH AFRICA

PROFILE OF THE NICENE CREED.

The Arian controversy was a Trinitarian dispute that began in

Alexandria between the followers of a man named Arius and
the followers of another man St Alexander of Alexandria. In
North Africa.

We must know where we differ, one of the major controversies

of the 4th century, was the Arien Controversy, where Arien
denied the deity of the Lord Jesus and said Jesus was not
God. Arius was a senior Presbyter in charge of The Baucalis
of Libya – one of the 12 Parishes of Alexandria. He was a
persuasive preacher, with a following clergy and ascetics, and
circulated his teachings in popular verses and songs.

Around 318 AD he clashed with Bishop Alexander. Of

Alexandria. Arius claimed that the Father alone was really
God, The son was essentially different from his Father. He did
not possess by nature or right any of the divine qualities from
his Father of immortality, sovereignty, perfect wisdom,
goodness and purity. He did not exist before he was begotten
by the father.

That the Father produced him as a creature as the creator of

the rest of creation. Nevertheless he did not share in the being
of God the Father, and did not know him perfectly. That he
was called “God “ by grace and favour, moreover the son did
not receive wisdom and light from the Father to enable him to
reveal the Father to mankind. Never the Less, by dividing off

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the son from God the Father, Arius undermined Christ’s

standing as God’s revelation and the redeemer of mankind.
The teaching was dangerous in that it developed Anti-bodies
against the truth. They said that Christ was not divine.

The persecution had come to a close – and Christians had to

choose between life and death. Left with no option they stated
their faith.

Alexander and his followers believed that the son was co-
eternal with the Father and divine in just the same sense that
the Father is.

The Arians on the other hand believed that the son shared
neither the eternity nor the true divinity of the Father but was
just a perfect human being. And this same error.

For about 2 months the 2 sides argued and debated with each
other appealing to Scriptures to justify their respective
positions. According to many accounts the debate became so
heated, at one point Arius was slapped on the face.

Much of the debate hanged on the difference between being

born, being created and begotten. The Arians saw this as
essentially the same. The followers of Alexander did not.
A council of Bishops met at a place called Nicea in AD 325
convened by the Emperor at that time that was called
Constantine. He had invited 1,800 Bishops (1,000 from the
west) and 800 (from the East) Transport was provided for.
They were charged with investigation of the trouble that was
brought about by the Arian Controversy.

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To Most Bishops the teaching of Arius was heretical and

dangerous to the salvation of souls. In summer of AD 325 the
Bishops of all provinces were summoned to NICEA BITHYNIA
now known as ANATOLIA IZNIK IN MODERN DAY Turkey,

Result of the debate – The council declared that the son was
true God, co-eternal with the Father and begotten from his
being, and that the Holy Spirit proceeded from the Father. This
belief was expressed by the Bishops in the Nicene Statement
which would form the basis of what has since been known as
the Nicene Creed. It is a declaration and summary of the
Christian Faith. And the most widely adopted statement of
faith among the Christian Churches.

The Nicene Creed was established to identify conformity of

beliefs among Christians as a means of recognising heresy, or
deviation from Orthodox biblical Doctrines, and as a public
profession of faith.

The original Nicene Creed was adopted at the first council of

Nicea in AD 325, and came to be known as the first
Ecumenical Conference of Bishops for the Christian Church.

In 381 AD the second Ecumenical council met and in the same

year a Third Ecumenical Council met and formally re-affirmed
the version and declared that no further changes could be
made nor could any other creeds be adopted.

The debate was “Is Christ Jesus truly the son of God?”

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The Nicene Creed was now formed on this basis. And

everybody declared that Jesus Christ was truly the son of God
and shared the same being with the Father.

THE NICENE CREED

We believe in one God, the Father, The Almighty, the

maker of Heaven and Earth, of all that is seen, and unseen.

We believe in one Lord Jesus Christ the only son of God,

Eternally begotten of the Father Light from Light true God
from true God, begotten not made, of one being with the
father, through him all things were made.

For us men and for our salvation, He came down from

Heaven by the power of the Holy Spirit; he became
incarnate of the Virgin Mary, and was made a man.

For our sake, he was crucified under Pontius Pilate, He

suffered, died and was buried. on the third day he rose
again in fulfilment of the scriptures. He ascended into
Heaven and is seated at the right hand of the father. He will
come again in glory to judge the living and the dead and his
kingdom will have no end.

We believe in one Holy Spirit the Lord, the giver of life,

who proceeds from the Father and the Son, with the Father
and the Son he is worshipped and glorified. He has spoken
through his prophets.

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We believe in one Holy Universal and Apostolic Church.

We acknowledge one Baptism for forgiveness of sins. We
look forward for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of
the world to come.

A…M…E…N

KEY SCRIPTURES FEATURES:

John 14. 23-26 “Jesus answered and said to him, if anyone
loves me, he will keep my word., and my Father will love him
and we will come to him, and make our home with him.

John 16:27-28 “For the Father himself loves you because you
have loved me, and have believed that I came from God. “I
came forth from the Father and have come into the world.
Again, I leave the world and go to the Father.”

He who does not love me does not keep my words and the
word which you hear is not mine but the Father’s who sent me.
These things I have spoken to you while being present with
you. But the helper the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send
in my name he will teach you all things and bring to your
remembrance all things that I said to you.

AD 400 to AD 1000 The period of the Dark Ages. Three battles

were victories for the Gospel. The Church won because they
outlived, outfought and outdied. Their opponents. Over the next
1,000. From simple salvation message to a huge institution

Montanism (assemblies of people) :

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Rediscovered the Holy Spirit and the Gifts of God. Vital

Experiential in Asia Minor. Opposed severely by the Bishop.
The First Pentecostal movement went wrong. Went into
prophetic excess because they wouldn’t listen to Scriptural
teaching on how to exercise the gifts.

Many left the Church-world altogether. A group of people

called Hermits tried to return to simplicity of Gospel truths,
asceticism (practicing religious denial or abstaining from food
etc.

Communities: Benedict of Monte Carlo Experiments in

Christian community as a protest to a world Church.

These went wrong also. Because introverted and self-

absorbed it was alien to the world both strands said Church
wasn’t what it out to be. The net result was the beginnings of a
two-tiered Christianity.

In AD410 Rome fell to the Barbarians. Jerome wrote “The

human race is included in the ruins” profound influence. St
Augustine converted from a life of waywardness became great
voice of the Church. Wrote city of God. Brought hope and
inspiration that how the heavenly empire could be established.
Had, damaging effect. Let to rise of the Roman Bishop as head
of this empire.

RISE OF POPE:
Pope emerged as Father of Church and Leader with great
power and Authority. Christ’s injunction to “call no man father”
progressively ignored. Parts of the Church did not accept

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papal authority. England did. AD660 Celtic and Papal

Christianity met at Whitby. Papal authority established.

The Eastern Church would not accept Papal Authority, Split

competed in AD 1054 still in effect.

THE EASTERN EMPIRE

Would not accept Roman Authority. Split competed in AD1054
still in effect. “Constantine”. Pope claimed Peter appointed 1st
Pope and all of Italy belongs to him.

Charlemagne – revived Empire with Emperor of Holy Roman

Empire. Pope crowned Charlemagne as Emperor. Coined
“Christendom”. – Even land became “Christian”. Forced
celibacy of the clergy.

Protest increases:
Small groups of true Christian believers met in homes all over
Europe to study the Bible.

AD 1000 – 1450: MIDDLE AGES

AT the beginning of this period, Europe was largely ruled by the

New Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. The next 500
years however, were to be dominated by the role and rule of
the Pope. Hildebrand made this change. Battle between
Henry IV and Hildebrand settled in the Alps. This put the
physical force of armies in hand of Pope/Church. He began
putting force to spread of the Gospel- biggest mistake. The
Church exerted its force through the following
developments:-

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A – The Crusades

The Use of Force Hildebrand initiated the First Crusade- AD

1095, 600, 000 men led by Pete the Hermit. In Jerusalem
they slaughtered, raped, and pillaged Incentive for going
was- offered pardon from Sin Belief that you established the
kingdom by force of arms. Caught the popular imagination
(e.g. Richard III in England, even children’s Crusade). Last
Crusade was a disaster. 1270 people called it all off.
Complete failure.

THE RISE OF ISLAM

In the late 6th century, a boy was born in Mecca in 570 AD His
name was Ubil Kazzim. That was Mohammed’s original
name. His dad died when he was yet a baby, and his mum
died when he was 6 yrs old. His uncle who was a merchant
at that time adopted him, and so the little boy followed his
uncle to his trade routes, and in so doing, he met Christians
and Jews and it is said that he listened to them and some of
the things he said, would form some of his theology and
propagate Islam. As we know it. At this time the Arabian
peninsular was populated by wandering tribes, that believed
in poly in polytheism (worship of many gods) and there was
no way Islam would strive under that condition.

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Ubil Kazzim was believed to be a very eccentric person he used

to spend a lot of time in solitary confinement. He married a
lady by the name Khadija who was 15 yrs older than him
she was very wealthy, and so it was her wealth that made
Ubil Kazzim spend many hours meditating. And so his
wife’s wealth gave him a licence to meditate. So Ubil
Kazzim started to meditate, and shut himself in a cage. It is
said that one time he was meditating he saw a creature
choking him and identified itself as Angel Gabriel.
The creature said to Ubil Kazzim, Proclaim! X3 that there is only
one God, and he created man from a, clot of blood. (And
that’s contradicts what we study in Genesis that man was
created from the dust of the earth). So he took hold of this
enlightenment and proclaimed it. They rejected him in
Mecca because there was worship of too many idols. And
people were very rich they had no time to listen to him. And
so he fled with a few followers to an Oasis in Medina, then
his followers grew. He saw repeated visions of things he
could recite that had been said to him, because he was
illiterate. He did not read or write. He stayed in obscurity for
10 years.
MUHAMMAD ‘S VISIONS:

1. He saw an angel and his companions bring him a robe and

cap of honour, traditionally given by a great ruler to his
subject with whom he is especially pleased. They are a way
of showing Muhammad’s special status with God. The
green robe is always associated with the prophet.
2. He saw himself being guided by the angel Gabriel, The chief
of God’s angelic servants. Gabriel brought God’s

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revelations to Muhammad, and often listened to him reciting

them.
3. He found himself taking a night’s journey to God’s presence
which is commemorated in the Koran. He was carried by
night from the holy mosque to the far distant mosque. The
holy mosque is understood to be the Ka’aba in Mecca and
the far distant mosque to be the Al’aqsa mosque near the
dome rock shrine in Jerusalem.
4. Accompanied by angels Muhammad ascended towards the
highest of the 7 heavens. According to some of the accounts
he gave, both he and Gabriel when they came into God’s
presence they had to shield their eyes from the brilliance.
Gabriel retired but the prophet (Muhammad) was eventually
able to see God from whom he received directions about the
daily prayers that all Muslims should perform. He was told
to institute 5 times of prayer throughout the day.
5. These are the first words brought to Mohammad through
revelation by Gabriel “Recite in the name of your Lord who
has created, created man from a drop of blood, recite for
your Lord is generous, who taught by the pen, who taught
men what they did not know)
6. Muhammad ascended into Heaven the 27th day of Islamic
month of Rajab from the rock of the temple Mt in Jerusalem,
now marked by the sacred dome of the rock shrine. This
rock is said to bear the prophet’s footprint and even to hang
in the air. On the day of judgement the angel “Israfil” will
blow the trumpet from the rock and according to some
traditions the Ka’aba (holy shrine) will come to it from Mecca
like a bride.
7. Muhammad was carried through the heaves on a fabulous
horse like a beast with a female human head called Alburaq

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meaning lighting. This was his mount for his journey from
Mecca to Jerusalem, where before ascending he led other
prophets including Moses, Abraham and Jesus in prayer.

So he memorized those things which were later written down as

the Koran. He went back to Mecca with ten thousand followers
who were men and took Mecca by force in a bloodless coup. He
was now overwhelmed with this vision to Islamise the whole
world. So Mecca became the city of Islam and He began the
Islamic rule which lasted for a 1,000 years. He called it the Khalifit
rule, where the King was a Khalif. And subject was supposed to a
Muslim, meaning “One who submits to Allah’s will.” If you speak
to a Muslim, they say Inshallah- it is the will of God. (E.g.
Earthquakes-Inshallah) They needed that kind of thinking to
wage the kind of war that they waged. They had to be convinced
that it is the will of God to kill. It was a way to sear their
conscience before they could be charged to war and to kill to rape
to pillage and to suck.

In the middle of the 7th Century to the early years of the 8th
century, there was massive advance of Islam. Such that
Jerusalem fell, Antioch fell Alexandria fell to Muslims. They
sucked the entire North Africa. Alexandria, a very religious
city we got there before the Muslims. They waged war
towards the Southern direction into the East of Africa. The
rest moved into India and areas now known as Pakistan.
They began to wage war westwards. This was a time when
the church was sleeping. And had backslidden and so
Satan sought an open door and today 1 billion people are
Muslims and the number is still growing. This door was
opened by Satan not God.

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The Mediterranean, the Middle East in the land bridge between

the continent of Europe and Africa and Asia Minor. But
Spain dips in the Mediterranean Sea and almost Tunisia and
Algeria. What they did was waged war between Mecca and
Baghdad and was stopped at Constantinople modern day
Turkey. The Seven Churches of Asia Minor most places
Paul evangelized, Galatia in Asia Minor was sucked by
Islam. They tried to teach Europe coming from North Africa
that is why a population of the Spaniards are Muslims are
called Morse. They were met by the Roman Holy Emperor
who limit the advance of Islam by Force into Western
Europe. So the map of the World was redrawn by beginning
of 7th century and you have patches that were never existed
before of people who were Antichrist to the Gospel. God
preserved the continent of America it wasn’t known at that
time. God preserved it for a move that was about to take
place. So they didn’t dream about going to America
because they didn’t know it ever existed. Mohammed hadn’t
found it, by the beginning of the 7th century most Christian
territories was Islamized. What was the Christians
response? War. All this happened because the church was
asleep. We need to content this spirits in the city of David
Jerusalem there is a Mosque we hear that Ubil Kazzim
suffered from epileptic fits and that he went into unconscious
transits, and seizures, foaming at the mouth. Many times he
questioned whether these experiences were divine or
devilish. He said that his wife often times told him not to
consider it. We know it was devilish that is the source of
world religion, where you don’t resist the devil in the world
today Christianity is first then Muslim, Hindu and Sikhs. It is

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not over yet because Jesus said and this gospel of the
kingdom shall be preached in all the earth then the end shall
come.

In the Ministry of Benny Hinn people are inviting him to areas that
otherwise were forbidden for the gospel. Iraq, Iran,
Indonesia, Jerusalem will be taken back. When we pray we
should ask God to give us back all the territories that Islam
has taken, and some parts of the World that are under the
captives of Satan.

REVERENCE TO THE PROPHET:

The prophet’s face is hidden by veil, to show his exalted status,

and because Islam conventionally prohibits of him, no Muslim will
hear criticism of Muhammad, and nearly all are accustomed to
invoke God’s blessings on him each time they mention or write his
name. A minority of Muslims accord such great importance to
Muhammad that they attribute to him almost superhuman status.

Although they insist upon his humanity Muslims revere

Muhammad as the perfect example of living. The majority follow
his “Sunna”, which means customary practice and thereby call
themselves “Sunni Muslims”.

They base their lives upon his sayings and actions which are
compiled into six authoritative collections by careful and pious
experts who separated the authentic Hadith saying of the
prophets from others that had doubtful status. This collections
rank second to the Qu’ran in importance for Muslims and among

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them those of the two experts AL-BUKARI and Muslim IBN-

HAJJAJ are especially respected.
There are three (3) main roots for cults and false religion :}

1. One is ENLIGHTENMENT: where people are seeking for

special knowledge and Revelation – when people tell you,
you can’t know it until you become like them, then better
watch out.
2. REINCARNATION: False teachings about the “After life”.
Many cults hold it that we will come back to this realm.
Once you die you don’t come back here.
3. MEDITATION; Most cults in some form practice
meditation, it is not wrong if it is practised based on the
bible. But if you meditate on anything else it will steal you
up. Spend time thinking about Jesus instead of money)

The church responded to the advancing of Islam by

mounting wars that were called Crusades. That is where
the word came from. Crusades today is to go out and
evangelise win souls for God – Same thing. Crusades
were attempts to win back territories that were lost to
Islam. They were very unsuccessful. The one that was
more successful produced a partial gain in Jerusalem but
was quickly lost again, quite a number of people died.
The Muslim’s equivalent was called a Jihad or Holy War.
They recruited young men and told them that if they died
they would go to paradise, if you don’t fight you would go
to hell.. They told them that paradise was a beautiful
place, with beautiful people, trees and virgins. So men
went to fight died and went to hell

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In 1054 there was a schism (split)

There were two popes – In Rome and Avignam which lasted

between late 14th century and early 15th century.

THE BIRTH OF THE ANGLICAN CHURCH

The birth of the Anglican Church, in late 6th century precisely 596
A D. a man called Augustine arrived to evangelise the English,
and his base was Canterbury. He had a successful ministry
because he evangelized the Saxons, and that was the seal of the
Anglican Church. Augustine of Canterbury was a Benedictine
monk who became the first archbishop of Canterbury in the year
597 AD. He is considered the Apostle of the English. And a
fonder of the English ?Church.

Augustine was the prior of a monastry in Rome when Pope

Gregory the great chose him in 595 to lead a mission usually
known the Gregorian Mission to Britain to Christianize Ethelberht
and his kingdom of Kent from Anglo-Saxon paganism. Kent was
probably chosen because Ethelberht had married a Christian
princess Bertha, daughter of Chariberthe king of Paris, who was
expected to exert some influence over her husband. Before
reaching Kent the missionaries had considered turning back, but
Gregory urged them on, and in 597 Augustine landed the Isle of
Thanet and proceeded to Ethelbert’s main town of Canterbury.
King Ethelbert converted to Christianity and allowed the
missionaries to preach freely, giving them land to found a
monastry outside the city walls. Augustine was consecrated as a
Bishop and converted many of the king’s subjects including

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thousands during a mass baptism on Christmas day in 597. Pope

Gregory sent more missionaries in 601 , along with encouraging
letters and gifts for the churches , although attempts to persuade
the native Celtic Bishops to submit to Augustine’s authority failed.
Roman Bishops were established at London and Rochester in
604, and a school was founded to train Anglo-saxon Priests and
missionaries . Augustine also arranged the consecration of his
successor Lawrence of Canterbury. The Arch-bishop probably
died in 604 and was soon revered as a saint.

King Henry VIII created the Anglican Church in 1534. He wanted

to divorce his wife Queen Catherine of Aragon because she
wouldn’t produce a male heir but the pope wouldn’t do it. So
Henry got Thomas Cranmer to grant an annulment. The pope
excommunicated him. King Henry the VIII established The Church
of England in1534 when parliament declared that the King was
the supreme head of the church. He wanted to establish it
because he wanted to divorce. He wanted his own church that
would give him a divorce.

The Church of England is the Anglican Christian state Church of

England in London England governed by Queen Elizabeth ll, it
operates as the mother Church of the Anglican communion
International.

It dates its formal establishment to the 6th century Gregorian

mission in kent led by Augustine of Canterbury , with considerable
features introduced and Established during the English
Reformation of the 16th century.

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Since the English reformation the Church of England has used a

liturgy in English. The church contains several doctrinal strands,
the main 3 known as 1. Anglo-Catholic 2.Evangelical
3. Broad Church.
Tensions between theological Conservatives and progressives
find expression in debates over ordination of women and
Homosexuality.
The church includes both Liberal and conservative clergy
members.
The governing structure of the church is based on dioceses, each
presided over by a Bishop. Within each Diocese are local
parishes. The general Synod of the Church of England is the
Legislative body for the church and comprises Bishops, other
clergy and laity its measures must be approved by both Houses of
Parliament.

Anglicanism is a tradition within Christianity comprising The

Church of England and churches which are historically tied to it or
hold similar beliefs.
King Henry VIII created the Anglican Church in 1534 He was
heirless and wished to exchange one wife (the unfruitful Catherine
of Aragon) for another (Ann Boleyn.) he wanted to divorce her
but the pope would not permit him so he got Thomas Cranmer to
grant an annulment. The pope excommunicated him. King Henry
the VIII established The Church of England in1534 when
parliament declared that the King was the supreme head of the
church. He wanted to establish it because he wanted to divorce.
He wanted his own church that would give him a divorce.

THE ENGLISH REFORMATION :

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In England Reformation was unique : First political then religious.

Henry VIII its author, resisted for a time, many of the religious
consequences which accompanied elsewhere in Europe, the legal
and political changed. Initial impetus to reform was political-
2. He widened the application of old powers to limit Roman law
in England.
3. Ann Boleyn was crowned queen.
Ironically, Henry’s opposition to Martin Luther had caused the
pope himself to label Henry ‘Defender of the Faith” a Title he now
assumed for all of England. However Henry was no religious
radical. He was very catholic and left the Church of England.
Catholic

Canterbury became the Cathedral that had the seat of the

Arch-Bishop. That is why the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury is the
head of the Anglican Church. That was the seat of Augustine
who started to evangelize the English Bible (church).
It was initially known as Anglo Saxon Church.
The Anglican has Churches all over the world. Most of them
funded from the U.K
.

The Inquisition > A reason to Reform

The use of force within the church. The church saw itself as
earthly empire valid in using force to spread the word of Christ.

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Priests refused to enforce it. Dominicans took it up. Absolute

power – collapsed absolutely. At one time there were 3 popes all
with the framework of the church with competing claims. Though
the church managed to pull the papacy together, there was an
increase in secularisation and signs of internal and doctrinal
decay.

1. corruption of the monasteries, priest

2. prayers to Mary, Saints, and for the dead
3. doctrine of purgatory
4. Indulgences.

The basic fault is that the church had begun to think she was
Christ, and she still does.
The Church went downhill during the dark ages. The beginning of
15th century end of 16th century sparks of light ignited across
Western Europe as it were a foretelling us something that was
about to happen-suddenly the darkness may be too long but light
shone in the morning.

THE REFORMATION: 1500 - 1700

In 1517 a man called Martin Luther openly challenged
Catholicism. October 1517 was the start of the reformation of the
Christians Church – Salvation was by Faith not by works. he was
set on collusion force against Rome. Pope Leo the 10th appointed
John Texo to go round raising funds to build a new basilica in
Rome. He wanted a new Cathedral. They began to sell
certificates to people to free their relatives from purgatory. The
illumination of faith came to Martin Luther.

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The printing press.

The Yoke that stopped the publishing of the word had been
broken. Martin was able to use the printing press as a means of
facilitating the publishing of the bible. Martin Luther believed that
salvation was by the finished work of Calvary. And for the first
time the bible was translated into German language and was
quickly copied-by the time Rome realized what was happening.
They were able to read for themselves only to see that for a
thousand
Years they had been deceived. Their grandfathers had gone to
be with the Lord without knowing the original truth- salvation was
by faith. Martin Luther was an Augustinian Monk. – He was
Roman Catholic when he started. his views was not to break
away from Rome or Catholic Church. He did not know what God
was doing. He only wanted Reformation – but it went beyond his
control.
When he handed 95 Pieces to Rome –he was summoned and so
went to hiding.
Martin Luther German: was born on 10 November 1483 in
Eisleben Saxony Holy Roman Empire and died on 18 February
1546) at the age of 63. He married Katharina von Bora. He was
a German friar, priest, professor of theology and seminal figure of
the 16th-century movement in Christianity known later as the
Protestant Reformation Initially an Augustinian friar, Luther came
to reject several teachings and practices of the Roman Catholic
Church. He strongly disputed the claim that freedom from God's
punishment for sin could be purchased with money. He con-
fronted indulgence salesman Johann Tetzel, a Dominican friar,

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with his Ninety-Five Theses in 1517. His refusal to retract all of his
writings at the demand of Pope Leo X in 1520 and the Holy Ro-
man Emperor Charles V at the Diet of Worms in 1521 resulted in
his excommunication by the Pope and condemnation as an out-
law by the Emperor.
Luther taught that salvation and subsequently eternity in heaven
is not earned by good deeds but is received only as a free gift of
God's grace through faith in Jesus Christ as redeemer from sin
and subsequently eternity in Hell. His theology challenged the au-
thority and office of the Pope by teaching that the Bible is the only
source of divinely revealed knowledge from God and opposed
sacerdotalism by considering all baptized Christians to be a holy
priesthood. Those who identify with these, and all of Luther's
wider teachings, are called Lutherans even though Luther insisted
on Christian as the only acceptable name for individuals who pro-
fessed Christ. Today, Lutheranism constitutes a major branch of
Protestantism and overall Christianity with some 80 million adher-
ents
His translation of the Bible into the vernacular (instead of Latin)
made it more accessible, which had a tremendous impact on the
church and on German culture. It fostered the development of a
standard version of the German language, added several princi-
ples to the art of translatio] and influenced the writing of an Eng-
lish translation, the Tyndale Bible ]His hymns influenced the de-
velopment of singing in churches] His marriage to Katharina von
Bora set a model for the practice of clerical marriage, allowing
Protestant priests to marry
In his later works, notably On the Jews and Their Lies, Luther ex-
pressed antagonistic views toward Jews, writing that Jewish syna-

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gogues and homes should be destroyed, their money confiscated,

and liberty curtailed. These statements and their influence on anti-
semitism have contributed to his controversial status Martin
Luther died in 1546, still convinced of the correctness of his Ref-
ormation theology, and with his decree of excommunication by
Pope Leo X still effective.
.
95 Theses

All saints’ Eve. 31 October 1517, Luther pinned to door of castle

church at Wittenberg, 95 theses. These were formal points for
debate and he was ready to defend them at a public disputation.
Never intend to be revolutionary. They are dry, Catholic, but his
heart is engaged! Luther believed the Pope would disapprove of
iniquitous trade of indulgences if he knew.

Luther’s Theology

He had been developing a simpler theology, a return to scripture.

He found as divinity teacher at Wittenberg in turning to St Paul
and Romans in particular, the inner people and understanding his
heart was searching for.

Luther suffered real agony of Soul, really acute sense of

conviction – inner wrestling. The perception came slowly, and
focused in The Just Shall Live by Faith. The theses don’t
mention justification by faith, but it is at the centre of them. Luther
applied his belief to a particular case – the indulgence.

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CHARACTER

Deeply committed Catholic believer. His protest not merely about

doctrine or abuse of church, but INSEPARABLY BOUND UP
WITH HIS CHARACTER AND HIS OWN PERSONAL
STRUGGLE WITH FAITH.

He dominated the Reformation. Simple, austere, forthright not

sophisticated, a man of the people. He could be course,
obstinate, vulgar, and bitter. His hates and his laughter were
titanic. But he caught the population imagination. A genius for
preaching and speaking and writing the poor.
1483 Born
1512 Doctor and Professor of Holy Scripture at University of
Wittenberg. (A doctorate was a rare achievement in
those days
And meant much more than it sometimes does now. It
was the
Pinnacle of academic success) Dr and Professor of
Theology.
1513-15 Lecturers on Psalms. (Most scholars put Luther’s
discovery of his evangelical theology at this point, but
Dickens dates it 1518).
1515-16 Lectures on Romans. (These were lost until 1908, but
form one of the most vital documents for an
understanding of Luther’s theology).
1516 By this time he had finally repudiated Aristotle,
Aquinas and Scholastic theology in general.
1517 The Ninety-five Things against indulgences.

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1518 Heidelberg Disputation with fellow Augustinians – very

successful
1518 Diet of Augsburg. Before Cajetan. This was Luther’s
bravest stand; he was completely; alone.
1519 Disputation with John Eck at Liepzig. (This rallied
German support. Luther moved his ground to
‘Scripture alone’ “Perhaps the most important episode
in Luther’s life” T M Lindsay)
1525 This was Luther’s literary annus mirabilis’ – (he issued
twenty four publications. Including; ‘Appeal to the
Nobility of the German Nation’. The Babylonian
Captivity of the Church’ and the Freedom of a
Christian Man’

1520 Luther burned the Papal Bill of condemnation

1521 Luther excommunication
1522 Diet of Worms. (He appeared before the Emperor,
Charles V, who based his opposition to Luther
On the plausible formula, “A single friar who goes up
his historic stand. “Unless I am convicted by Scripture
and plain reason - I do not accept the authority of
Popes and councils, for they have contradicted each
other - my books are to be eradicated from the
memory of man”)

Following this, he was hidden in the Wartburg where

he began his translation of the Bible. The tumults at
Wittenberg were inspired by the radicals led by the so-
called Zwickau prophets. Luther returned and quelled
the trouble by a week of sermons. “(This was written
when the rebellion seemed to carry all before it and I

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the circumstances was even an act of courage”

(Elton), but the rapid collapse of the war made it come
out after the event so that it read like a brutal call to
stamp out the defeated.)

1525 Clash with Erasmus over free-will

1525 Luther’s marriage. (This did mire to influence the
development of German family life over the Next four
hundred years than anything else)
1529 Colloquy of Marburg.
1530 Augsburg Confession. (This was the work of Philip
Melanchton, while Luther fretted behind the scenes.
This attempt to meet the Catholics half-way was a
failure like all other such attempts that were made in
the sixteenth century).
1539 The Bigamy of Philip of Hesse
1546 Luther died. (The chariots of Israel and the horsemen
thereof!

The Indulgence

“As soon as the coin in the coffer rings. The soul into
heaven springs”

Corruption of the church revealed by administration of

indulgences. (to reduce the amount of punishment
one has to undergo for sins to reduce the penance
required after a sin has been forgiven)
(Or a temporal punishment after death or a process of
purification called purgatory) Everyone took their

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share. The Indulgence was a means of raising money

by selling forgiveness. It enslaved the people by
advocating that they had no further need of penitence.
Teztzel, working for Archbishop Mainz near
Wittenberg, enraged Luther with his persuasive oratory
and selling of Indulgences. This was to become the
spark that lit the fire all over Europe.

He had friends in high places.

Martin Luther returned to Wittenburg Germany in 1522 and
formed the Lutheran Churches. He did not think he would be
founding a new Church merely ironing out problems in the
universal Church.

The German Bible was introduced. Priests were allowed to

marry, worship was revolutionalized, they had German hymns.
Luther’s catechism (1529) became the German Bible the
foundation of parochial instructions and religion in the house
Luther wrote one book per fortnight for 25 years.
He put the spotlight back on Christ. Christ-centred Gospel for
justification, by faith not works. He awakened a mixed but
massive popular movement which essentially opened up the
whole of Europe to the truth of the Gospel.

There was Catholicism and Protestantism which started in 1650

in Germany and people were no longer loyal to the Pope. There
was war. They raised arms to stop them- France, German, and
Central Europe. It was direct response to reformation –
reformation produced – Lutheran Church in Germany the
Presbyterian in Scotland. 1611 King James 1st ordered a New

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Translation of the Bible. King James Version published 1611.

They thought you are not spiritual if you did not use it. 1642 there
was religious civil war.

Three significant developments – reformation time compilation of

the Bible – Canon of Scripture was developed to show Christians
the real truth.

The faith was stated (Apostles Creed) made lists of what they
believed in contrast to the Gnostics.

John Calvin:
The roots of the Presbyterian Church trace back to John Calvin
a 16th century French reformer.. Calvin was born a Frenchman
2nd generation reformer he was born a catholic and often times
was said to have been delivered from idolatry. Calvin trained for
the catholic priesthood but later converted to the reformation
movement. John Calvin died at 54 he has a legacy, because in
Bible school there is no way you will escape without hearing
about Calvin. Calvin’s views have been the most influential views
in any reformation theology. It is often said at the beginning of
16th century Isaac Newton was the most famous person in
Western Europe. But John Calvin was the most famous person in
the 16th century In Western Europe. he was a theologian, and an
excellent, a person believed to have studied the word of God and
dismantled it by careful study to say what God was actually
saying by studying the original languages. Calvin dedicated a
great deal of thought to practical matters such as the Ministry,
“the Church, Religious education and Christian life. He was

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somewhat coerced into leading the reformation in Geneva.,

Switzerland in 1541.
The town council of Geneva enacted Calvin’s Ecclesiastical
ordinances, which set forth regulations on issues related to
church order, religious training, gambling, dancing and even
swearing. Strict disciplinary measures were enacted to deal with
those who broke these ordinances.
Calvin’s theology was similar to Martin Luther’s. He agreed with
Luther on the doctrines of original sin, justification by faith alone,
the priesthood of all believers, and the sole authority of the
scriptures. He distinguishes himself theologically from Luther
primarily with the doctrines of predestination and eternal security.

Second in importance of John Calvin in the history of

Presbyterianism is Kohn Knox. He lived in Scotland in the mid
1500’s. He led the reformation in Scotland following Calvinistic
principles, protesting against the Catholic Mary, Queen of Scots
and Catholic practices. His ideas set the moral tone for the
Church of Scotland and also shaped its democratic form
government. The Presbyterian form of church government.
The Presbyterian form of church government and reformed
theology were formally adopted as the national Church of
Scotland in 1690. The Church of Scotland remains Presbyterian
today. Since the colonial period, Presbyterianism has had a
strong presence in America. Reformed Churches were first
established in the early 1600’s with Presbyterians shaping the
religious and political life of the newly established nation. The only
Christian minister to sign the Declaration of Independence was
Reverend John Wilterspoon a Presbyterian. In many ways the
United States of America is founded on Calvinist point of view ,

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with emphasis on hard work, discipline, the salvation of souls and

the building of a better world.

John Calvin 5 point Calvinism

Calvinism is area theology, it can be explained simply using the 5

letter acronym. This set of religious principles is the work of John
Calvin 1509-1564, a French church reformer who had a
permanent influence on several branches of protestanism. Like
Martin Luther before him , John Calvin broke from the Roman
Catholic Church and based his theology of the bible and tradition
after Calvin’s death, his followers spread those beliefs throughout
Europe and the American Colonies.

Tulip Calvinism explained:

The 5 points of Calvinism can be remembered using acronym

TULIP.

T- Total Depravity.
Humanity is stained by sin in every aspect of heart, emotions ,
will, mind and body. This means people cannot independently
choose God. God must intervene to save people. Calvinism
insists that God must do all the work from choosing those who will
be saved to sanctifying them throughout their lives until they die
and go to heaven, Calvinists cite numerous scripture verses
supporting humanity’s fallen and sinful nature, such as Mark 7:21-
23, Romans 6:20 and 1Cor. 2:14.

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U- Unconditional Election
God chooses who will be saved. These people are called the
elect. God picks them based not on their personal character or
seeing into the future, but out of his kindness and sovereign will.
Since some are chosen for salvation, others are not. Those not
chosen are damned, destined for eternity in hell.

L- Limited Atonement
Jesus Christ died only for the sins of elect, according to John
Calvin, support for this belief comes from verses that say Jesus
died for many Mat;20:28 Heb;9:28.
Those who teach 4 point Calvinism believe Christ died not just the
elect but for the entire world. They cite these verses, among
others John 3:16, Acts2:21, 1Tim; 2:3-4, 1John; 2:2.

I- Irresistible Grace
God brings his elect to salvation through an internal call
which they are powerless to resist the Holy Spirit supplies grace
to them until they repent and are born again. Calvinists back this
doctrine such verses as romans;9:16 , Philippians 2:12, John6:28-
29.

P- Perseverance of the Saints:

The elect cannot lose their salvation, Calvin said. Because
salvation is the work of God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit the

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Saviour and the Holy Spirit. It cannot be thwarted. Technically

however it is God who perseveres, not the saints themselves.
Calvin’s doctrine of perseverance of the saints is in contrast to
theology of Lutheranism and the Roman Catholic Church which
hold that people can loose their salvation. Calvinists support
external security with verses such as John10:27-28, Romans 8:1
1Cor 10:13 Phil.1:6

His ideas set the moral tone for the Church of Scotland
And he was the first person to write the first Commentary – On
line discussion of scriptures. And he began to present certain
views, doctrinal views, systematic theology views, and these
views outlived him, that today you will still find that some people
are Calvinists. You may ask what does it mean to be a Calvinist
in Theology or even ask what it theology. Theology is a study of
Two Words Theos- in Greek for God and Logo for Word. It is the
study of the word of God. He believed that in God’s omnipotence,
he has predestined that certain people will go to hell and some to
heaven.

The doctrine of predestination meant if you are destined to go to

hell you will go to hell if you are destined to go to heaven you will
go to heaven. This matter has split friends, broken churches part
ministries, and this matter brought a conflict between The Wesley
brothers and George Whitefield. Whitefield was a Calvinist, the
Wesley’s were not, and it damaged their relationship for many
years.

Most learned theologians believe in the doctrine of

predestination. And some of the most learned theologians don’t.

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Calvin backed his belief through scripture, you can spend hours
arguing about it and get nowhere. But we should believe in
Sovereign Grace and not believe that the scripture of Jesus
exclusive. We should believe that the heart of God was when
Paul said, it is not the will of God that any man should perish.
That everyman should be saved and come to the knowledge of
Christ. We should also believe that Jesus Christ is the Lamb of
God who was slain for the sins of the world. we should believe
that for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten
Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have
everlasting life. We should believe salvation is dependent on the
human will, and if a man wants to be saved he can be saved.
We should believe certain people will go to hell, but not believe
God predestined them to. We believe that certain people will
reject the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus as they have done over the
years. And the reason why you and I will escape judgement is
because it has been meted by Jesus Christ on the cross, but that
is what we believe.
Calvin’s example:
As a man he combined deep piety and incredible self-discipline
with the values and methods of humanism and unrivalled
learning. He was the personification of his doctrine, and who can
say how his personal example commended his teaching? He was
indeed ‘the man God mastered’. His last words were, ‘The whole
of my life’s work has been worth nothing.” But, for good or ill, his
influence has been, and still is, incalculable.
In his own days Geneva sent dozens of young pastors, trained by
Calvin, into France where they “had to live in the face of a
persecution so severe and a legislation so repressive as to be
without parallel in the annals of any civilised country.

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In England the puritans claimed to be his disciples, but even the

establishment was Calvinist – as the XXXIX Articles witness. the
ecclesiastical history of Scotland is a history of the attempt to
create or to reject a system of presbyteries with a legal status and
independence.” And through the puritans, the religious history of
the USA has continually been witness to the power of Calvin’s
doctrine.

JOHN KNOX

John Knox (1513 – 1572) Great man, of God. He came in

contact with Martin Luther, and he began to put forward together
Protestant views in Scotland. The background was Scotland was
Catholic and England was Catholic. Scotland had a queen called
Mary. And the Key thing about John Knox is that he was a
model . His reformation went all the way and changed the state of
his nation. And for a man to have that kind of influence such that
is the message of the Gospel permeates all works for life, then
that IS A MODEL TO LOOK OUT TO.

He was a Scottish Minister theologian and writer who was a

leader of the reformation and is considered the founder of the
Presbyterian church of Scotland. He is believed to have been
educated at the University of St. Andrews and worked as a notary
priest . Influenced by early church reformers such as George
Wishart , he joined the movement to reform the Sottish church.
He was caught up in the ecclesiastical and political events that
involved in the murder of cardinal Beaton in 1546 and the regent
of Scotland Mary of Guise. He was taken prisoner by French

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Forces the following year and exiled to England on release in

1549.
While in exile Knox was licensed to work in the Church of England
where he rose in the ranks to serve King Edward VI of England as
a royal Chaplain. He exerted a reforming influence on the text of
is a model we can look at. the book of common prayer . in
England he met and married his wife Margery Bowes . When
Mary Tudor ascended the throne and re-established Roman
Catholicism , Knox was forced to resign his position and leave the
country. Knox moved to Geneva and then to Frankfurt . In
Geneva he met John Calvin from whom he gained experience
and knowledge of reformed Theology and Presbyterian policy. He
created a new order of service , which was eventually adopted by
Reformed church in Scotland. He left Geneva to head the English
refugee church in Frankfurt but he was forced to leave over
differences concerning Liturgy thus ending his association with
The Church of England. On his return to Scotland , Knox led the
protestant Reformation in Scotland in partnership with the
Scottish protestant nobility

John Knox was feared by Mary queen of the Scots. She often
said “I fear the prayers of John Knox more than the armies of
England and France put together. He was a fearless man who
preached reformation views, got the church completely reformed
in Scotland and had parliament accept protestant views. And so
the parliament began to use prayer books that were written after
protestant views. So he is a module of how far you can go with
God.
In comparison with the Reformation in England you will find that
that England Reformation was very weak, and didn’t go all the
way.

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The reformation of Knox, In Scotland was totally parliament

accepted, so the confession was protestant Christianity. We have
the Presbyterian Church
In Scotland, which is a legacy of the work of a man called Knox.

Reformation views came in the 16th Century. It was toppled.

Roman Catholic came back, and there was a struggle between
Roman Catholicism and Protestantism, and England was never
really established as a protestant country until the reign of Queen
Elizabeth II What happened after all this there was war between
the Roman Catholics and the Protestants. The Roman Catholics
raised arms to stop the protestant movement, because it was
threatening the authority of Roman Catholic in the continent.
There was war in France, Germany 30 years of war in Central
Europe. They called it Religious war, but this was a direct
response to the reformation. Because the reformation had broken
forth and was threatening Catholic views and practices, and
influenced, and one of the ways the Roman Catholic responded
was by this Civil War. The reformation produced what was called
National churches. The Lutheran churches in Germany. The
Anglican in England and Presbyterian in Scotland and
Switzerland. All these came from time of the Era when the
denominations as it were, were born. What was unique about the
Presbyterian Church is that it was governed by a body of Elders.

THE BAPTIST CHURCHES

The roots of the Baptist movement date back to the sixteenth

century and the post –reformation period, although the first

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Baptist congregation appeared in 1609 in Holland. It was here

that the church of England minister, John Smyth, performed a
radical and scandalous act of baptizing himself by pouring water
on his head. He then baptized his fellow reformer, Thomas
Helwys and other members of the congregation.
Smyth and Helwys had left England for Holland in 1607 after
being persecuted for wanting to purify the Church of England of
all traces of Roman Catholicism. Both Smyth and Helwys had
joined a group of “Separatists in Gainsborough in 1606.
Eventually Smyth and Helwys parted company in Holland as
Smyth questioned the authenticity of his self-administered
baptism.
In 1612 Helywys and others returned to England to establish the
first Baptist church on English soil.
Baptists initially developed in two streams of theological thought:
these two groups eventually came together in 1813 to form a
General Union,which became the Baptist Union of Great Britain
and Ireland in the late 19th century.

Throughout the 17th century Baptists were persecuted for their

beliefs, being known as “Non-conformists” they refused to
become members of the Church of England, saying Christ and
not the monarch – was head of the church.”

The 19th century saw a period of significant growth for the Baptist
movement. Great preachers such as Charles haddon Spurgeon in
London and Alexander Maclaren in Manchester drew crowds in
their thousands.

Today, Baptists are represented globally by the Baptist World

Alliance which was founded in 1905. It provides an international

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forum for the exchange of Baptist thought, paying special

attention to matters concerning Christian education, religious
freedom, human rights and missions.
Baptists form the 5th largest Christian Church in the world. Baptist
Churches are found almost in every country in the world and have
about 40 million members world-wide.
In Britain 2,150 churches belong to the Baptist Union of great
Britain, between them having 150,000 members.
In 2009, Baptists celebrated the 400th anniversary of the Baptist
movement.
The name Baptist comes from the Baptist practice of immersion in
water.

COUNTER REFORMATION:
Another response to the reformation of the Roman Catholic
Church was the formation of the Jesuits.

The Jesuits were a specialized Band of Priests that were trained

and raised by the Roman Catholic Church to produce a Counter
Effect to the Reformation.

The founder was Ignatius of Loyola and lived from 1491-1556.

What did they do?

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It was an Exclusive Band of men who took on oath of complete

loyalty to the pope. They were trained in Roman Catholic doctrine
and practice, and so many other kinds of practices, and they
were a special guild as it were, and sent out to the uttermost parts
of the earth, to take new territories for Rome. To force places that
had become descending to Rome to come back, to Roman
Catholicism. They were trained to build schools, trained in
medical care. They would go to places and catholicize the place
by Social Services. Some of the best schools in developing world
are Catholic schools. Some of the best hospitals – Catholic
hospitals, it was all part of a catholic plan to broaden the domain
of Roman Catholicism, and to enforce the Roman Catholic Faith.
All this was good. You must also understand that the Jesuits
were also trained to torture, people. They were trained to arrest
people,. all protestant literature was burned. They were trained
to carry out propaganda against protestant views. That anybody
who was a protestant or had protestant views was not going to
make heaven. Now when you see this interplay of forces you will
understand what Jesus meant when he said “the gates of hell will
not prevail” Now we have the right perspective of history and I
want to make it simple for you, we need to see the beautiful view
of hindsight, and understand the struggle that the church has
been through and the form in which the enemy came. And you
are in a better position to face the future with the knowledge of the
past. Know that the struggle continuous and the devil will surely
show up again.

But despite the Counter Reformation, the reformation was

established. And this was just over 500 yrs ago. And from that
moment onwards, God started to restore the church, line upon
line,, precept upon precept. And so we find New Truth introduced

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into the church. We had it but we lost it. All what God was doing
is to restore what the church lost. What he is doing is not a new
thing – it was lost during the time of the dark ages. So when we
speak about Azusa Street and holiness movement in the
churches and the Baptist churches, all God was doing is he was
restoring us as a body. What we lost, The Saddest thing is that
only certain people embraced it. And the old persecuted the
young as it always happens. When the Baptist Movement first
began the Protestants who were hounded down by the Catholics
began to persecute the Baptists. In fact an entire town was
drowned because they believed in total immersion of water.

So the Protestants had a passion, and they believed everything

Catholic was the devil, and anything that wasn’t protestant was
also the devil. And so when God began to move on they refused
to go, they said there can’t be anything greater than this, we are
the ones who have the revelation of God and so anything other
than this is demonic.

And so they were found guilty of what the Roman Catholic was
found guilty of … and of what the Roman authority was found
guilty of, and so we find history repeating itself. God is moving
and he will move again.

OTHER REFORMISTS:
The basic fault says, David Pawson was that the church began to
think she was Christ and she still does . All the way however,
there were protests, men and women said this isn’t the way:

Erasmus laid the egg and Luther hatched it. “This was a 16th
century saying”

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Erasmus would not and could not have brought reformation (he
ended up as Luther’s opponent ) but his writings did more than
any to expose folly and error of Church and point way to simple
biblical truth. A scholar A satirist, a brilliant writer who forced all
educated Europe to laugh at folly, superstition and idolatry of
Church. Mixed motives, but significant effect.

He said, “ if you believe that your sins are washed away with a
little paper, a sealed parchment, with the gift or a little money or
some wax images, with a little pilgrimage you are utterly
deceived”.

In 1516 Erasmus wrote an edition of greek New Testament – 1st

significant use of Greek manuscripts though it was not a good
version.

JOHN WYCLIFFE:
Oxford Professor of theology
Critic of medieval scholarsticism and powerful biblical scholar. He
criticised papacy and his theology influenced preachers
throughout England.

Wycliffe’s Bible was translation of vulgate (Latin- into English,

hand written, very influential in higher circles. Indicative of key
issues of the Bible being translated into the language of the
people. Seen as heretical and revolutionary movement.

GROUPS:

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NEW GROUP - ENGLAND

BEGHARDS - NETHERLANDS
WALDENSES - ITALY
ABIGENSES - N. FRANCE

Radical Groups:
BRETHREN OF COMMON LIFE - GERMANY
Erasmus was trained under them, basically cells of reforming
zeal. From them rose Thomas Kempis “IMITATION OF C HRIST”
the flower of medieval devotional writing.

LOLLARDS:
Feared and savagely suppressed. A group of Bible students who
lived in the hill region in England. Supported by London
Merchants, they operated like an underground Church and spread
the Gospel in villages and towns. Fiercely committed to purity of
the Gospel and the Bible – suffered extreme fear of sedition.
All studied the bible in vernacular language, often persecuted for
their beliefs’

Within the Orthodox Church many withdrew privately. E.g.

Bernard Clairvaux and francis of assisi
The situation was that people were crying for the truth. These
protests gained momentum until they formed a mighty torrent.
a. John Wycliffe – doctor and evangelist, 1st man to translate
Bible into English from Latin, he rediscovered the Bible. He
caused even ploughboys to know this book.

b. John Huss – radical preacher was burnt alive.

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The church would not tolerate these protests, but people thirsty
for God would not long tolerate their abuses, men and women
were beginning to read the bible in their language.

Developments in learning:
Entering the age of Discovery – Christopher Columbus – 1492 –
Scientist explorer – Africa
Copernicus – Galileo (were sailors)
An age of developing science, questioning, reason. Rediscovery
of Greek and /Art/literature. Printing press was invented.
Erasmus began to rediscover Greek and Hebrew text and work
with them. There was a desire for accuracy of scripture. The time
was ripe for an explosion of true Biblical truth.

(ZWINGLI- (1484-1531)

Swiss reformer a true community of believers gathered around

Zwingli in Zurich. In 1519 Zwingli was converted. A priest, he
had a face to face encounter with God, which changed his life.
He turned to the Bible, and found out that the church was in error,
using diving message to dominate people. The bible became
Zinglis and Zurich book. Zwingli was radical. He taught a real
and individual presence of Jesus Christ. He believed communion
was only a symbol, a remembrance he humanised the gospel.
He died in local war in 1531. Yet his zeal and teaching fuelled
the reformation throughout Switzerland.

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1500-1700: The Reformation

1. INTRODUCTION:

Two centuries of tremendous change in the Church –

emergence from medieval world of superstitions, bondage and
corruption into new era of social, cultural, Europe changed
beyond recognition.

THE REFORMATION BECAME THE DEFINING PRINCIPLE OF

THE PERIOD. IT WAS ABOUT THE BIBLE. THE CHURCH
AND THE INDIVIDUAL.

4 Major issues any student of the Reformation must address:

a) What conditions caused it? Ans. False teachings,

false practices, e.g worship of the pope No scriptures for the
masses, only the clergy and person in power. Severe persecution.

b) Was the Reformation one Identifiable thing –

Homogeneous? Ans. Yes it produced National Churches.
A question of defining terms – The Reformation or
Reformations?

c) Relations of Church and State – extent to which

Reformation went hand with political and social realities
were conditioned, caused affected by them. – The State and
the Church matched. Protestantism was introduced in
Parliament. Henry the eighth rebelled against the Catholic
Church.

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d) What factors enabled the Spread of Reformation?

Ans. Persecution, people willing to know the truth, John
Calvin, John Knox, Martin Luther, John Huss etc.
Personality, politics, economics, intellectualism etc.

Reformation can be characterised by comparison of 3

figures:

LUTHER – Rugged German peasant – popular, down to

eath – salvation by faith not works.
CRANMER - English Gentlemen, squire with
University links.

CALVIN – Clever French Lawyer

Each character is represented within larger history of

Reformation, and each stamped their personality upon it.

THE REFORMATION WAS ESSENTIALLY AN ANSWER

TO THE QUESTION;

“WHAT MUST I DO TO BE SAVED”

2. THE CALL FOR REFORM.

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Both groups are indicative of a rising tide of protest and a

desire to return to biblical standards of life and doctrine.
They reveal the explosive nature of reformation thought. As
does:

JOHN HUSS (died 1415)

Bohemian. Seen as pre-figurer of Reformation. Burnt

as a heretic at Council of Constance in 1415. Regarded as
most notorious of heretics. Luther would embrace Huss’s
doctrine in one of the most significant gestures of his career:
“WE ARE ALL HUSSITIES WITHOUT KNOWING IT…
ST PAUL AND ST AUGUSTINE ARE HUSSITES”.

EUROPE WANTED REFORM, BUT NOT REVOLUTION.

MANY WISHED THE CHURCH COULD BE RIDDLED INTO
CHANCE. BUT MORE VIOLENT FORCES WOULD BE
NECESSARY TO CHANGE THE CHURCH AND THE
ROOT OF THE PROBLEMS.

The History of the English Bible -

1380s – John Wycliffe – translation of Latin “Vulgate” into English
Vernacular – Oxford Professor of Theology. Powerful biblical
scholar. He criticised papacy and his theology influenced
preachers throughout England. His bible Wycliffe’s Bible was
translation of Latin into English – hand written and very influential
in higher circles. Indicative of the key Issues of the bible being
translated into the language of the people seen as heretical and
revolutionary movement.

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1408 - Archbishop Arundel – said it was illegal to make or

read any translation of the bible not authorised by ecclesiastical
authority (Roman Catholic)

1525-26 - William Tyndale – made the English Edition of

New Testament it was that 1st English Version to go back to
Greek Text completely.

1535 - Miles Coverdale – wrote the 1st English BIBLE

15 39 - Cranmer’s the great Bible.

Review crammer survived the ups and downs of Henry’s reign.

Prudent, cautious, useful to Henry. Honest, academic, reluctant
to commit himself, made wrong decisions but bound by
unswerving allegiance to the monarchy. He was executed at
Oxford in 1553. After initial weakness compromise, he died
heroically denouncing the pope and Roman doctrines. His prayer
books dictated the pace and format of church worship for
centuries. There were called Cranmer’s Book of Common Prayer,
published 1549-1552 ordinary, people of England were affected
little by reformation. Cranmer’s view liturgy effectively brought
reform to the people in the pew.

DISTINTIVE FEATURES ABOUT CRANMER:

1. As the new Archbishop of Canterbury, he declared Henry’s
VIII 1st marriage void.
2. He abolished the Latin Mass.
3. He introduced change of appearance of churches.
(buildings)
4. He introduce change in the clergy.

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1557 - The Geneva Bible – A group of English exiles in

Geneva produced what became most popular English Bible until
1611. First produced only New Testament, then the complete
Bible in 1560. In King Edward’s Reign (1547-53) there were 40
different editions of the Bible printed.

1611 The authorised (King James) version. Something of a

compromise became the Standard Bible of the Orthodox Church:

English Protestants:

An emerging group of reformers would shape the future of the

English church. The Cambridge group miles Coverdale. Hugh
Latimer and others met to discuss Luther and protestant reform.
Broke up after 1525 and radicals moved to Germany or
Switzerland.

The growth of reformed Protestantism encouraged a counter

movement within the Roman Catholic Church. This is more often
called the Counter Reformation. However, the seeds of the
Catholic Reformation can in some senses be traced back to the
pietism and devotion of earlier movements for reform within the
Roman Catholic Church.

MAJOR FEATURES
a) The fight against Protestantism encouraged reform within
the Roman Catholic Church, but it didn’t cause it.

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b) There was a politically reality – the Counter Reformation

was in some ways as much against the protestant state as
against the protestant church.

God is moving and he will more again because God’s move

comes in trickles, and then there is the flood, so when the flood
comes see in eyes of the spirit and not in the eyes of the flesh.

After the reformation there were established churches, so you had

religion return to normal, places that were protestant remained
protestant and placed that were catholic remained catholic. And
so God moved his focus from the Catholic Church and moved to a
new people who believed that salvation was by faith. God is a
respecter of his word, and so if you align with the word of God he
will use you, and so when God wants to move, he will move with
someone who is also willing to move and so when the Protestants
began to move with God, God moved with them.
Abraham died believing that the was going to possess Canaan,
looking for a city whose builder was not man but whose builder
was God. And so the present move of God will always he birthed
by the last move and so we cannot afford to abuse the men of
God that God used in the last move, because we cannot have a
present move, if there was no test move. Sometimes we tend to
think that those before us didn’t know a thing, but whether
mistakes were made, they were there available. We need to be
sober. The popes were fathers in the Lord, but God didn’t let
them see it, sometimes God will hide things from them, they will
see it from Mt Nebo but they will not enter into it. So God will
raise a Joshua, and Joshua will think Moses didn’t know what he
was doing, but if there was no moves there would be not Joshua.

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So the protestant movement was established and then they

calmed down. But there were some other people who began to
see that there was more to God than justification by faith alone.
Ok we are justified by faith what next. Ok we don’t need works
alone, but we are not going to seat here and pitch a tabernacle,
like those three men of God who went into the net, and saw two
Unions of Moses and Elijah and said on this place is ……..lets
pitch tents here, one for Moses and one for Elijah but these men
said no lets move to the valley. These people were called
dissenters. They were broadly based in this island, initially and
they said to the protestants, some of the things that the Roman
Catholics did you are doing it again. There was a bishop who
was monarchical, and they said we need a congregational
assembly, we need freedom of worship this is too structured and
it’s too tight. So the leaders of the dissenters called for a hearing
and that hearing is called the Hampton Conference which took
place in 1604. They spoke to the Bishops and said they needed
to purify the Church. That where we got the puritan fathers, but
the bishops said no, we are not going to have anything more than
this, so the dissenters became the new group that were out casts.
They were separatists or puritans who were not in the
Established system you will find out that a new move of God is
collective, because they will be a group of people who will not
tolerate your views. The dissenters had no choice, they had to
live and face the persecution from the established church or they
had to leave England. Some of them stayed but some of them
left. Those who left fled to places like the Netherlands, and
Germany to avoid repression by the King but the story doesn’t
and until we find them board a ship to North Atlantic, North
America. The country that was founded by Christopher
Columbus, almost 100 years before they crossed over to

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Plymouth, in the mayflower, and they arrived there as puritans

fathers seeking freedom of worship. The reason they left England
is that they wanted a territory where they could practice
Christianity like the bible says.

And so they left and went to North America which at the time was
a colony. The population was less than 16, 000 because most
people had come there to trade. The king of England had these
colonies established, but they were ruled by the crown from a
distance and the fact that they were ruled by the King from a
distance, enabled the puritan fathers to establish churches and
congregations that were totally distinct from the established
churches, in worship styles. That is why you find in America most
of the churches don’t have Bishops, Arch-Bishops. There is no
church of America or Established churches, what you have is
congregational churches, Baptist, Charismatic, Pentecostal
churches, but you don’t have that strong denominational structure
that you have here, the reason is that the first pilgrim fathers who
arrived in North America arrived with the intention to worship
freely if you think America as a land of Liberty, you will also
understand that religious liberty was one of the foundations of that
country. To be Honest the founding stone of the USA was the
Gospel. God needed a virgin land to do h is works because in
Europe there was too much contentions and to many strongholds,
and so a new country began to grown in North America. This new
country was a settlement of people who had travelled from
Europe, England, Holland, Spain, and Switzerland. And the
reason was they were escaping religious persecution in the
continent. Thy got to N America and started Congregational
churches. In 1611 King James 1st ordered a new translation of
the Bible after the Hampton Conference, and this was a way of

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pacifying the Dissenters, and so the King James Bible was

published in 1611. Which was the best version of the Bible. In
1642-1649 there was an English Civil War which had religious
undertones because it was a war between puritans and the
established churches.

GEORGE FOX 1624-1691

There were other groups of people who were followers of the

dissenters one of them was George Fox the founder of the
Quakers.
They used to shake violently in their meetings, and got people
saved by thousands- they believed that the holy spirit could give
direct illumination without organised church or doctrine. They
had a moral earnestness and a strong social passion. Another
man with a passion was Richard Baxter; John Elliot was a
missionary to the Red Indians of N America, William Penn who
was the founder of Pennsylvania and |John Bolnian who was a
preacher of orthodox pilgrims’ progress, which was a strong
protestant literature of that line.

There was a mass immigration to N America and by 1690 the

population exceeded ¼ million. More and more people came
from Europe to America and birthed the |New Churches. And so
God used this freedom, to birth successive move of God. In the
17th Century the Baptist churches developed, they were born out
of Calvinist views, and believed in total immersion of water.

The Colonies of North America

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These were indigenous Indians in North America before

Columbus got there . Columbus didn’t find the place, it was
already there it’s was God’s good earth, the just stumbled across
it, discovered it. Anyway they didn’t know the gospel, they didn’t
know Jesus but that was their land. When Columbus came they
settled in the East Coast of the United States. Most settlements
they called them New England. The colonies were New
Hampshire New Jersey, New York, New Orleans Connecticut
Massachusetts, Maryland Virginia, Pennsylvania North and South
Carolina and the Road Island, and so they settled here, and what
you will find was the birth of the rudiments of a new Nation. The
people had now settled down into congregational churches.
There was not Bishop No Archbishops, only a board of elders and
a presiding minister. Simple form of worship, very similar to the
New Testament model. There was no structure, just worship

There were independent, and semi-independent churches but it

was not very long before they fell asleep also. Because as you
would expect in human nature, when people settle they become
complacent and though it takes a lot of effort to build, it is very
east to bring down. It doesn’t take long for a fire to die.
God is always on the move and God’s strides are bigger than
ours and so sometimes when we arrive at a place we start to build
like the tower of Babel when we should be filling the earth looking
for a name for ourselves. The congregational churches of New
England started to slow down. And so there was a need for a
spiritual awakening to continue from Counter Reformation.
c) The Counter Reformation inevitably came with a
lessening of the power of the pope in the countries where it was
evident

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d) It spawned a quest for more adequate, better educated

and trained clergy. This was a major feature of counter Reform.

COUNTER REFORMATIONS SIGNIFICANT DEVELOPMENT

1. 1559-pope Paul IV published 1st index of prohibited books

caused mass burning of books throughout Europe.
2. MISSIONS: Between 1493 and 1620 Spanish and
Portuguese missionaries changed Christian map of Globe
as they explored the New World.
3. 30 YRS OF WAR - Initially 1609-1639 religious
wars, Calvinists vs. Catholics, later became a modern war
rivalry between revived France and Imperial German.
4. INCREASE IN RC Devotion – Rome Re-valued what
Protestants attacked, relics, saints, the virgin Mary etc.
5. MYSTICISM - Direct apprehension of divine by senses
and faculties of mind and soul Spanish mystics like Teresa
of Avila and St John of the Cross.
6. Catholic Scholarship – in 1660 -= Latin still language of
scholarship
Reformation appealed to Bible. Counter Reformed to Bible as
understood by the masses.
Authority of Tradition – CATHOLICISM was exposedInerrancy of
pope not only pope was reduced from 3 to 1

CHURCH HISTORY
16TH -18th CENTURY

ORTHODOXY

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In the 16 century Protestantism began and was developed by

men such as Martin Luther and Calvin. A fresh discovery of
biblical truth led many to the joy of finding Christ> It became
merely a system of intellectual dogma which one accepted
intellectually. Acceptance of doctrine became more important
than how one lived life.

Together with severe religious wars between 1560 and 1648, the
rise of rationalistic philosophy and empirical science the Church
was again in a sorry state.

During the 18th Century two reposes to this occurred.

1. RATIONALISM
2. REVIVALISM

RATIONALISM - based on reason

This modern thought believes reason and the scientific method of
discovering the truth to be all – important. It is not bound by
traditions of the past. Several factors helped rationalism to rise
during the 17th and 18th century and drastically altered men view
about life and God.

Science
Many outstanding scientists changed man’s view of the world.

Copernicus (1473-1543)
Galileo (1564-1642)
Isaac Newton (1642- 1727)

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Quietism:

During the 17th century there had been the mystical movement of
Quetism within the Roman Catholic Church, which was a reaction
against dogma. It encouraged people to keep themselves
passive and open themselves to inner light although this may
have had the advantage of increasing some people ‘s spiritual
and devotional life, the dangers of false spiritual experience were
very real.

Pietisms:

His pietism movement in Germany arose as a reaction to the cold

orthodoxy of the 17th century Lutheran Church.. It encouraged
individuals to return to Bible study and prayer and people to show
the truth of the gospel by lives of piety. People began to believe
there were basic principles that operated throughout the universe.
The universe was seen as a mechanism that operated by
inflexible natural laws.

Natural Law and Natural Religion

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Religion or a religion of reason. With man’s views about fixed

natural laws they did not cease to believe in God but switched
from Theism to Deism.
Deism sets forth a God who is above all who left his creation
after he had created it to be discovered by natural laws
discoverable by reason. He was an “absentee God”.

Society in the 16th – 17 th century.

These new ideas were affecting society. It was time of
rebellion in the American colonies and the establishing of
the United States: Jefferson wrote Locke’s philosophy into
the Declaration of Independence. In France in July 1989
these ideas brought the French Revolution into being. They
said “No more God and the reign of terror began.
England was sliding into mediocrity.
There was : 1. Decay in Religion
2. Licentiousness in morals
3. Public corruption and profaneness in
Language.
. There was worship of Gods, such as:
1) God of wealth
2) God of beauty and Invention
3) God of Power Invention of Tobacco, drugs
4) God of Love Prostitution
5) God of protection etc.
cars. Engines – Alcohol
 Trains
 Women selling their bodies
 Photography
 Novels magazines – T V Radio Telephone

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 Cozy living - heaters

 All these drew man away from God – little by little
 It was discovery by reason
Money

FALSE HEALING METHODS:

ACUPUNCTURE: a medical treatment in which very thin needless
are inserted into skin at specific points.

AROMATHERAPY; THE use of aromatic oils obtained from plants

for healing or to promote well-being.

ASTROLOGY: THE study of the supposed influence of stars and

planets on human affairs.

CHARMS: A small ornament worn on a necklace or bracelet

believed to have magic powers.

COLOUR HEALING: Predicting that a person can be healed by

use of a certain colour.

CRYSTAL BALLS: Solid globe of glass or crystal, used for

predicting the future FALSE Gods: fake artificial gods used for
worship.

Hypnotism : THE practice of causing a person to enter a state of

unconsciousness in which they respond readily to suggestions or
commands.
ICONS: A person or thing which is treated as holy and is used as
an aid to prayer.

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INDIAN HEAD MASSAGE; A practice originated from India that

involves use of different spices to cure the body.

NEW AGE MEDICINE; Movement concerned with alternative

approaches to medicine.

PSYCHIC HEALING; healing by using abilities that cannot be

explained by natural laws.

RELIGIOUS SYMBOLS: Symbols used for worship

SACRIFICES TO IDOLS: Sacrifices offered to idols such as
meat, or money, in order to receive healing.

SPIRITUALIST HEALING; healing by using the belief of

communicating with the dead in order to heal a person.

TRANSCENDENTAL MEDITATION a technique of going beyond

human knowledge into a spiritual area, to promote healing.

WITCHCRAFT : The practice of magic, especially the use of

spells and calling up of evil spirits.

YOGA: Hindu spiritual discipline a part of which includes

breathing exercises, and the holding of specific body positions
widely practiced for health and relaxation

MAGIC: The apparent use of mysterious or supernatural forces to

make something happen (use of supernatural powers)

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While Rationalism and Deism was developing, certain revivalist

movement grew.

People began to believe there were basic principles that operated

throughout the universe. The universe was seen as a mechanism
that operated by inflexible natural laws.

Natural Law and Natural religion

These principles were applied to other areas such as religion.

Natural Law and Society

People such as Locke and Rousseau applied these laws to

society.

Natural Law and Philosophy : (philosophy – rational, reasonable

sound-wise calm, collected composed Cool, sedate)

Rationalist philosophy also became popular.

Descartes (1596-1650)
John Locke (1632-1704)

Rationalism challenged tradition in the same of reason.

Empiricism provided the method.

Up till Francis Bacon (1561-1626) men had used a deductive

method of reasoning. They had general principles they accepted
on authority. This was linked to the facts and a conclusion made.

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There was no testing to see if the general principle itself was true.
Bacon developed in inductive method. This is the scientific
method we know today. Nothing was accepted on authority
alone. A scientist developed a hypothesis, observed the facts
concerning this idea, checked it by repeated experimental and
only then developed a general law.

Enlightenment

“These philosophies substituted reason and man’s senses for

revelation as the main avenues to knowledge”. Bacon and
Descartes were saying laws that cannot be broken governed the
universe. They are fixed and unalterable. Bacon said if you
cannot prove a thing by science you couldn’t say it is true.

This is still argued by people today! The Enlightenment (as we

have technology today – digital) was the name given to this era of
thinking. It was humanity’s determination not to be bound by the
traditions and customers of bygones ages. Man refused to accept
any authority outside him, and the Enlightenment was mankind’s
endeavour to b guided by his own reason. Hand in hand with this
went to belief that natural science could answer every question.
Men believed that all the mysteries of the universe could be
explained in terms of all embracing natural law.

The Enlightenment and Religion

Rousseau (1717-1778)

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Voltaire (1694-1778)

The Enlightenment at first optimistically believed that setting aside

all prejudice and ignorance, rational people with their naturally
good and wise element would bring a true happy society.

Pessimism in reality was soon to come. The French Revolution

brought the cry: “Liberty what crimes are committed in they name”
Even Rousseau had to say: “It may be necessary to compel a
man to be free”

Rise of Deism; Deism arose from this scientific and philosophic

approach to knowledge. It started in the 17th Century in England
and from there spread to France, Germany and America where it
was to have a big impact. It was a natural religion or a religion of
reason. With man’s views about fixed natural laws, they did not
cease to believe in God but switched from Theism to Deism.

Deism sets forth a God who is above all but who left His Creation
after He had created it to be discovered by natural laws
discoverable by reason. He was an “absentee God.”

David Hume (1711-1176)

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People such as William Law (1686-1761) Joseph Butler and

William Palev

Deistic ideas spread to France where the philosopher Rousseau

and Voltaire took them up. They were to have a significant effect
on the French Revolutionaries of 1789. They spread to Germany
care of the court of Frederick the Great. They also spread to
America when Franklin, Jefferson, Ethan Allen and Thomas Paine
were among the leading Deists. Paine’s ‘Age of Reason’ (1795)
helped to make such thinking popular.

Society in the 18th Century

These new ideas were affecting society. It was a time of rebellion

in the American colonies and the establishing of the United
States. Jefferson wrote Locke’s philosophy into the Declaration of
Independence. In France in July 1989 those ideas brought the
French Revolution into being they said ‘no more God’ and the
reign of terror began.

Napoleon later entered Rome and took the Pope captive back to
France.

England in the 18th Century

England was sliding into mediocrity.

One man writing at the time summed the 18th Century up as:

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“Decay in religion,
Licentiousness in morals,
Public corruption and
Profaneness in language”
God doing through His Holy Spirit the most amazing things
altered British history.

Mystical Movements:

While rationalism and Deism was developing, certain revivalist

movements grew.

SYLLABUS OF ERRORS (1864): ROMAN CATHOLICISM

Much of modern progress and thought seemed hostile to the

ROMAN CATHOLIC Church.. The Pope in his “Syllabus of
Errors”
(1864) spoke out against many things. He concluded by
CONDEMNING the claim that “The Roman pontiff can and ought
to reconcile himself to and agree with progress liberalism and
civilisation as lately introduced”

Papal Infallibility

Vatican Council began in 1869. On July 18 1870 at a gathering

which 100 avoided, they approved the declaration of papal
infallibility by a vote of 533.
to two. Outside heavy peals of thunder roared and terrific lighting
occurred in heavy storm. “with assent of the Sacred Council we
ordained and defined as a dogma divinely revealed: that the
Roman pontiff when he speaks ex Cathedra, that is to say in his

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capacity as pastor and teacher of all Christians and by his

supreme apostolic authority and by divine assistance promise to
him in blessed Peter defines doctrine whether as touching faith or
morals to be observed by the church he is endowed with
infallibility with which the divine Redeemer willed that His Church
should be instructed in the defining of doctrine as touching both
faith and morals, and that on this account the definitions of the
Roman Pontiff are of themselves – and not by virtue of the
consent of the Church irrevocable.

If anyone should presume to contradict this our definition – which

God forbid – let him be anathema!” he meant that when the pope
speaks “ex cathedra”i.e. as the head of the head of Church on
earth, concerning either faith or morals, whatever he says is
infallible and must be accepted by the faithful and morals was the
Pope. Roman Catholics had hitherto believed the Church was
infallible but did not know where. Not until 1950 was this position
used by the Pope he proclaimed the bodily assumption of Mary.

Anti Clerical Hostility

The declaration of papal infallibility and the loss of Papal power

were not far away in time. Italian armies took Rome and a new
national Italian constitutional monarchy set up. In 1871, they
offered the pope self-government in the Vatican area, and
compensation for the loss of his temporal possessions. The Pope
refused and banned Roman Catholics from voting or being
involved in the government. He remained in self- imprisoned exile
until an agreement with the government of Massolin in 1829.

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Bismark in Germany feared the internationalism of the Roman

Catholic Church stood in the way of the unification of the people
of the German Empire and brought many measures limiting
Roman influence and activity.

Roman Reaction

The Romantic Movement was a reaction against the rationalism

and individualism of the 18th Century it made an appeal to the
heart of the man rather than the head Romanticism, which held
sway in the European between 1790 to 1850, strengthened the
hold of religion upon man. The colourful, ritualistic sensuous
religion of Roman Catholicism led to religious imagination and
sentiment and subsequently was to see a bit of resurgence.

1814 Revival of Jesuits.

The Jesuits had been disbanded by papal action in 1773. Pius

VII in 1814 reconstituted the 1829 Emancipation. Until 1929
Roman Catholic had been barred from voting and taking office in
Britain. The Catholic Emancipation Act removed this. In 1950 the
Roman Catholic English hierarchy was established.

PIUS IX was the Pope between 1846 and 1878 and was
controversial in his attempts to strengthen the Roman Catholic
Church. He was convinced the Papacy was divinely chosen to
answer the problems of the world.

Doctrine of Immaculate Conception (1854)

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In 1854 he proclaimed the doctrine of the immaculate conception

of Mary. Mary was conceived without it “any taint of original sin”

REVIVALS:
Welsh Revival:

Evan Roberts in led thousands of Welsh to Christ. Estimated 80

000 plus were converted. Crime stopped in whole villages. The
Times carried news of the revival. Many Pentecostal leaders
were converted in or as a result of Welsh revival.- Including the
Jefrey’s brothers.

In Britain – Alexander A. Boddy, Anglican Minister of

Monkweermouth, Sunderland visited Wales during the Welsh
Revival, was hungry for revival. Read of happenings in Norway
and invited Barratt to Sunderland. 7 week visit – August-
December 1907. First few weeks 20 baptised in Spirit including
Marry Boddy and their two daughters. Boddy had to wait a few
months. London papers came to see and report Repercussions
enormous. Sunderland conventions began. People were
awakened throughout Britain to the power of the Holy Spirit.

GEORGE AND STEPHEN JEFRIES:

George - (1889-1962)
Stephen - (1876-1943)
Born in Maesteg Wales, these brothers (especially George) were
to become the most successful British Evangelists….. Wesley
and Whitfield. With little or no education and little obvious

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advantage (advertising, publicity, no TV pr radio) they were to

have a dramatic effect on the British Church drawing many
thousands to Christ and filling the largest hails in the land.

There was a “Sign and Wonders Ministry”

Filled with the Spirit as a result of the example of Stephen’s young
son Edward, their ministries developed along very different
courses. Both were itinerant evangelists moving from place to
place. Increasingly George’s work became directed to the Elim
Pentecostal Church (which he founded) and Stephen’s to the
Assemblies of God..

Each had phenomenal success in Campaigns through the UK and

Ireland. Stephen campaigned at Horbury
Chapel (Now Kensington Temple) and George let thousands to
Christ in a string of Campaigns in virtually every manor town in
the country between the years of 1917-1938 approximately.

The theatre was shockingly vulgar and depraved. The Literature

could be called ‘hand porn’ even today. Polygamy fornication and
homosexuality were not considered wrong Violent was rampant.

Gangs of drunken ruffians paraded the streets and subjected

women to nameless outrages, and defenceless men to
abominable tortures. The constables shared the drunken habits
of the time and were mainly corrupt Sports were cruel and brutal
such as bear and bull baiting and cock- fighting. Boxing which
even women took part in was savage and murderous. The death
rate rose as cheap gin killed many. Hanging was often the scene
of gala for the whole family. It was a “sick century”. And the

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church was sleeping. Two men were used by God to change

things.

George Whitefield and Wesley.

Both Wesley and Whitefield received a Pentecostal anointing on
New Year’s day in 1739 and went out with a new aggression. J
C Ryle observes “They did not wait for sinners to come to them,
they pursued them everywhere………like men storming a breach
… no sinner was safe anywhere” George Whitefield was a young
man working his way through Oxford cleaning shoes when he
was converted in 1735. In June 1936 he began preaching and
God’s power was with him in a remarkable way. His message
was consistent. He preached to many crowded churches. As
churches became closed doors to him, he turned to preaching in
the open air. in the fields.

Whitefield went to speak at Moorfields, a place of base pleasure

for Londoners. He was told he would never come out alive. He
was listened to with awes silence by
20, 000 people while he preached for an hour and a half.
Hundreds sought him afterwards for salvation. Similar scenes
occurred all over. He was soon preaching to 30-40,000.

John Wesley (1703-1791)

John Wesley was the fifth of nineteen children born to Samuel
and Susannah Wesley. On 1709 he was narrowly saved from
death when the Wesley home was on fire. “a brand plucked from

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the Burning, while at Oxford he and some friends including his

brother Charles (1707-1788) formed the “Holy Slub”
Early Life of John Wesley:
Susanna Annesley Wesley, John's mother, had a profound influ-
ence on his life. She and her husband Samuel, an Anglican priest,
had 19 children. John was the 15th, born June 17, 1703 in Ep-
worth, England, where his father was rector.
Family life for the Wesleys was rigidly structured, with exact times
for meals, prayers, and sleep. Susanna home-schooled the chil-
dren, teaching them religion and manners as well. They learned
to be quiet, obedient, and hardworking.
In 1709, a fire destroyed the rectory, and young John had to be
rescued from a second story window by a man standing on an-
other man's shoulders. The children were taken in by various
parishioners until the new rectory was built, at which time the fam-
ily was reunited and Mrs. Wesley started "reforming" her children
from the bad things they had learned in other homes
John and his brother Charles became priests in the Church of
England and soon after went to Georgia as missionaries in 1735.
Financial Support had kept pace with the rapid expansion of
the work.
On the way out the boat underwent a tremendous storm: The
Wesley’s panicked like the others. In the middle of this was a
group of people who were un afraid and calm. A group of
Moravians. John Wesley asked them why they went unafraid?
They replied Why should we be? “ The Moravian leader
Spangenberg Challenged him. “Do you know Jesus Christ?”

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Wesley could not reply, “I know he is the Saviour of the world”

To this Spangenberg replied “True; but do you know that He has
saved you” Wesley replied “yes” but in his diary that night he
admitted that was a lie and wrote “I go to Georgia to save my own
soul how can I save the soul of the Indians.”
The Aldersgate Experience of John Wesley
As priests in the Church of England, John and Charles Wesley
traveled from Great Britain to Georgia, in the American colonies in
1735. While John's desire had been to preach to the Indians, he
was appointed pastor of the church in Savannah.
When he imposed church discipline on members who failed to no-
tify him that they were taking communion, John Wesley found
himself accused in civil courts by one of the powerful families of
Savannah. The juries were stacked against him. To make matters
worse, a woman he had been courting married another man.
John Wesley returned to England bitter, disillusioned and spiritu-
ally low. He told Peter Boehler, a Moravian, of his experience and
his inner struggle. On May 24, 1738, Boehler convinced him to go
to a meeting. Here is Wesley's description:
"In the evening, I went very unwillingly to a society in Aldersgate
Street, where one was reading Luther's preface to the Epistle to
the Romans. About a quarter before nine, while he was describing
the change which God works in the heart through faith in Christ, I
felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ
alone for salvation, and an assurance was given me that he had
taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin
and death."

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This "Aldersgate Experience" had a permanent effect on Wesley's

life. He answered a request from fellow preacher George White-
field to join him in Whitefield's evangelism ministry. Whitefield
preached outdoors, something unheard of at the time. Whitefield
was one of the co-founders of Methodism, along with the Wes-
leys, but they later split when Whitefield clung to theCalvinist doc-
trine of predestination.
John Wesley the Organizer
As always, Wesley went about his new work methodically. He or-
ganized the groups into societies, then classes, connections and
circuits, under the direction of a superintendent. His brother
Charles and some other Anglican priests joined, but John did
most of the preaching. He later added lay preachers who could
deliver a message but not offer communion.
The clergy and lay preachers met on occasion to discuss
progress. That eventually became the annual conference. By
1787, Wesley was required to register his preachers as non-Angli-
cans. He, however, remained an Anglican to his death.
He saw great opportunity outside England. Wesley ordained two
lay preachers to serve in the newly independent United States of
America and named George Coke as superintendent in that coun-
try. Methodism was breaking away from the Church of England as
a separate Christian denomination.
Meanwhile, John Wesley continued to preach throughout the
British Isles. Never one to waste time, he discovered that he could
read while walking, on horseback, or in a carriage. Nothing
stopped him. Wesley pushed on through rainstorms and bliz-

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zards, and if his coach got stuck, he continued on horse or on

foot.
John eventually attended Oxford, where he proved to be a brilliant
scholar. He was ordained into the Anglican ministry. At age 48, he
married a widow named Mary Vazeille, who deserted him after 25
years. They had no children together.
."

He and Charles returned to England after three years of failure.

God however was in charge. They met another Moravian . Back
in England on May 24, 1738 at Moravan meeting while listening to
Luther’s preface to his commentary on Romans at a quarter to
nine, Wesley ‘s heart was “strangely warned” and he trusted
Christ alone for salvation from sin. His brother had a similar
experience two days earlier.

In 1739 George Whitefield asked Wesley to join him in field

preaching in Bristol. Wesley followed Whitefield with great
reluctance. When he did, he met with immediate success. In
April 1739 as he preached. “Thy dropped on
………….thunderstruck “he records. The miners tears rolled
down their cheeks . As he applied the Gospel of grace these
people began to rejoice. His works for God had begun. This was
the beginning of much travel preaching the gospel. He was to
travel about 250 000 miles on horseback and preached about
42,000 sermons. Seven times a day was the normal. He was
often physically assaulted and constantly criticised by fellow
religions leaders.

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His motto was: “All men need to be saved, all men can be saved,
all men can know themselves as saved, and all men may be
saved to the uttermost. His brother Charles Wesley too was
greatly used by God. He wrote over 6,000 hymns.

Break with the Anglican

Wesley did not want to break with the Anglican Church but very
often the church would not accept the converts, nor the converts’
dead church.. He established them into societies, which were
subdivided into hands and classes under lay leaders. Lay leaders
remained to teach as Wesley moved his travels. When Wesley
died there were 140,000 Methodist in England some 1500
travelling preachers and 470 preaching houses. When Wesley
died the Methodist societies became Methodist churches The
Major doctrine Wesley stressed was justification by faith through
an instantaneous experience of conversion. Both Wesley and
Whitefield suffered much persecution.
The strict discipline and relentless work ethic instilled early in his
life served Wesley well as a preacher, evangelist, and church or-
ganizer. He was still preaching at age 88, just a few days before
he died in 1791.
John Wesley met death singing hymns, quoting the Bible, and
saying farewell to his family and friends. Some of his last words
were, "The best of all is, God is with us

REVIVALS:
With the degraded lifestyle of the poor in Britain, the onslaught of
rationalistic philosophy and the possibility of a revolution like that
which was to occur in France, the 18th Century Revival; was a

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great example of God’s work when a nation badly needed it.

God raised up men for this time.

(1734) NEW ENGLAND

The revival in New England was remarkable. Out of a population

of 250,000 at least 50, 000 were added to the church. It came at
a time of great religious decline in America. The man raised up
by God was Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758). In 1734 while he
was preaching sermons on “Justification by faith alone” the Spirit
of God began to work in power upon the congregation. He wrote:
“Very suddenly, one after another five or six persons were to all
appearance safely converted… A great and earnest concern
about the great things of religion and the eternal word became
universal in all parts of the town, among all classes and ages…
From day to day, for many months together, might be seen
evident instances of sinners bought out of darkness into
marvellous light.

This work of God soon made a glorious alteration in the town so

that in the spring and the summer following (1750), the town
seemed to be of the presence of God” The revival was to
spread to other areas around. News of the revival spread to
Britain where it was to stimulate belief for revival there. Revival
was rekindled in 1740 by the visit of George Whitefield to New
England. Vast crowds came to hear him and vast numbers went
home knowing Christ. Pastors said they had more enquirers

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within a month than they had throughout the whole of their

ministry ! Whitefield’s tour was only six weeks long, but the
revival stayed two years and was much more widespread than
before.

(1735) WALES

God was to raise up in Wales a great revival too. One of his

chosen vessels was Howell Harris, a typical Welshman of his day,
who was more concerned with “gambling at dice, drinking,
lovemaking and improving his personal appearance”. At 21 he
came to know the Lord. He became an evangelist and a man of
much prayer. Sacked from teaching for his preaching, he carried
on preaching all over South Wale until the whole countryside was
awakened. “Hundreds were converted – among them some of
the most notorious characters. Under the power of the Holy Spirit,
hearts were broken and it was not uncommon for people to come
under such conviction that they would cry out to God for mercy
while he preached.

In 1739, Whitefield joined Harris. Harries preached in Welsh,

Whitefield in English. When Whitefield left for America, Harris
carried on preaching. Denouncing the vices of the day he was
often attacked and left for dead. Daniel Rowlands (1713-90) too
was chosen by God to bring revival to Wales. He preached often
in the open-air amid great danger. He too was a man of great
prayer. He was to enjoy almost continuous revival.

17 39 –ENGLAND : Whitefield and Wesley

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Methodist Revival “Historians readily acknowledge that

Methodism ranks with the French Revolution and the Industrial
Revolution as one of the great historical phenomena of the
century, and some subscribe to the idea that Wesley’s preaching
saved England from a revolution similar to that of France”

The situation: England at this time was in a dreadful state.

Deism affected the church. Sermons were often long filled with
moral platitudes. The upper clergy were well paid, but the rest not.
Morals were very low:

Ranters Revival (1800-1830)

Within 16 years of the death of Wesley the Methodist conference

was prevented some of it fork from holding open-air meetings.
The result was to be Primitive Methodist and a glorious revival.

Hugh Bourne and William Clowes were to be greatly used by

God.
Together they helped to bring revival. Being stirred by stories of
camp meetings in America Bourne proposed it for England. It
was taken up enthusiastically. The first camp meeting was on 31st
May 1807. Many travelled miles to come. Clowes described the
first day as “a most magnificent and sublime spectacle. Four
preachers simultaneously crying to sinners to flee from the wrath
to come. Thousands listerning many in deep distress and other
pleading with Heaven on behalf, some praising God aloud for the
great things which were brought to pass, whilst others were
rejoicing in testimony which they had received that their sins had

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been forgiven. The camp meeting continued full of glory and

converting power “

Then Wesley conference, however ruled these as improper.

Hugh Bourne felt he must continue them.
Clowes agreed and in 1810 they were both expelled from the
Wesley Body. They were to continue with greater success.

James Crawfoot:

James Crawfoot too was a preacher much used by God. In 1811

a new denomination was born though the name ‘Primitive
Methodist” was not adopted until February 1821. The camp
meetings were times of great revival into 1830s. They were to be
termed Ranters’ on account of meeting sprang up in Ulster. On
the 14th March 1869 at a prayer meeting which hundreds thronged
to a layman preached with such anointing and power that outside
in the chilling rain hundreds were on their knees in the mud. This
was the beginning of revival.

In the next month three miles away suddenly a man of 30 fell on

his knees and cried out for mercy. In May it seemed the whole
town was under conviction besetting ministers for salvation. The
revival spread around Ulster. Crime was reduced tremendously.

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The racecourse in October drew 500 and not the usual 10,000.
100,000 converts were swept into the church in Ireland.

GREAT BRITAIN (1859)

England, Scotland and Wales were to experience revival in 1859.

In Wales all classes of people, were touched. It is reliably
estimated that 100,000 people were added to the church of a
population of one million. All parts of Scotland were touched also
England and especially London was blessed as people turned to
Christ in droves. At least a million people were converted in the
United Kingdom during 1859 Awakening.

Dwight L Moody: (was American based in Chicago.)

In 1857 a young businessman called D L Moody was converted
in the U S. He Did not have good education and did not speak
properly till he died.
He began to pursue his call regardless of the fact that he didn’t
have any education whatsoever.
He was never ordained never went to Bible School was never
called rev. he was very faithful to his calling as an evangelist he
proved his ministry even before he handled the microphone. He
preached outside the established churches, and what made his
ministry unique He preached full time along with the singer Ira
Sankey.
And Moorhouse, so he was once travelling and asked Moorhouse
to preach in his stead, as we all do, and when moorhuse
preached he said god loves a sinner. In 1873 they came across
to London and preached to-two-and-half-million people in London
alone. They toured the country and many flocked to hear him.

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Moody came to Cambridge and tremendous things happened. As

a result seven famous sportsmen and students set off for China
including C T Studd, the famous cricketer. Out of this period
came the great preacher Spurgeon and Keir Hardle, the founder r
of the Independent Labour Party was another great evangelist. In
the original Labour party there were many Christians. Torrey and
Alexander came over from the States.

C.H. SPURGEON:
C.H. Spurgeon was a 19th century England, what D. L. Moody
was to America. Although Spurgeon never attended theological
school by the age of 21 he was the most popular preacher in
London.

He preached to crowds of ten thousand at Exeter Hall and the

Surrey Music Hall. Then when the metropolitan Tanernacle was
built, thousands gathered every Sunday for over 40 years to hear
his lively sermons. It is there till this day at Elephant and Castle in
London.

In addition to his regular Pastoral duties, he founded Sunday

Schools, churches, an orphanage and Pastor’s college.
He edited a monthly church magazine and promoted literature
distribution.

Sincerely and straightforwardly he denounced error both in the

Church of England and among other denominations.

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THE NON CONFORMISTS

THE SALVATION ARMY:

This movement was founded by a man known as William Booth.

He was an ex-Methodist minister, he always maintained his
ministry outside the Established Church. He was a preacher, he
has a legacy that even the history of this country recognises, he
had the likes of Winston Churchill and even the Queen of England
secretly attended his funeral.
In 1865 he started off the East London Christian Mission.
Among the free Churches God was leading people to himself. He
tried to reach the poor by open –air Evangelism and social work.

The Church would not accept his work, he and his wife plunged
into East End, of London and found indescribable need. He saw
economic, social and spiritual needs. He organized an army to
fight spiritual and social battles.
They suffered violence and were misunderstood.

William Booth did not intend for it to become a Church, as in

Wesley’s days the Church would not accept his converts. He
organized his many converts into the Salvation army in 1878.
It was not called Salvation Army at first. But 100 years ago, East
London was not as it is now. There was no place to sleep, no
food, people were dying of communicable diseases, so when
William saw this, he moved from West London and came to live in
hackney. He began to minister with passion to the East Londers.

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He couldn’t wear beautiful black-suits or nice-colours and be

accepted in Ministry by the East –Enders. He had to put away all
this.
Coz if you go to minister to the poor, all smartly dressed and
putting on alligator –skin shoes, they will not accept you. It makes
a statement. And so it was his will to change that made him
successful in Ministry.

So he gave up all the things that linked him with the people of the
upper class to fit with the low-class people of East London. They
made a mockery of him, especially when he went to preach in
pubs, but he stood firm, until 1868 when he preached at Christ-
mas morning service, and found that no-body was listening to
what he was saying they all wanted to be drunk. from there he
got a beautiful idea.

God speaks to us through ideas when we are rightly located.

Creative people and prolific people started with an idea. In 1869,
he thought to make a Christ-mas meal for the people. He got his
wife Catherine and on Xmas eve they cooked 300 Xmas meals.
That was the beginning of the first social action of the Salvation
Army. He began to minister to people by providing them tea food
and hot drinks, so they realized God was moving in him to meet
their needs. That’s why Jesus said the greatest gift is love.
By the end of 1869 he had 60 solid converts. In 1878 they formed
the Salvation Army Band. No Church in England had that kind of
success. So they started off stations not knowing the Salvation
Army would have the distinct flavour it has today. They started
more stations, by following –up the people, and by 1880 they had
1,000 converts. They had 81 Stations where the converts were
being natured.

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They had 127 full-time Evangelists, who were looking after the 81
Stations. They held 75,000 services each year the 80’s were not
so fortunate because they had a lot of persecutions. At this time,
people used polished poetry on the pulpit but his message
touched many people.

They burnt down his Stations and attacked the workers, which
lasted for almost 10 years. His wife died in 1890 though she was
the back-bone of the ministry. He picked himself up again never
married again and continued the work.

By 1908 it had moved to 26 countries with thousands of converts,

William began to publicise his work, asking people to support his
work. He started a business called the Cab-Horse, which helped
raise 100,000 pounds, They opened a Job Centre which
preceded the work of the welfare State.

They set up a bank, to help small-scale business people to set up

their own businesses. They would give them small short-term
loans, it opened it’s head-quarters on 272 Chapel Road. In
WhiteChapel London.

He adorned the Gospel and saved people from brothels. People

caught up in a vicious cycle of poverty were saved. They broke
that yoke by simply providing food and shelter, to make a living.
So when we see people who are caught up when they have a
right to have money and shelter, we should be moved by
compassion for those people. And we should reach out to restore
their dignity. It’s not easy when a person stoops that low to beg.

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When he died in 1912 the whole Nation was moved. Queen Mary
sleeped quietly in his funeral, it was not normal for a Monarch to
do that.one woman put a flower on the coffin confessed, he
brought me out of prostitution.

The Salvation army continues till today, but the Religion itself is
based on unscriptural doctrines, They use Military perceptions
such as:
Generals, Captains, Corporals, Sergents, Soldiers, Sergeant
Major
Major General, which are not based on scripture, Jesus himself
never called anybody by those ranks,

They march on streets dressed in their Military Uniforms, and

badges, according to rank They do not allow women to speak in
their congregations They say they are attacking the enemy, but
you don’s attack the enemy in uniform and rank. This are The
inscriptions on their badges.

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Blood and

Fire

OR

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fire

water

Blood

They march because they believe they are soldiers but we are
soldiers in the spiritual army of Christ. And not in some sort of
uniform and unscriptural ranks. It is imperative to understand that
doing the works of Charity is good, but applying proper doctrine
from scripture is more profound.

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The Mormons Church:

The founder of this movement was known as Joseph smith. He
was born in 1805 and died in 1844.

This movement was started in 1823, and in his own words he

said that one evening he was in his room and a light appeared in
his room, which continued to increase until the room was lighter
than noon-day.

A person appeared at his bedside standing in the air, for his feet
did not touch the floor. His robe was exceedingly white, and his
whole person was glorious beyond description. His countenance
was like lightning.

He called him by name and said that he was a messenger sent

from the presence of God to him and that his name was Moroni.
He claimed that God had appeared to him in a vision and told him
that all Churches were very wrong, Their Pastors corrupt, and all
their creeds abominations, and that Joseph had to be the man to
restore the Church of God.

That God had a work for him to do, and that his name should
be heard for good and evil among all nations kindreds and
tongues, or that it should be both good and evil spoken of among
all people.

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He said there was a book deposited, on a hill written upon gold

plates, giving an account of the former inhabitants of America,
and the source from which they sprang. He also said the fullness
of the everlasting Gospel was contained in it, as delivered by the
saviour to the ancient inhabitants.

Also that there were two stones in silver bows and these stones,
fastened to a breastplate, constituted what is called The Urim
and Thummim these were 2 stones 1 black and 1 white used by
the Leaders of Israel to guide them and fore-tell the future.
(oracle) or seers in ancient times that God had prepared them
for the purpose of translating the book of mormon.

It is a wealthy organization, and boarders on the occult. They

have big educational training institutions, and it’s members are
very wealthy. They call themselves “CHURCH OF JESUS
CHRIST OF LATTER DAY SAINTS” but that does not mean it’s a
church.

JEHOVA WITNESSES:

We must know where we differ, one of the controversies of the

4th century, was the Arien Controversy, where Arien denied the
diety of the Lord Jesus and said Jesus was not God.
Arius was a senior presybyter in charge of Baucalis – one of the
12 parishes of Alexandria. He was a persuasive preacher, with a
following of clergy and Ascetics, and circulated his teachings in
popular verses and songs. Around 318 A.D. he clashed with

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Bishop Alexander. Arius claimed that the father alone was really
God, The son was essentially different from his father.
He did not possess by nature or right any of the divine qualities
from his father, of immortality, sovereignty, perfect wisdom,
goodness and purity. He did not exist before he was begotten by
the father.

The Father produced him as a creature yet as the creator of the

rest of creation. Nevertheless he did but share in the being of God
the father and did not know him perfectly.That he was called
“God” by grace and favour more-over the son received enough
wisdom and light from the father to enable him to reveal the father
to mankind. Nevertheless, by dividing off the son from the God
the father, Arius, undermined Christ’s standing as God’s
revelation and the redeemer of mankind.

That same error has forced it’s expression in Jehova witnesses.

And if you listen to them carefully you’ll find out that even though
they give him accolade as Lord, they do not accept him as divine.
They make people develop Anti-bodies against the truth.
They don’t celebrate Christmas, They don’t do Birthdays, They
don’t do wedding ceremomies, baptismals, holy-communion,
actually follow any ordinance of the Church, they don’t believe in
heaven, they believe that paradise is Holly-wood, or Rome or
Caribbean Islands, or Hawaii Those beautiful places on Earth.

THE BRETHREN
John Nelson Darby organised the groups known as the Brethren
about 1830 in Dublin. They came out of this dead background,
and decided to go right back to the New Testament pattern of the

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scriptures. They emphasised the priesthood of believers, refused

ordained ministry, and were earnest Bible students.

A split was later to occur and some left and went to Bristol to the
Bethesda Chapel who met on Brethren-type lines. One was
George Muller and the other Henry Crake. They became known
as the Open Brethren. George Muller (1805-1898) founded a
large orphanage in Bristol which was supported merely by
answers to prayer.

The Seventh-Day Adventists:

The Seventh Day Adventist are another sect which arose at the
time. A man called William Miller believed he had discovered the
date of the return in 1843 as he and thousands of others
expected. Miller humbly repented and admitted his mistake.
Many however, refused to admit this was a mistake and later
explained Christ’s non-appearance by a theory that he came in
that year to a heavenly sanctuary rather than an earthly one.

They formed themselves into Adventist Churches. Under the

leadership of Ellen G White, a so-called prophetess. They
became known as the Seventh-Day Adventist because of a
revelation she claimed she had of God showing her the
importance of the Ten Commandments, and especially the
Sabbath.

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CELESTIAL CHURCHES:
Most of these churches operate with a familiar spirit, usually a
counterfeit of the spirit of God. They use the Bible and prophesy
from scripture. It boarders on the occult in that you could be
asked to bring a bottle of water or oil, e.g. Glycerine oil, to apply in
your homes, or over your body as a means of receiving a miracle
or healing. They light candles while praying, using portraits of the
Virgin Mary, or Jesus.

Their prophets are mediums who consult the dead, satanic hosts
or evil messengers. They tell mostly of the past, or present but
have inability to for-see the future. They do not encourage but
mostly ask you to revenge and may give you harmful instructions
to follow in pursuit of your adversaries.

WHITE GARMENT CHURCHES:

This movement was founded by a man known as prophet

Samuel Bilehou and another (Babatunde) and has parishes all
over the world. It has its headquarters in Nigeria.
Prophet Oshoffa believed that god called him on the day of total
eclipse of the sun in west Africa when he was in the forest of
Dahomey (Now republic of benin ) on the 29th of September

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1947. in Porto Novo. He being a carpenter, had gone to

purchase Ebony wood for furniture.
Just like his Father he was in the wilderness 40 days and 40
nights, and on return he said he had been shown a vision of
heaven, and that he should form a denomination by divine order .

They believe that white indicates holiness. They worship Angels

(fallen angels) and consult them for divine intervention, they are
capable of predicting your future but it is a give and never receive
system. They wear turbans because the bible tells us that
Shadrach, Meschack and Abednego, had turbans on their heads.
Their doctrine is based on the laws of Moses most of them,
though they are not able to follow them themselves, nor fulfil
them.

They use water to represent the blood as a means of healing,

they enter their churches bare-footed, and using the Re-verse
method. It is occultist, and once you join them, it becomes hard
to leave. They worship Angels and the bible forbids the worship
of Angels. Scripture reference
They mesmerize you, you can see there is something wrong, yet
you want to go back coz you can’t learn errors and heresies of a
cult the first days you attend

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RITUALISM:
At this time the Church of England was made up of 3 parts:

a) the low who stuck to scripture and the 39 articles

b) The broad who had all sorts of beliefs and teachings
c) the high who were taken keen on Catholicism.
d) From the high church arose the Oxford Movement

OXFORD MOVEMENT:
The oxford movement included many Church leaders and
emphasised the importance of the Church and ritual in the
individuals’ life. It’s leaders included john Keble John henry
Newman ad Edward pusey

The Anglicans feared that as now the non-conformists and roman

Catholics could hold office this would bring about the demise of
the state of the Church. In order to save their Church they went
back to the Middle ages an d the Latin and Greek Fathers for

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instructions to restore the Church to its purity. They became

known as the tractarian movement because they published 90
tracts for the times “expressing their views.

Among subjects they emphasised were the importance of

apostolic succession, baptismal regeneration the real physical
presence of Christ in the communion and the importance of rituals
in worship. Thse had a lot in common with the Roman Catholic
Church.
Indeed newman eventually joined the roman Catholic Church
along with nearly 875 others, and later became a Cardinal.

These movements brought back colourful liturgy of the Church. It

broadened the gap between the non-conformists churches and
the Anglican Church. It also created a party in the Anglican
Church at odds with the evangelicals. Their Roman Catholic
views became increasingly common practice in the Anglican
Church.

FOES OF THE FAITH 

Liberalism
In the 19th Century through German idealistic philosophy it
became the fashion to see the Bible as an ethical guidebook only.
Such thinkers are known as Liberals, Liberalism has been manor
enemy of the gospel.

BIBLICAL CRITICISM
Background 
The philosophers of Kant, Schleirmacher, Hegel and Ritschi
proved the background for a critical approach to the Bible.

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Kant (1724-1804)

There was no place for revelation in his scheme of things. The

Bible was just a man-made book of history.

Schleirmacher 
God was "whatever people felt Him to be".

Hegel (1770-1831)
Ritschi (1822-18889)

Ritchel saw the Bible as a record of community consciousness.

Such philosophers made religion subjective and opened the way
for extreme critical study of the Bible that tries to destroy the
supernatural revelation of the Bible and make the Bible the record
of subjective evolution of religion in human consciousness. Not all
Biblical criticism, is bad. It has helped us to see the accuracy of
the Bible. That which has been destructive of many people's faith
has been the radical higher criticism. Out must go the miracles,
because science does not accept them, out must go the
prophecies because you cannot predict the future.

Out must go all the Divine and in must remain the human and the
fallible. They were to pull the Bible to pieces. And it was to
become part of the church. They were not scientific, but reading
their philosophies into the Bible. It arrived in the intellectual
climate of belief that everything should be tested.

The Higher Critics:

Astruc assumed that Genesis was in two parts because he found

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the name Elohim (God) used in some parts and Jehovah ( Lord)
used in other parts.

Graf and Wellhauesn

These men denied that Moses wrote the entire Pentateuch. They
felt they were four documents called J,E,D and P.

Later Critics:-
-divided Isaiah into at least two parts.
-put the date of Daniel into the Maccabean          period so it
became history rather than prophecy and history.
-questioned the order of the writing and dating of the gospels.
-and said that the essential gospel was in the ethical teachings of
Jesus: Paul had changed the simple ethical teaching of Jesus into
redemptive religion.
German became the place which such criticism developed. The
work of Biblical archeologists has forced many critics to abandon
their former radical positions and has tended to confirm the
conservative position.

COMMERCIALISM:
The emphasis of material goods, and the importance of having a
high standard of living have contributed to a decline in
Christianity. People have increasingly neglected spiritual values to
concentrate on gain in this life. The Industrial Revolution between
1760 and 1830 helped to bring about the increased standard of
living. Karl Marx emphasised in his system the primary
importance of material goods in life.

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COMMUNISM: 
The church has also found a big enemy in communism, it's roots
are in the 19th Century.

Karl Marx (1818-1838) and Friedrich Engels developed a

materialistic philosophy in "The Communist Manifesto" (1848),
which saw life as being a history of class struggles which would
continue until the perfect system of Communism came into being.
They encouraged the proletariat to arise to bring this system
about. In 1867 Marx produced "Das Kapital". Communism has no
place in for foreign, when they believe, is the "opiate of the
people". As the church has spread its missionary effort, so have
the Communist and the two have obviously been in opposition to
win the people.

EVOLUTION:
While philosophy and criticism destroyed faith in revelation from
God and commercialism created an indifference to spiritual
things, evolution was to create a further disbelief in God.

Charles Darwin (1809-1882)

Charles Darwin especially in his book saw a struggle for survival
among animals, and believed only the fittest survived. He also
thought the similarity of body structure between animals and man
substantiated his theory. Darwin applied theory to man in " the
decent man" (1871) and argued man was linked with animal life
by common ancestral types. Great damage came when the theory
was brought to religion. God's unique creation was increasingly
denied. God and the Bible were looked upon as evolutionary

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products of man's religious consciousness. An evolution view

came into being that man was being increasingly improved by
human effort.
Evolution is generally accepted to be fact; it is also generally
accepted as disproving the creation story of Genesis and thus
disproving the Bible. It has been possibly the most successful lie
of Satan in modern times.
Darwin himself believed in a creator.

SECTS:
During the 19th Century religious sects began to arise. As God
began a great move of His Spirit in America, so did Satan begin
his work with cunning counterfeits, which attracted many, and still
do today.

CLAPHAM SECTS:
The Clapham Sects were wealthy individuals who lived in
Clapham and met together for prayer and study. They were to
provide many of the lay leaders in social reform under their rector
John Venn. They worked through Parliament to remove the evils
in our society. Formed parliament.

SOCIAL ACTS:
The evangelicals were to have a great effect on society. Some
followers of Adam Smith and the Philosophical, who looked to the
writings of John Stuart Mill and Jeremy Bentham, promoted
political reform because they believed in the dignity of rational
human personality. The Evangelicals, however, promoted social
reform because they believed that every man was an actual

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potential son of God.

Indeed most of the social reforms of the period between 1787 and
1850 were the outcome of Evangelical effort.

SOCIAL CONDITIONS:
SLAVERY
a) At the time there was slavery
b) Children at the age of seven were working from 5am in the
morning until 8at night with only a half an hour's break at noon.
c) 5 year old were down the coal-mine for twelve hours opening
and shutting the draught-doors and the carts full of coal were
pulled through.
d) Women and children pulled carts down the mines.
e) Little children were pushed up the chimney.
There were health rules, no inspector of factories, and no limiting
of work hours.

THE REFORMS:
William Wilberforce(1759-1833) was converted as a result of
Milner's efforts in 1784. He dedicated his life to abolition of
slavery in the British Empire. Slavery was only ended in British
possessions by an act passed just before Wilberforce's death in
1833. The act provided nearly 1000,000,000 dollars to
compensate the owners who feed 700,000 slaves.

MISSIONS:
The Protestant church did very little mission work at this time;
One exception was from Frank’s Halle. A result of pietism some
pioneer work was done in Africa and the islands of pacific. What

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was to come in the next century can be seen by the establishing

by William Carey, of the “Particular Baptist society for propagating
the Gospel among the heathens” (1792)

Followed by:
 The London Missionaries Society (1795)
 General Methodist Missionary Society (1796)
 Church Missionary Society (1799)
 ………….and Bible Society also began.
Western Universities were providing high quality people for
missionary work.

Much intransigent opposition to the gospel as in China, Japan

had been broken down.

Moravians – West Indians.

The exception was the Moravian community of Hernhut. By the
middle of the 18th century missionaries had been sent to the West
Indies. Greenland and Africa. A negro from St Thomas found his
way to Denmark where he found a sympathetic hearing in Count
Zinzendorf when he the pagan condition of the fellow slaves.
Zinzendorf told the Moravians. They heard the call to Foreign
Service; some of their their members actually sold themselves
into slavery to get into contact with the poor heathen .

The influence of the gospel spread far beyond those who

accepted it.

During the Reformation much of Protestant activity was involved

in the struggle to exist. It was not until the 19th Century that

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missionary work began in earnest. It was to become known as the

"great century" in missionary effort. Prior to this century things
looked very favourable for foreign missions. The missionary
movement was the result of revivalism among the Pietists,
Methodists and Evangelical Anglicans. They wished for the joyous
experience they had. The Dutch and British empires had opened
up the world and its needs to the Christian home.

It did not start in ecclesiastical circles, but among private men.

From very little mission outreach and success at the beginning of
the change brought by a single century was astounding. Only
three countries were closed to missions Afghanistan religion.!

SOME RENOWNED MISSIONARIES:

WILLIAM CAREY (1761-1834)

William Carey was one of the initiators of mission work. He was

incredibly modern in his outlook. He saw missionary work as
being Five-pronged in attack
Preach the gospel all over by every way 
Support preaching by Bibles given out in tongues
Establish as soon as possible a church
Study deeply the background and the thought of non-Christian
people 
Train at earliest moment an indigenous ministry 
Cary's motto was "Expect great things from God: attempt great
things for God"

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William Carey was born in England in 1761. He was a Baptist

missionary who worked in India for 41 years. He live in India
never returned to England.
Marriage
1. William Carey was married three times: first wife was
Dorothy who was 25 and he was 19 years old. They were
married for 26 years and had seven children.
2 Second wife of William Carey was Charlotte Emilia Rumohr
Carey
(1761-1821) She was the invalid daughter of wealthy Chevalier de
Rumohr. Her disability was a result of a fire at the family home.
Her intellectual and spiritual life was an encouragement and help
to Carey in the work of the ministry. They were happily married for
13 years until she died at the age of 60.
3 Grace Hughes Carey (1778-1835) Third wife to ~William Carey
was a 45 year old widow who was a devoted companion during
the last eleven years of William’s life. She died July 27 1835.
At a meeting of Baptist leaders in the late 1700s, a newly or-
dained minister stood to argue for the value of overseas missions.
He was abruptly interrupted by an older minister who said, "Young
man, sit down! You are an enthusiast. When God pleases to con-
vert the heathen, he'll do it without consulting you or me."
That such an attitude is inconceivable today is largely due to the
subsequent efforts of that young man, William Carey.
Carey was raised in the obscure, rural village of Paulerpury, in the
middle of England. He apprenticed in a local cobbler's shop,
where the nominal Anglican was converted. He enthusiastically

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took up the faith, and though little educated, the young convert
borrowed a Greek grammar and proceeded to teach himself New
Testament Greek.
When his master died, he took up shoemaking in nearby Hackle-
ton, where he met and married Dorothy Plackett, who soon gave
birth to a daughter. But the apprentice cobbler's life was hard—
the child died at age 2—and his pay was insufficient. Carey's fam-
ily sunk into poverty and stayed there even after he took over the
business.
"I can plod," he wrote later, "I can persevere to any definite pur-
suit." All the while, he continued his language studies, adding He-
brew and Latin, and became a preacher with the Particular Bap-
tists. He also continued pursuing his lifelong interest in interna-
tional affairs, especially the religious life of other cultures.
Carey was impressed with early Moravian missionaries and was
increasingly dismayed at his fellow Protestants' lack of missions
interest. In response, he penned An Enquiry into the Obligations
of Christians to Use Means for the Conversion of the Heathens.
He argued that Jesus' Great Commission applied to all Christians
of all times, and he castigated fellow believers of his day for ignor-
ing it: "Multitudes sit at ease and give themselves no concern
about the far greater part of their fellow sinners, who to this day,
are lost in ignorance and idolatry."
Carey didn't stop there: in 1792 he organized a missionary soci-
ety, and at its inaugural meeting preached a sermon with the call,
"Expect great things from God; attempt great things for God!"
Within a year, Carey, John Thomas (a former surgeon), and
Carey's family (which now included three boys, and another child
on the way) were on a ship Stranger in a strange land
Thomas and Carey had grossly underestimated what it would cost
to live in India, and Carey's early years there were miserable.

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When Thomas deserted the enterprise, Carey was forced to move

his family repeatedly as he sought employment that could sustain
them. Illness racked the family, and loneliness and regret set it: "I
am in a strange land," he wrote, "no Christian friend, a large fam-
ily, and nothing to supply their wants." But he also retained hope:
"Well, I have God, and his word is sure."
He learned Bengali with the help of a pundit, and in a few weeks
began translating the Bible into Bengali and preaching to small
gatherings.
When Carey himself contracted malaria, and then his 5-year-old
Peter died of dysentery, it became too much for his wife, Dorothy,
whose mental health deteriorated rapidly. She suffered delusions,
accusing Carey of adultery and threatening him with a knife. She
eventually had to be confined to a room and physically restrained.

HUDSON TAYLOR: 
A Yorkshire lad broken by God became troubled by the millions
dying in China. At 21 he went to China with an incompetent
organisation and had to learn to depend on God alone for
everything. He also dressed like the Chinese for identification. He
returned to England in 1860 in ill health. 

He remained burdened and in 1865 single-handedly he found

China Inland Mission (now as the Overseas Missionary
Fellowship). It was unique because Taylor was prepared to have
missionaries from any denomination; open doors to those of little
formal education; have his mission direction in China not in
England; have missionaries wearing Chinese; and keep his main
aim always widespread evangelism.

They decided not to share their financial needs with anyone save

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The Lord. Despite many personal difficulties, success was

sensational for the Mission.

James Hudson Taylor was a British Protestant Christian missionary

to China.
Taylor spent 51 years in China. The society that he began was re-
sponsible for bringing over 800 missionaries to the country who be-
gan 125 schools and directly resulted in 18,000 Christian conver-
sions, as well as the establishment of more than 300 stations of work
with more than 500 local helpers in all eighteen provinces.
Taylor was known for his sensitivity to Chinese culture  and zeal for
evangelism. He adopted wearing native Chinese clothing even
though this was rare among missionaries of that time. Under his
leadership, the CIM was singularly non-denominational in practice
and accepted members from all Protestant groups, including individ-
uals from the working class and single women as well as multina-
tional recruits. Primarily because of the CIM's campaign against the
Opium trade, Taylor has been referred to as one of the most signifi-
cant Europeans to visit China in the 19th Century Historian Ruth
Tucker summarizes the theme of his life:
Taylor was able to preach in several  varieties of Chinese, including
Mandarin Chaozhou and Wu dialects of Shanghai and Ningbo. The
last of these he knew well enough to help prepare a colloquial edition
of the New Testament written in it.
Marriage
Maria Dyer Taylor (1837-1870): Daughter of one of the first mission-
aries to China, she was orphaned at the age of 10. She was a mis-
sionary to China when she married Hudson Taylor, January 20,
1858. They had seven children: Grace, Herbert Hudson, Frederick

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Howard (who would later co-author Hudson's biography), Samuel,

Maria, Charles Edward, and Noel. Being fluent in the Ningpo dialect,
she helped Hudson with translation work. They had been married for
12 1/2 years when at 33 yrs. of age, Maria died of cholera in 1870.
She was a "tower of strength" and a comfort to her husband. In her
own words, she was "more intimately acquainted than anyone else
can be with his trials, his temptations, his conflicts, his failures and
failings, and his conquests."

Jennie Faulding Taylor (1843-1904): Another CIM missionary, she

became the second wife of Hudson Taylor in 1871. They had two
children (a son, Ernest, born in 1875 and a daughter, Amy, born in
1876), plus the four from his previous marriage and an adopted
daughter. Jennie cared for her husband through injury and illness,
edited the periodical China's Millions for the China Inland Mission,
had a special ministry among the women. In her later years she trav-
elled with Hudson Taylor, speaking, writing, and organizing the work
of the Mission. She died in 1904, preceding Hudson Taylor who died
in 1905.

DAVID LIVINGSTONE (1813-1873)

Born in Blantyre south of Glasgow.

Livingstone was a Scottish missionary and one of the greatest
European explores of Africa, whose opening up the interior of the
continent contributed to the “scramble of Africa”

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David Livingstone was a Scottish missionary, abolitionist and

physician known for his explorations of Africa, having crossed the
continent during the mid-19th century.

Synopsis:
Born on March 19, 1813, in Blantyre, South Lanarkshire,
Scotland, David Livingstone pursued training in medicine and
missionary work before moving to Africa in 1841. He crossed the
continent from east to west and would ultimately come across
many bodies of water previously uncharted by Europeans,
including the Zambezi River and Victoria Falls. He was a staunch
abolitionist after witnessing the horrors of the African slave trade,
and returned to the region twice after his initial voyage. He died
on May 1, 1873, in Chief Chitambo's Village, near Lake
Bangweulu, North Rhodesia (now Zambia).

Early Life and Training

David Livingstone was born on March 19, 1813, in Blantyre,
South Lanarkshire, Scotland, and grew up with several siblings in
a single tenement room. He started working at a cotton mill
company as a child and would follow his long work schedule with
schooling during evenings and weekends. He eventually studied
medicine in Glasgow before going on to train with the London
Missionary Society for a year. He completed his medical studies
at various institutions in 1840 in London, England.

Explorations of Africa

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In the official role of a "medical missionary," he set forth to Africa,

arriving in Cape Town, South Africa in March of 1841. A few years
later, he married Mary Moffat; the couple would have several
children.

Livingstone eventually made his way north and set out to trek
across the Kalahari Desert. In 1849, he came upon Lake Ngami
and, in 1851, the Zambezi River. Over the years, Livingstone
continued his explorations, reaching the western coastal region of
Luanda in 1853. In 1855, he came across another famous body of
water, the Zambezi falls, called by native populations "Smoke
That Thunders" and which Livingstone dubbed Victoria Falls, after
Queen Victoria.

By 1856, Livingstone had gone across the continent from west to

east, arriving at the coastal region of Quelimane in what is
present-day Mozambique.

Celebrated in Europe
Upon his return to England, Livingstone received accolades and,
in 1857, published Missionary Travels and Researches in South
Africa. The following year, Livingstone was appointed by British
authorities to lead an expedition that would navigate the Zambezi.
The expedition did not fare well, with squabbling among the crew
and the original boat having to be abandoned. Other bodies of
water were discovered, though Livingstone's wife, Mary, would
perish from fever upon returning to Africa in 1862.

Livingstone returned to England again in 1864, speaking out

against slavery, and the following year, published Narrative of an

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Expedition to the Zambesi and Its Tributaries.  In this book,

Livingstone also wrote about his use of quinine as a malarial
remedy and theorized about the connection between malaria and
mosquitoes.

Livingstone undertook another expedition to Africa, landing at

Zanzibar in early 1866 and going on to find more bodies of water,
with the hope of locating the source of the Nile River. He
eventually ended up in the village of Nyangwe, where he
witnessed a devastating massacre where Arabic slave traders
killed hundreds of people.

With the explorer thought to be lost, a transatlantic venture was

developed by the London Daily Telegraph and New York Herald,
and journalist Henry Stanley was sent to Africa to find
Livingstone. Stanley located the physician in Ujiji in late 1871, and
upon seeing him, uttered the now-well-known words, "Dr.
Livingstone, I presume?"

Livingstone chose to stay, and he and Stanley parted ways in

1872. Livingstone died from dysentery and malaria on May 1,
1873, at the age of 60, in Chief Chitambo's Village, near Lake
Bangweulu, North Rhodesia (now Zambia). His body was eventu-
alltransported to and buried at Westminster Abbey.

David Livingstone expanded geographical knowledge of

Central Africa and fought the Arab slave trade. He was a
missionary for 10 years in Africa, before being the first ex-
plore, and took the gospel, into the Hinterland of Africa. His
manner with Africa. His manner with Africans was so excellent he
never had to use. 

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Before setting out on his great journey he wrote:

"I place no value on anything I have or possess, except in relation

to the Kingdom of Christ. If anything will advance the interests of
the Kingdom, it shall be given away or kept, only as by giving or
keeping it shall promote the glory of Him to whom I owe all my
hopes in time and eternity". His warm 'Missionary Travels and Re-
searches in South Africa" (1857) encouraged the Christian world
to go for Africa.

Robert Moffat: Missionary (1795-1883)

Moffat was a Scotish pioneer missionary to South Africa for over
50 years. He opened mission stations in the interior, translated
the Bible into the language of the Bechuanas, and wrote two mis-
sionary books on South Africa: Labors and Scenes in South Africa
and Rivers of Water in a Dry Place. His oldest daughter married
David Livingstone.
Robert Moffat, rightly reminds us of the Scripture in Zechariah
4:10, which witnesses, "For who hath despised the day of small
things?"
It seemed a small thing to some godly men in a southern Scotland
church when a boy about four years old, from a home of poor but
pious parents, knelt at an altar to pray. His decision was despised
by the elders as one who was too young to understand. Thank

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God, one unnamed, unknown-to-us brother bothered to kneel in

prayer with "Robbie."
Moffat may well have been converted to Christ then — if not, it
was the commencement of a chain of events that led to his con-
version and to the opening of doors of evangelism to the un-
charted depths of the dark continent of Africa.
In his mid-teens he left home for High Leigh, near Liverpool, Eng-
land, to begin work as an undergardner. It was there that Moffat's
spiritual convictions were confirmed and he became a member of
the Methodists. And it was on a walk from High Leigh to Warren-
ton that another event occurred which would engineer him into
evangelism in Africa. He saw a sign announcing a missionary
meeting. On such a small thing as a poster, God prompted the
heart of the youth to purpose to become a missionary. Moffat at-
tended the meeting and there is every evidence he got the mes-
sage for shortly afterward he contacted Rev. William Roby, the
Methodist preacher in Manchester, and was soon recommended
to the London Missionary Society. At the age of twenty-one, Mof-
fat reached South Africa.
His earliest ministries were treks taken into the interior. There
were few railroads or roads and oftentimes those were washed
away by rains. Travel was difficult, dangerous and often death-
bringing. Rivers, rocks, swamps, and forests had to be avoided or
mastered somehow. Intense heat by day and chill cold by night
complicated travel. Always there were the wild beasts: lions, jack-
als, hyenas, crocodiles, snakes, monkeys and, worst of all, war-
like and untrustworthy native bushmen. Such journeys were not
often undertaken by those who knew the country well, and to a
newcomer like Moffat such treks were deadly dangerous! But

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Moffat, motivated by his missionary call, meant to master all such

obstacles. He gradually became physically acclimated to Africa's
extreme climates. He learned the country and became proficient
in its customs and its languages, and he developed the great
power of leadership that was to be his badge and make him a
blessing to multitudes.
In 1817 he set out for the kraal, or village, of the Namaquas
where the chief, Afrikaner, a blood-thirsty butcherer, was con-
verted. That conversion has been considered one of the great ac-
counts of the grace of God on the mission fields. On that trip he
saw for the first time the Kurumon River and the Bechuanas, the
peoples with whom he would spend most of his long missionary
ministry.
The Bechuanas' reception of Moffat's ministry ranged from stony
indifference — to steeled intolerance — to incorrigible rejection.
Moffat, who had now married an English sweetheart, "saw no re-
ward for untiring work." That work, by the way, consisted of being
a builder, a carpenter, a smith and a farmer all in one; while at the
same time preaching.
Probably one of the most momentous events in Moffat's ministry
was not preaching but attempting to defend his Bechuanas from
the warring Zuluas. He did not avert a war, but procured firearms
and equipped his people. The Bechuanas conquered the Zuluas
and, realizing Moffat's bravery and compassion in their behalf,
they began to respect him as a friend.
It was twelve more years before his message bore the fruit of re-
vival. Suddenly the meeting house was crowded. Heathen songs
were not sung in the village and dancing stopped. Prayers came

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to the lips of the Bechuanas, and the songs of Zion were sung.
They began to give up their dirty habits. Converts were recorded,
then time-tested, then baptized. Other tribes, hearing the news,
sent representatives to learn of the white man's teaching. Moffat
often would return with them and thus the revival message and
results spread.
It was then that Moffat realized he must concentrate on translating
the New Testament into the language of the people if they were to
learn God's Word and live God's way! And, customarily, he not
only translated the text, he procured a press and printed it.
Moffat returned to England only one time before returning to die.
On that visit he persuaded Livingstone to go to Africa instead of
China. Livingstone built mightily upon the foundation that Moffat
had so ably laid, yet, incredibly, Moffat outlived Livingstone ten
more years.
He had opened jungle villages to the Gospel, he had braved the
dangers, the deadlines of African jungles, he had withstood
medicine men like Elijah had withstood the prophets of Baal at
Carmel. He had preached, he had translated, he had instructed
Africans to read, write, sing and farm. He had exalted Christ and
magnified the ministry of a missionary. August 9, 1883, he wound
his watch with a trembling hand. "For the last time," he said. And
it was so. The next morning the 88-year-old soldier of the Cross
was dead, with eighty-four years of life for his Lord since that
night as a four-year-old bairn (boy) he had come to Christ. "For
who hath despised the day of small things?"

Robert Morrison (missionary) (1782-1834)

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Robert Morrison studied the Chinese language and

provided a Chinese dictionary and a Chinese translation of
the Bible, which provided great use for the missionaries
when they were allowed in China 1858, after the ending of
the second Opium ward. The same treaty that forced China
to admit opium into the land opened China missions. 

Robert was born on 5 January 1782 in Northumberland, England

and died 1st August 1834 aged 54
Robert Morrison was a Scottish evangelist and the first Christian
Protestant missionary in China.
.After twenty-five years of work he translated the whole Bible into
the Chinese language and baptized ten Chinese believers. Morri-
son pioneered the translation of the Bible into Chinese and
planned for the distribution of the Scriptures as broadly as possi-
ble, unlike the previous Roman Catholic translation work that had
never been published.
Morrison cooperated with such contemporary missionaries
as Walter Henry Medhurst and William Milne (the print-
ers),Samuel Dyer (Hudson Taylor's father-in-law), Karl Gut-
zlaff (the Prussian linguist), and Peter Parker (China's first medi-
cal missionary). He served for 27 years in China with one furlough
home to England. The only missionary efforts in China were re-
stricted to Guangzhou (Canton) and Macau at this time. They
concentrated on literature distribution among members of the
merchant class, gained a few converts, and laid the foundations
for more educational and medical work that would significantly im-
pact the culture and history of the most populous nation on earth.

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However, when Morrison was asked shortly after his arrival in

China if he expected to have any spiritual impact on the Chinese,
he answered, "No sir, but I expect God will!" Son of James Morri-
son, a Scottish farm laborer and Hannah Nicholson, an English
woman, who were both active members of the Church of Scot-
land. They were married in 1768. Robert was the youngest son of
eight children. At age three, Robert and his family moved to New-
castle where his father found more prosperous work in the shoe
trade. It is possible that Robert was a childhood friend of George
Stephenson, who invented the steam locomotive.
Robert Morrison Birth Place - Bullers Green near Morpeth
Northumberland England
Robert's parents were devout Christians and raised their children
to know the Bible and the Westminster Shorter Catechism accord-
ing to Presbyterian ideals. At the age of 12 he recited the entire
119th Psalm (176 verses long) from memory in front of his pastor
without a single mistake. John Wesley was still alive and many
foreign mission agencies were being formed during this period of
the Evangelical First Great Awakening.
In 1796, young Robert Morrison followed his uncle James Nichol-
son into apprenticeship and later joined the Presbyterian church
in 1798.
By age 14 Robert left school and was apprenticed to his father’s
business.[9] For a couple of years he kept company in disregard of
his Christian upbringing and fell occasionally into drunkenness.
However, this behavior soon ended. In Robert’s own words
“ It was about five years ago [1798] that I was much awakened to ”
a sense of sin … and I was brought to a serious concern about

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my soul. I felt the dread of eternal condemnation. The fear of

death compassed me about and I was led nightly to cry to God
that he would pardon my sin, that he would grant me an interest
in the Savior, and that he would renew me in the spirit of my
mind. Sin became a burden. It was then that I experienced a
change of life, and, I trust, a change of heart, too. I broke off
from my former careless company, and gave myself to reading,
meditation and prayer. It pleased God to reveal his Son in me,
and at that time I experienced much of the “kindness of youth
and the love of espousals.” And though the first flash of affection
wore off, I trust my love to and knowledge of the Savior have in-
creased.

When Morrison was at work at his father's business he was em-

ployed at manual labour for twelve or fourteen hours a day; yet he
seldom omitted to find time for one or two hours of reading and
meditation. Even at work, his Bible or some other book was usu-
ally open before him. He was not able to obtain many books, but
such as he could get hold of he read and re-read frequently. The
diary, which he began to keep very early in his life, shows that he
did much self-introspection; but his earnestness was clearly in-
tense, and his sense of his own shortcomings continued to be re-
markably vivid.
Soon he wanted to become a missionary and in 1801, he started
learning Latin, Greek Hebrew[9] as well as systematic theol-
ogy and shorthand from the Rev. W. Laidler, a Presbyterian min-
ister in Newcastle, but his parents were opposed to his new voca-
tion. During this period, Robert often spent free time in the garden
in quiet meditation and prayer. At work, the Bible or some other
book such as Matthew Henry’s Commentary was open before him

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while his hands were busy. He regularly attended church on Sun-

days, visited the sick with the "Friendless Poor and Sick Society",
and in his spare time during the week instructed poor children. He
shared his faith in Christ with another young apprentice and to a
sailor, showing a deep concern for the conversion of friends and
family.
On 7 January 1803 he entered George Collison's Hoxton Acad-
emy in London and was trained as Congregationalist minister He
visited the poor and sick and preached in the villages around Lon-
don without neglecting his studies.
Already at the age of 17 Robert had been deeply moved by read-
ing about the new missionary movement in The Evangelical Mag-
azine and The Missionary Magazine. But he was deeply attached
to his mother and promised he would not go abroad so long as
she lived. He kept this promise and was present to care for her in
her last illness when he received her blessing that he might go
abroad.
Preparing to be a missionary
After his mother's death in 1804, he joined the London Missionary
Society. He had applied to the Society in a letter dated 27 May
1804, offering himself for missionary service. The next day he
was interviewed by the board and accepted at once without a sec-
ond interview. The next year, he went to David Bogue's Academy
in Gosport (near Portsmouth) for further training. For a while he
was torn between Timbuktu in Africa and China as possible fields
of service. His prayer was:
“ that God would station him in that part of the missionary field ”
where the difficulties were greatest and all to human appear-

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ances the most insurmountable.

In 1798, just when the young Robert had been converted, the
Rev. William Willis Moseley of Northamptonshire was strongly
burdened for the spiritual needs of China. He issued a letter urg-
ing "the establishment of a society for translating the Holy Scrip-
tures into the languages of the populous oriental nations." He
providentially came across a manuscript of most of the New Tes-
tament translated into Chinese (probably by earlier Jesuit mis-
sionaries) which had remained gathering dust in the British Mu-
seum. He immediately printed 100 copies of a further tract "on the
importance of translating and publishing the Holy Scriptures into
the Chinese language." Copies were sent to all the Church of
England bishops and the new mission agencies. Most gave dis-
couraging replies, giving such reasons as the cost and "utter im-
possibility" of spreading the books inside China. But a copy
reached Dr. Bogue, the head of the Hoxton Academy. He was so
moved that he replied to Moseley that if he had been younger he
would have "devoted the rest of my days to the propagation of the
gospel in China"! Not surprisingly, Dr. Bogue promised to look out
for suitable missionary candidates for China. His choice fell on
Morrison who soon after turned his attention away from Africa and
focused entirely on China. Robert wrote to a friend urging him to
become his colleague in this momentous new work,
“ I wish I could persuade you to accompany me. Take into ac-
count the 350 million souls in China who have not the means of
knowing Jesus Christ as Savior… ”

He returned to London and studied medicine with Dr. Blair at St.

Bartholomew's Hospital, and astronomy with Dr. Hutton at
the Greenwich Observatory. After the decision of the Directors as

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to his destination, Morrison had most diligently and laboriously

pursued the study of Chinese. He learned the Chinese lan-
guage from a student that he shared lodgings with, called Yong
Sam-tak from Canton City. At first they did not get on well to-
gether. Morrison absent-mindedly burned a piece of paper with
some Chinese characters on it - and infuriated the superstitions of
his Chinese mentor, who left for three days. From that time on,
Morrison wrote his characters on a piece of tin that could be
erased. They continued to work together and studied an early
Chinese translation of Gospels named Evangelia Quatuor
Sinice which was probably written by a Jesuit, as well as a hand-
written Latin-Chinese dictionary. Yong Sam-tak eventually joined
him in family worship. In this way Morrison made considerable
progress in speaking and writing one of the most difficult of lan-
guages for an English-speaking person to learn. The hope of the
Directors was that, first of all, Morrison would master the ordinary
speech of the people, and so be able to compile a dictionary, and
perhaps make a translation of the Scriptures for the benefit of all
future missionaries. To accomplish this, it was first of all neces-
sary to get a footing on Chinese soil, and not hopelessly offend
the Chinese authorities. At this time, dealings of foreigners with
the people, except for purposes of trade, was absolutely forbid-
den. Every foreigner was strictly interrogated on landing as to
what his business might be; and if he had not a reasonable an-
swer to give, he was sent back by the next vessel, and often very
unceremoniously treated. Morrison was aware of the dangers.
[10]
 He traveled to visit his family and bid them farewell in July
1806, preaching 13 times in London,Edinburgh and Glasgow.
Early missionary work

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Morrison was ordained in London on 8 January 1807 at the

Scotch church on Swallow Street and was eager to go to China.
On 31 January, he sailed first to America. The fact that the policy
of the East India Company was not to carry missionaries, and that
there were no other ships available that were bound for China,
forced him to stop first in New York on 20 April after a stormy and
perilous voyage aboard the "Remittance". Some have made the
argument that missionaries like Morrison were a tool of Western
commercial imperialism, but the general hostility that he aroused
from the British commercial endeavor in China, like William
Careyof India, prove that he acted independently. Morrison spent
nearly a month in America. He was very anxious to secure the
good offices of the American Consul at Guangzhou, as it was well
known that he would need the influence of some one in authority,
if he was to be permitted to stay in China. The promise of protec-
tion was made from the United States consul, and on 12 May, he
boarded a second, the Trident, bound for Macau.
The Trident arrived in Macau on 4 September 1807 after 113
days at sea. The first move of the new-comer was to present his
letters of introduction to some leading Englishmen and Ameri-
cans, in Macau and Guangzhou. He was kindly received, but he
needed a bold heart to bear up, without discouragement, under
their frank announcement of the apparently hopeless obstacles in
the way of the accomplishment of his mission. George Thomas
Staunton discouraged him from the idea of being a missionary in
China. First of all, Chinamen were forbidden by the Government
to teach the language to any one under penalty of death. Sec-
ondly, no one could remain in China except for purposes of trade.
Thirdly, the Roman Catholic missionaries at Macau, who were
protected by the Portuguese, would be bitterly hostile, and stir up

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the people against a Protestant missionary. On 7 September, he

was expelled by the Roman Catholic authorities in Macau and
went to theThirteen Factories outside Canton City. The chief of
the American factory at Canton offered the missionary for the
present a room in his house ; and there he was most thankful to
establish himself, and think over the situation. Shortly afterwards
he made an arrangement for three months, with another Ameri-
can gentleman, to live at his factory. He effectively passed himself
as an American. The Chinese, he found, did not dislike and sus-
pect Americans as much as they did the English. Still Morrison's
presence did excite suspicions, and he could not leave his Chi-
nese books about, lest it should be supposed that his object was
to master the language. Certain Roman Catholic natives such as
Abel Yun were found willing to impart to him as much of the Man-
darin Chinese as they could ; but he soon found that the knowl-
edge of this did not enable him to understand, or make himself
understood by, the common people; and he had not come to
China simply to translate the Scriptures into the speech of a com-
paratively small aristocratic class.

Robert Morrison and Chinese helpers translating the Bible:

During these early months his trials and discouragements were
great. He had to live in almost complete seclusion. He was afraid
of being seen abroad. His Chinese servants cheated him. The
man who undertook to teach him demanded extortionate sums.
Another bought him a few Chinese books, and robbed him hand-
somely in the transaction. Morrison was alarmed at his expendi-
ture. He tried living in one room, until he had severe warnings that

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fever would be the outcome. His utter loneliness oppressed him.

The prospect seemed cheerless in the extreme.
At first Morrison conformed as exactly as he could to Chinese
manners. He tried to live on Chinese food, and became an adept
with the chopsticks. He allowed his nails to grow long, and culti-
vated a pigtail. " He walked about the Hong with a Chinese frock
on, and with thick Chinese shoes." In time he came to think this
was a mistaken policy. So far as the food was concerned, he
could not live on it in health; and as for the dress, it only served to
render him the more unusual, and to attract attention where he
was anxious to avoid publicity. A foreigner dressed up in Chinese
clothes excited suspicions, as one who was endeavoring by
stealth to insinuate himself into Chinese society, so as to intro-
duce his contraband religion surreptitiously. Under these circum-
stances Morrison resumed the European manners of the Ameri-
cans and English.
Morrison's position was menaced by political troubles. One move
in the war with France, which England was waging at this time,
was that an English squadron bore down on Macau, to prevent
the French from striking a blow at English trade. This action was
resented by the Chinese authorities at Guangzhou, and reprisals
were threatened on the English residents there. Panic prevailed.
The English families had to take refuge on ships, and make their
way to Macau. Among them came Morrison, with his precious lug-
gage of manuscripts and books. The political difficulty soon
passed, and the squadron left; but the Chinese were even more
intensely suspicious of the "foreigner" than before.
With the East India Company:

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Painting of the factories in 1780 with flags of Denmark, Spain, US,

Sweden, Britain, Holland
Morrison fell ill and returned to Macau on 1 June 1808. Fortu-
nately he had mastered Mandarin and Cantoneseduring this pe-
riod. Morrison was miserably housed at Macau. It was with diffi-
culty he induced any one to take him in. He paid an exorbitant
price for a miserable top-floor room, and had not been long in it
before the roof fell in with a crash. Even then he would have
stayed on, when some sort of covering had been patched up, but
his landlord raised his rent by one-third, and he was forced to go
out again into the streets. Still he struggled on, laboring at his Chi-
nese dictionary, and even in his private prayers pouring out his
soul to God in broken Chinese, that he might master the native
tongue. So much of a recluse had he become, through fear of be-
ing ordered away by the authorities, that his health greatly suf-
fered, and he could only walk across his narrow room with diffi-
culty. But he toiled on.
Morrison strove to establish relations between himself and the
people. He attempted to teach three Chinese boys who lived on
the streets in an attempt to help both them and his own language
skills. However, they treated him maliciously and he was forced to
let them go.
In 1809, he met 17-year-old Mary Morton and married her on 20
February that year in Macau.[11] They had three children: James
Morrison (b. 5 March 1811, died on the same day), Mary Rebecca
Morrison (b. July 1812), and John Robert Morrison (b. 17 April
1814). Mary Morrison died of cholera on 10 June 1821 and is
buried in the Old Protestant Cemetery in Macau.

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On the day of their marriage Robert Morrison was appointed

translator to the East India Company with a salary of £500 a year.
He returned to Guangzhou alone since foreign women were not
allowed to reside there.
This post afforded him, what most he needed, some real security
that he would be allowed to continue at his work. He had now a
definite commercial appointment, and it was one which in no way
hindered the prosecution of the mission, which always stood first
in his thoughts.The daily work of translation for the Company as-
sisted him in gaining familiarity with the language, and increased
his opportunities for intercourse with the Chinese. He could now
go about more freely and fearlessly. Already his mastery of the
Chinese tongue was admitted by those shrewd business men,
who perceived its value for their own commercial negotiations.
The sea between Macau and Canton was full of pirates, and the
Morrisons had to make many anxious voyages. Sometimes the
cry of alarm would be raised even in Guangzhou, as the pirate
raids came within a few miles of the city; and the authorities were
largely helpless. The perils of their position, as well as its solitude,
seem to have greatly and painfully affected Mary. She was af-
fected by unhealthy anxiety. There was no society at Guangzhou
that was congenial to them. The English and American residents
were kind, but had little sympathy with their work, or belief in it.
Their first child, a boy, died at birth, and the Chinese demurred
about the burial. Very sorrowfully Morrison had to superintend the
interment of the little one on a mountainside. At that time his wife
was dangerously ill. All his comrades at the Company's Office
thought him a fool. His so-called Chinese assistants robbed him.
Letters from England came but seldom.

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The Chinese grammar was finished in 1812, and sent to Ben-

gal for printing, and heard no more of for three anxious, weary
years for Morrison. But it was highly approved and well printed,
and it was a pivotal piece of work done towards enabling England
and America to understand China. Morrison went on to print a
tract and a catechism. He translated the book of Acts into Chi-
nese, and was overcharged to the extent of thirty pounds for the
printing of a thousand copies. Then Morrison translated the
Gospel of Luke, and printed it. The Roman Catholic bishop at
Macau, on obtaining a copy of this latter production, ordered it to
be burned as a heretical book. So to the common people it must
have appeared that one set of Christians existed to destroy what
the other set produced. The facts did not look favorable for the
prosperity of Christianity in China.
The machinery of the Chinese criminal tribunal was set in motion
when the Chinese authorities read some of his printed works.
Morrison was first made aware of the coming storm by the publi-
cation of an edict, directed against him and all Europeans who
sought to undermine Chinese religion. Under this edict, to print
and publish Christian books in Chinese was declared a capital
crime. The author of any such work was warned that he would
subject himself to the penalty of death. All his assistants would
render themselves liable to various severe forms of punishment.
The mandarins and all magistrates were enjoined to act with en-
ergy in bringing to judgment any who might be guilty of contraven-
ing this edict. Morrison forwarded a translation of this famous
proclamation to England, at the same time announcing to the Di-
rectors that he purposed to go quietly and resolutely forward. For
himself, indeed, he does not seem to have been afraid. Undoubt-
edly his position under the East India Company was a great pro-
tection to him; and a grammar and dictionary were not distinc-

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tively Christian publications. But the Directors were even then

sending out to join him the Rev. William Milne and his wife, and
Morrison knew that this edict would make any attempt of another
missionary to settle at Guangzhou exceedingly hazardous and dif-
ficult.

William Milne arrived in 1813 to help with the workOn 4 July 1813,
at about three o'clock in the afternoon, it being the first Sunday in
the month, Mr. and Mrs. Morrison were sitting down together to
the " Lord's Supper" at Macau. Just as they were about to begin
their simple service, a note was brought to them to say that Mr.
and Mrs. William Milne had landed. Morrison used all his influ-
ence with those in whose hands the decision lay as to whether
Milne should be allowed to remain. Five days after the newcom-
ers had arrived, a sergeant was sent from the Governor to Morri-
son's house, who summoned him. The decision was short and
stern : Milne must leave in eight days. Not only had the Chinese
vehemently opposed his settlement, but the Roman Catholics
were behind them in urging that he be sent away. From the Eng-
lish residents at Macau, Morrison received no assistance either ;
for they feared lest, if any complications arose through Morrison,
their commercial interests might be prejudiced. For the present
Mr. and Mrs. Milne went on to Guangzhou, where the Morrisons
followed them ; and soon both families were established in that
city, waiting the next move of the authorities. Morrison spent this
time assisting Milne to learn to speak Chinese.
In 1820, Morrison met the American businessman David
Olyphant in Canton, which marked the start of a long friendship

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between the two men and resulted in Olyphant naming his

son Robert Morrison Olyphant.[12]
Return to England:
In 1822 Morrison visited Malacca and Singapore, returning to
England in 1824.
The University of Glasgow had made him a Doctor of Divinity in
1817. Upon his return to England, Morrison was made a Fellow of
the Royal Society. He brought a large library of Chinese books to
England, which were donated to the London University College.
Morrison began The Language Institution in Bartlett's Buildings in
Holborn, London during his stay there, to teach missionaries.
The years 1824 and 1825 were spent by Morrison in England,
where he presented his Chinese Bible to King George IV, and
was received by all classes with great demonstrations of respect.
He busied himself in teaching Chinese to classes of English gen-
tlemen and English ladies, and in stirring up interest and sympa-
thy on behalf of China. Before returning to his missionary labors
he was married again, in November 1824 to Eliza Armstrong, with
whom he had five more children. The new Mrs. Morrison and the
children of his first marriage returned with him to China in 1826.
An incident of the voyage will illustrate the perils of those days, as
well as Morrison's fortitude. After a terrible spell of storm, the pas-
sengers were alarmed to hear the clanking of swords and the ex-
plosion of firearms. They soon learned that a mutiny had broken
out among the seamen, who were wretchedly paid, and who had
taken possession of the forepart of the vessel, with the intention
of turning the cannon there against the officers of the ship. It was
a critical moment. At the height of the alarm, Morrison calmly
walked forward among the mutineers, and, after some earnest

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words of persuasion, induced the majority of them to return to

their places ; the remainder were easily captured, flogged, and
put in irons.
At Singapore, Morrison was confronted with fresh trials. The Sin-
gapore Institution, now Raffles Institution, which has one House
named after him,[13] had been in process of formation there, on his
departure for England, similar to the college at Malacca. Little
progress had been made with it. A new governor manifested less
interest, and Morrison had not been present to see that the work
went on. After a stay here for purposes of organization, the mis-
sionary and his family went on to Macau, and subsequently Morri-
son proceeded to Guangzhou, where he found that his property
had been also neglected in his absence.

Final days in China:

Together the Morrisons returned to China in 1826.
Changes in the East India Company had brought him into relation
with new officials, some of whom had not the slightest respect for
the calling of the missionary, and were inclined to assume a high
hand, until Morrison's threat to resign induced a more respectful
temper. The relations, too, between the English traders and the
Chinese officials were daily becoming more strained. Morrison
strongly disapproved of much of the correspondence which it fell
to his lot to conduct with the native mandarins. Clouds were gath-
ering, which were to break in a few years' time. There were grave
faults on both sides. The officiousness and tyranny of the man-
darins were hard to bear, but on the English rested the more
grievous responsibility of resolving to force a trade in opium on
the Chinese people. War would come later, and might would be

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on the side of England, and right on the side of China. The whole
future of missions would be prejudiced by this awful mistake. The
ports would be opened to opium first, to Christianity second. No
one can tell how vastly the difficulty of evangelizing China has
been increased by this policy.
On Morrison's visit to England, he had been able to leave a Chi-
nese native teacher, Liang Fa, one of Milne's converts, to carry on
what work he could among the people. This man had already en-
dured much for his faith, and he proved entirely consistent and
earnest during the long period of Morrison's absence. Other na-
tive Christians were baptized; and the little Church grew, while at
the same time it was well known that many believed in secret,
who did not dare to challenge persecution and ostracism by public
confession. American missionaries were sent to help Morrison,
and more Christian publications were issued. Morrison welcomed
the arrival of the Americans, because they could conduct the ser-
vice for English residents, and set him free to preach and talk to
the Chinese who could be gathered together to listen to the
Gospel. In 1832 Morrison could write:
“ There is now in Canton a state of society, in respect of Chi-
nese, totally different from what I found in 1807. Chinese
scholars, missionary students, English presses and Chinese
Scriptures, with public worship of God, have all grown up
since that period. I have served my generation, and must the
Lord know when I fall asleep. ”
The Roman Catholics rose against Morrison in 1833, leading to
the suppression of his presses and publications and removing his
preferred method of spreading knowledge of Christ. His native
agents, however, continued to circulate publications that had al-
ready been printed. During this period Morrison also contributed

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toKarl Gützlaff's Eastern Western Monthly Magazine, a publica-

tion aimed at improving Sino-western understanding.
In 1834 the monopoly of the East India Company on trade with
China ended. Morrison's position with the Company was abol-
ished and his means of sustenance ceased. He was subsequently
appointed Government translator under Lord Napier, but only held
the position for a few days.
Morrison prepared his last sermon in June 1834 on the text, "In
my Father's house are many mansions." It was to show how
much of the joy of the eternal Home would "consist in the society
formed there; the family of God, from all ages and out of all na-
tions." Even now he was entering his last illness, and his solitude
was great, for his wife and family had been ordered to England.
On 1 August the pioneer Protestant missionary to China died. He
died at his residence: Number six in the Danish Hong at the age
of 52 in his son’s arms. The following day his remains were re-
moved to Macau, and buried in the private Protestant cemetery
there on 5 August, beside those of his first wife and child. He left
a family of six surviving children, two by his first wife, and four by
his second. His only daughter was married toBenjamin Hobson, a
medical missionary, in 1847.
.
He was born at Morpeth in Northumberland
5 January 1782
Was sent to China by the London Missionary Society in 1807
Was for twenty five years Chinese translator in the employ of
The East India Company
and died in Canton 1 August 1834.
Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth
Yea saith the Spirit

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that they may rest from their labours,

and their works do follow them.

Missionary work:
Translation of the Bible into Chinese
Morrison produced a Chinese translation of the Bible. He also
compiled a Chinese dictionary for the use of westerners. The
Bible translation took twelve years and the compilation of the dic-
tionary, sixteen years. During this period, in 1815, he left the em-
ployment of the East India Company.
By the end of the year 1813, the whole of the New Testament
translation was completed and printed. The translator never
claimed that it was perfect. On the contrary, he readily conceded
its defects. But he claimed for it that it was a translation of the
New Testament into no stilted, scholastic dialect, but into the gen-
uine colloquial speech of the Chinese. The possession of a large
number of printed copies led the two missionaries to devise a
scheme for their wide and effective distribution.
At this time several parts of the Malay Peninsula were under Eng-
lish protection. English Governors were resident, and conse-
quently it seemed a promising field for the establishment of a mis-
sion station. The station would be within reach of the Chinese
coast, and Chinese missionaries might be trained there whose
entrance into China would not excite the same suspicions that at-
tached to the movements of English people. The two places spe-
cially thought of were the island of Java, andMalacca on the
Malay Peninsula.

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A page from Morrison's dictionary (ca. 1820; 1865 reprint shown),

possibly the first major Chinese-English dictionary. Characters are
arranged alphabetically, based on Morrison's romanization, which
long predates bothWade-Giles and Pinyin. Note that notones are
marked.
It was well known that many thousands of Chinese were scattered
through these parts, and Milne traveled around surveying the
country, and distributing tracts and Testaments as opportunity of-
fered. For the next seven or eight months the younger missionary
devoted himself to this itinerating mission. He visited the island of
Banca; and then went to Batavia, the principal town in Java. Here
the Governor welcomed him, and sent him at the expense of the
Government through the interior settlements of Java. From Java
Milne made his way to Malacca, where he received equal kind-
ness from the authorities. He would have gone to Penang, but his
journey had already occupied as much time as he could spare;
and so, in the autumn of 1814, he returned to Guangzhou.
The object of the two missionaries was now to select some quiet
spot where, under protection, the printing press might be estab-
lished, and Chinese missionaries trained. Malacca had this ad-
vantage, that it lay between India and China, and commanded
means of transport to almost any part of China and the adjoining
archipelago. After much deliberation it was determined to advise
the directors that Milne should proceed to establish himself at
Malacca.
In this year Morrison baptized the first convert on 14 May 1814
(seven years after his arrival). The first Protestant Chinese Chris-
tian, was named Tsae A-Ko. Mr. Morrison acknowledged the im-
perfection of this man's knowledge, but he relied on the words, "If

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thou believest with all thy heart!" and hence he administered the
rite. From his diary the following was noted:
“ At a spring of water, issuing from the foot of a lofty hill, by the
sea-side, away from human observation, I baptised him in the
name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit... May he be the first
fruits of a great harvest. ”
Amid such difficult circumstances the native Chinese Church be-
gan.
About the same time the East India Company undertook the cost
of printing Morrison's Chinese Dictionary. They spent £10,000 on
the work, bringing out for the purpose their own printer, Peter Per-
ring Thoms, along with a printing press. The Bible Society voted
two grants of £500 each towards the cost of printing the New Tes-
tament. One of the Directors of the East India Company also be-
queathed to Morrison $1000 for the propagation of the Christian
religion. This he devoted to the cost of printing a pocket edition of
the New Testament. The former edition had been inconveniently
large; and especially in the case of a book that was likely to be
seized and destroyed by hostile authorities, this was a serious
matter. A pocket Testament could be carried about without diffi-
culty. The small edition was printed, and many Chinese departed
from Guangzou into the interior with one or more copies of this in-
valuable little book secreted in his dress or among his belongings.
Mary Morrison was ordered to England, and she sailed with her
two children, and for six years her husband was to toil on in soli-
tude.
In 1817 Morrison accompanied Lord Amherst's embassy to Bei-
jing. His own knowledge of China was very considerably enlarged
by this. He was sent by the Company on an embassy to the Em-

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peror at Beijing in the capacity of interpreter. The journey took him

through many cities and country districts, and introduced him to
some novel aspects of Chinese life and character. The object of
the embassy was not attained, but to Morrison the experience
was invaluable; and it served, not only to revive his health, but to
stimulate his missionary zeal. Through all that vast tract of coun-
try, and among that innumerable population, there was not one
solitary Protestant missionary station.
Another accomplishment of Morrison's, in which he proved him-
self a pioneer, was his establishment of a public dispen-
sary at Macau in 1820, where native diseases might be treated
more humanely and effectively than was customary in China.
Morrison was profoundly stirred by the misery, the poverty, and
the unnecessary suffering of the Chinese poor. The people were
constantly persuaded to expend their all on drugs and herbs that
were absolutely useless. Morrison sought out an intelligent and
skilful Chinese practitioner, and placed him at the head of his dis-
pensary. This man, who had learned the main principles of Euro-
pean treatment, received great help from Dr. Livingstone, a friend
of Morrison's, who was much interested in this attempt to alleviate
the sufferings of the poorer Chinese.

The college in Malacca, Malaysia in 1834:

The original Anglo-Chinese College campus was located in
the British Straits Settlements of Malacca, Malaysia.
Morrison and Milne also established a school for Chi-
nese and Malay children in 1818. The school, named Anglo-Chi-
nese College (later called Ying Wa College), was moved to Hong

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Kong around 1843 after the territory became a British possession.

The institution exists today in Hong Kong as a secondary school
for boys. Milne received the support of the English Governor at
Malacca. He represented the extreme eastern outpost of Protes-
tant missions in Asia, and Morrison assumed the name " Ultra-
Ganges " mission.
Morrison and Milne translated the Old Testament together; and al-
though Morrison had the advantage of a far more intimate knowl-
edge of the language, and was thus able to revise the work of his
colleague, Milne also had made remarkable progress in his mas-
tery of Chinese. The press was kept steadily at work. Tracts of
various kinds were issued. Morrison wrote a little book called "A
Tour round the World," the object of which was to acquaint his
Chinese readers with the customs and ideas of European nations,
and the benefits that had flowed from Christianity.
As if his manifold activities in China were not sufficient to occupy
him, Morrison began to formulate an even broader scheme for the
evangelization of China. This was, to build at Malacca what he
called an " Anglo-Chinese College." Its object was to introduce
the East to the West, and the West to the East; in other words, to
mediate between the two civilizations, and thus to prepare the
way for the quiet and peaceful dissemination of Christian thought
in China. The idea fired him with enthusiasm. He wrote home,
urging the friends of China to take it up. Here, he said in effect, is
a language which is the speech of something like one-third of all
our species. Tens of thousands of English boys and girls are edu-
cated to know dead languages. Surely some may be found to
learn this living one, and hence be enabled to make known the
Christian faith to the many lands where Chinese is spoken. The
college was to be open to all Chinese students of European litera-

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ture, and European students of Chinese. Our missionaries, as

they came out to the field, would learn in the college the language
in which they were to preach.
The proposal was warmly taken up. The London Missionary Soci-
ety gave the ground. The Governor of Malacca and many resi-
dents subscribed. Morrison himself gave £1000 out of his small
property to establish the college. The building was erected and
opened. Printing presses were set up, and students were en-
rolled. Milne was the president; and while no student was com-
pelled to declare himself a Christian, or to attend Christian wor-
ship, it was hoped that the strong Christian influence would lead
many of the purely literary students to become teachers of Chris-
tianity. Intense as were his Christian convictions, he could sanc-
tion nothing that would do deliberate violence to the convictions of
another; and he had a faith that Christian truth would eventually
prevail on its own merits, and need never fear to be set side by
side with the truths that other religious systems contain. Eight or
nine years after its foundation, Mr. Charles Majoribanks, M.P. for
Perth, in a Government report on the condition of Malacca, sin-
gled out this institution for very high praise on account of its thor-
oughly sound, quiet, and efficient work.
A settlement having now been established, under British protec-
tion, and in the midst of those islands which are inhabited by a
large Malay and Chinese population, reinforcements were sent
out from England. After a period in Malacca they were sent on
from there to various centers: Penang, Java, Singapore, Am-
boyna, wherever they could find a footing and establish relations
with the people. In this way many new stations sprang up in the
Ultra-Ganges Mission. A magazine was issued, entitled The
Gleaner, the object of which was to keep the various stations in

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touch with one another, and disseminate information as to

progress in the different parts. The various printing presses
poured forth pamphlets, tracts, catechisms, translations of
Gospels, in Malay or in Chinese. Schools were founded for the
teaching of the children : for the great obstacle to the free use of
the printing press was that so few of the people comparatively
could read. The missionaries had to be many-sided, now preach-
ing to the Malays, now to the Chinese, now to the English popula-
tion; now setting up types, now teaching in the schools; now
evangelizing new districts and neighboring islands, now gathering
together their little congregations at their own settlement. The re-
ports do not greatly vary from year to year. The work was hard,
and seemingly unproductive. The people listened, but often did
not respond. The converts were few.
Mary Morrison returned to China only to die in 1821; Mrs. Milne
had died already. Morrison was 39. In 1822 William Milne died, af-
ter a brief but valuable missionary life, and Morrison was left to re-
flect that he alone of the first four Protestant missionaries to China
was now left alive. He reviewed the history of the mission by writ-
ing a retrospect of these fifteen years. China was still as impervi-
ous as ever to European and Christian influence; but the amount
of solid literary work accomplished was immense.

Scholarly work:
Rober Morrison's work on the "court dialect" of Chinese indicated
that the dialect was based on Nanjing Mandarin rather than Bei-
jing Mandarin. He said "The pronunciation in this work, is rather
what the Chinese call the Nanking dialect, than the Peking", in the

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book "A Dictionary of the Chinese Language: in three parts: Vol-

ume 1", and proceeded to list the differences between the two

Henry Marytn:

Marytn went as a missionary to India in 1806. In seven years he

completed the New Testament in Urdu; had completed a thorough
revision of the Persian; and was deeply launched on the Arabic.
He died in Persia in 1813.

The results of missionary work were tremendous. Although much

damage was by colonialism, the missionary work on the other
hand brought many cultural accomplishments. And they were able
to give people the Bible in their own language. And most
importantly many were to see the salvation of God in their own
lives. There were handicaps. The identification of missionaries
with Imperialist powers has led to much misunderstanding and
hindrance to the gospel. So have Catholicism, Communism and
latterly the liberal so-called gospel. 

Missionaries have often been accused of bringing western habits

and practices and destroying simple peoples. Although mistakes
have been made, generally this is not true. From the start the
missionaries found themselves in butter opposition to white
traders and exploiters. By the end of the century, mission work
had brought much optimism. John Mott charing the World
Missionary Conference in 1910 to coin the phrase: 

"The Evangelism of the World in this Generation." 

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He pointed to the achievements of the century:

Except for two countries, missionaries had been able to reach

every country 
The back pioneer work had been broken. Languages had been
learned and reduced to writing; all the main living languages had
a New Testament 
Tropical medicine had solved the problem of disease for the white
man 
Every religion had yielded some converts
No race had been found incapable of understanding the gospel
(even some were less ready to accept it than others)
The missionaries now has the support of nationals 
Young Churches were beginning to produce leaders equal to the
missionary himself in intellect and spiritually 
The Churches were engaged as never before in missionary
enterprise

SAMUEL ADJAI CROWTHER: 

Crowther became a teacher of the Church missionary society,

and was a pioneer of Yoruba services in Freetown. He was one of
the two CMS representatives on the 1841 Niger expedition and
became convinced that the evangelization of inland Africa must
be carried out by Africans. 

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Samuel Adjai or Ajayi Crowther The African missionary and

bishop (1807 - 1891)

Crowther was born with the name Ajayi in Osogun, in the Egba
section of the Yoruba people, in what is now western Nigeria.
When about 13, he was taken as a slave by Fulani and Yoruba
Muslim raiders and sold several times before being purchased by
Portuguese traders for the transatlantic market. His ship was in-
tercepted by the British navy’s anti-slave trade patrol, and the
slaves were liberated in Sierra Leone. There he became a Chris-
tian, taking at baptism the name of an eminent clergyman in Eng-
land, Samuel Crowther.
Samuel was excelling at school, he became a mission teacher
and one of the first students of the Fourah Bay Institution,
founded by the Church Missionary Society (CMS) in 1827 to train
able Sierra Leoneans for Christian service. He assisted John Ra-
ban and (probably) Hannah Kilham in their studies of African lan-
guages, and in 1841 he joined J.F. Schön as a CMS representa-
tive on Niger Expedition, contributing signally to it.

Ordained in London in 1843, he was appointed to the new

mission in his own Yoruba land. Among the first converts were his
long-lost mother and sister. Crowther achieved much as an
Evangelist, translator and negotiator,he impressed many including
queen Victoria when he visited England. He led the new Niger
mission in 1857 and 1864 became the first African-Anglican
Bishop.

He studied at the CMS college in London preparatory to ordina-

tion in 1843–a landmark for the Anglican ministry. With Henry

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Townsend and C.A. Gollmer, he then opened a new mission in

Yorubaland, centered in Abeokuta, by now the homeland of
Crowther’s Egba people. (He discovered some close relatives
there and was the means of conversion of his mother and sister.)
His role in producing the Yoruba bible, which set new standards
for later African translations, was crucial. Crowther’s visit to Britain
in 1851 influenced government, church, and public opinion about
Africa. The CMS secretary saw Crowther as a potential demon-
stration of the feasibility of self-governing, self-supporting, and
self-propagating African churches and in 1857 sent him to open a
new mission on the Niger. The entire staff was African, mainly
from Sierra Leone, and Venn moved toward an Anglican version
of the “three-self” formula by securing Crowther’s appointment in
1864 as “Bishop of the countries of Western Africa beyond the
Queen’s dominions.” In the upper and middle Niger territories
Crowther pioneered an early form of Christian-Muslim dialogue for
Africa. He oversaw J.C. Taylor’s ground-breaking work in Ig-
boland and directed the evangelization of the Niger Delta, with no-
table results at such centers as Bonny.
In the 1880s clouds gathered over the Niger Mission. Crowther
was old, Venn dead. The morality or efficiency of members of
Crowther’s staff was increasingly questioned by British missionar-
ies. Mission policy, racial attitudes, and evangelical spirituality had
taken new directions, and new sources of European missionaries
were now available. By degrees, Crowther’s mission was disman-
tled: by financial controls, by young Europeans taking over, by
dismissing, suspending, or transferring the African staff. Crowther,
desolated, died of a stroke. A European bishop succeeded him.
Part of the Niger Mission retained its autonomy as the Niger Delta
Pastorate Church under Crowther’s son, Archdeacon D.C.
Crowther, and at least one of the European missionaries, H.H.

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Dobinson, repented of earlier hasty judgments. Everyone recog-

nized Crowther’s personal stature and godliness; his place in the
history of translation and evangelization has often been underval-
ued.

MARTIN LUTHER KING:

Martin Luther King, the black Civil rights leader, was born in At-
lanta Georgia, in 1929. Both his father and grandfather had been
ministers of the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, where he too
later served as co-pastor with his father. King attended More-
house College, Crozer theological Seminary, and Boston univer-
sity. In 1953 he married Corett Scott. In 1955, while King was
Pastor in Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama
a black Mrs Rosa Parks, refused to move the black section of a
racially segregated bus, and was arrested. The young pastor sud-
denly thrust into the leadership of the bus boycott which followed, 
He received the De-Segregation of the buses and was propelled
into world prominence as a crusader for social justice. As a presi-
dent of the Southern Christian Leadership conference, King dy-
namic leadership to civil rights movement which gained more for
black people than they had achieved in the previous three cen-
turies. He led this civil rights movement for 13 years. Without
restoring to violence and was winning victory after victory. His
message to his white opponents was "Do to us as you will and we
shall continue to love you, we mall meet your physical force with
soul force, and your capacity to inflict suffering with our capacity
to endure suffering" in 1964, he was awarded the "Nobel Peace
Prize". An assassins bullet ended the life of Martin Luther king Ju-
nior in 1968 at  the age of 39. In spite of being a victim of hate he

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left the world his conviction and demonstration of the power of

Christian love or hate. 

Toyohiko Kagawa:

Toyohiko Kagawa (1888-1960) became well-known in Japan as a

Christian social reformer, evangelist and author. The son of a
wealthy businessman. He lost both parents when he was only
four. Kagawa was baptised in his teens after he had come under
the influence of Presbyterian Seminary and Princeton, U.SA. He
started the more Church - related Kingdom of God movement in
an effort to combine the Church's spiritual mission and his social
movement. He dedicated his life to the cause of the poor when his
life was spared during a serious illness.  

Kagawa Toyohiko (1888-1960)

Japanese evangelist and social movement leader:
Toyohiko Kagawa  Kagawa Toyohiko?, 10 July 1888 – 23 April
1960) was a Japanese Christian pacifist, Christian reformer, and
labour activist. Kagawa wrote, spoke, and worked at length on
ways to employ Christian principles in the ordering of society and
in cooperatives. His vocation to help the poor led him to live
among them. He established schools, hospitals, and churches.

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Early Life: Kagawa was born in Kobe to Kame and Junichi Ka-
gawa. In lonely years following the death of his parents at age
four, Kagawa was born in Kobe to Kame and Junichi Kagawa. In
lonely years following the death of his parents at age four, he met
Harry W. Myers and Charles A. Logan, missionaries of the
(Southern) Presbyterian Church, U.S. two American missionary
teachers, Drs. Harry W. Myers and Charles A. Logan, who took
him into their homes., and was baptized by Myers on February
14, 1904, at the Tokushima church.
He pursued theological study at Meiji Gakuin in Tokyo and Kobe
Theological Seminary. During his student days in Kobe he moved
into the Shinkawa slum to serve the physical and spiritual needs
of some 7,500 people. Between August 1914 and May 1917 Ka-
gawa studied in the United States at Princeton Theological Semi-
nary and then became involved in labor and peasants movements
in Japan and in organizing religious programs, with the Jesus
Band of Kobe as the base of his work.
Kagawa learned English from these missionaries and converted
to Christianity after taking a Bible class in his youth, which led to
his being disowned by his remaining extended family. Kagawa
studied at Tokyo Presbyterian College, and later enrolled in Kobe
Theological Seminary. While studying there, Kagawa was trou-
bled by the seminarians' concern for technicalities of doctrine. He
believed that Christianity in action was the truth behind Christian
doctrines. Impatiently, he would point to the parable of the Good
Samaritan.[1] From 1914 to 1916 he studied at Princeton Theologi-
cal Seminary. In addition to theology, through the university's cur-
ricular exchange program he also studied embryology, genetics,
comparative anatomy, and paleontology while at Princeton]

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Activism:
In 1909 Kagawa moved into a Kobe slum with the intention of act-
ing as a missionary, social worker, and sociologist. In 1914 he
went to the United States to study ways of combating the sources
of poverty.[3] In 1916 he published Researches in the Psychology
of the Poor based on this experience in which he recorded many
aspects of slum society that were previously unknown to middle-
class Japanese. Among these were the practices of illicit prostitu-
tion (i.e., outside of Japan's legal prostitution regime), informal
marriages (which often overlapped with the previous category),
and the practice of accepting money to care for children and then
killing them.
Kagawa was arrested in Japan in 1921 and again in 1922 for his
part in labour activism during strikes. While in prison he wrote the
novels Crossing the Deathline and Shooting at the Sun. The for-
mer was a semi-autobiographical depiction of his time among
Kobe's destitute. After his release, Kagawa helped organize relief
work in Tokyo following the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake and as-
sisted in bringing about universal adult male suffrage in 1925.
He organized the Japanese Federation of Labour as well as
the National Anti-War League in 1928. Throughout this period, he
continued to evangelize to Japan's poor, advocate women's suf-
frage and call for a peaceful foreign policy. Between 1926 and
1934 he focused his evangelical work through the Kingdom of
God Movement.
In 1940, Kagawa made an apology to the Republic of China for
Japan's occupation of China, and was arrested again for this act.
After his release, he went back to the United States in a futile at-
tempt to prevent war between that nation and Japan. He then re-
turned to Japan to continue his attempts to win women's suffrage.

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After Japan's surrender, Kagawa was an adviser to the transi-

tional Japanese government.
During his life, Kagawa wrote over 150 books. He was nominated
for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1947 and 1948, and the Nobel
Peace Prize in 1954 and 1955

Health and death:

In Osaka, March, 1955, Kagawa suffered collapse from his deteri-
orating heart, and remained bedridden for 2 weeks. He continued
writing, preaching, overseeing projects, and hosting guests, de-
spite concerns from his family and associates. Kagawa's condi-
tion worsened throughout the years, and he was hospitalized
again, for 3 months in 1959, at Saint Luke's Hospital in Taka-
matsu. Kagawa remained bedridden at home for most of his time
in Matsuzawa. His health gradually improved in mid-April, then
worsened again. On April 23, Kagawa was unconscious for 3
hours, then woke and smiled to his wife and others around him,
his last words being "Please do your best for world peace and the
church in Japan."[
In 1921 Kagawa organized the Friends of Jesus. This Franciscan-
like band of young people strove for spiritual discipline, compas-
sion for the poor, and an evangelical life of witness. When Tokyo
suffered a massive earthquake in 1923, he shifted the main em-
phasis of his work to that city. He promoted economic coopera-
tives in Japan and peace and social reform programs before and
after World War II.

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Kagawa was a prolific writer. Most of his writings are collected in

the twenty-four volume Kagawa Toyohiko Zenshu (The work of
Kagawa Toyohiko) (1964). His theological focus was on the re-
demptive love of God, manifest in the life of Jesus Christ, to
whom people can commit themselves through a mystical experi-
ence of faith and intellectual creativity. Kagawa was known more
as a Christian social reformer than as a religious leader both in
and out of Japan, but he was fundamentally an evangelist
throughout his life.
THE 19TH CENTURY:
Society in the 19th Century saw the Industrial revolution. The
people of Britain began to move from the country to the towns.
And into appalling working and living conditions. It was a time of
great pollution explosion. There were 5 million in England at the
time of 1800. Malhus wrote of his fears of not being able to feed
such a large amount of people. By 1850 there were 9 million
people. At this time Romanticism began. People became
interested not so much in the head but in feelings. People felt they
had thrown out too much history and began to delve into the past.

RELIGION:
This brought people back to religion. The songs of this day reflect
this atmosphere such as "Abide with me". This particularly helped
the non-conformists: In 1800 5% of the churchgoers were non-
conformists, but in 1850 50% were. The Methodist was
particularly successful. There were many Para church movements
such as the YMCA. It was a condition to use these services that
you had to show that you were born again. It was a great era of
missionary activity. The first 50 years were done by the
denominations, the last 50 years were done by

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interdenominational organisations. On an ordinary Sunday in

1851 a census found 41% of the population of England was in
church. This was the day when England had the greatest
influence on the world due to missionary work.

ROMAN CATHOLICISM:
During the 17th and 18th centuries the Roman church was
increasingly feeble in the face of Catholic civil government; and
could not effectively fight Protestantism except where it had been
particularly strong. Things were to change during the 19th
century. A number of significant things to occur during this
century.

Downie, stressed healing ministry. Downie had remarkable

success established Zion City, Illinois. A noted exponent of Divine
Healing, his followers were among first Pentecostal leaders.
There had been sporadic outbreaks of" speaking with tongues"
around the USA in the late 19th Century as there had been
throughout the Church in England in 1830s.

PENTECOSTALISM:
TOPEKAAAA, KANSAS October 1900. Rev Charles Parham's
Bethel Bible College. 40 students gathered for its first and only
year. " to discover the power which would enable them to meet
the challenge of the new century". A faith school, converted a
prayer tower, invited all for an intensive training period to equip
them to go out and "make disciples". 

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Method of school students took a subject, researched, prayer for

Spirit's guidance and conviction, then spoke as though seekers.
Parham also lectured. December 1900- excelled on repentance,
consecration, conversion, sanctification, healing and "soon
coming of The Lord". Before leaving for Christmas Parham was
stuck at Acts 2. He sent students to study and test "What the
Bible evidence for the Baptism of the Holy Ghost".

Three days later he returned - all had same story. When the Spirit
fell different things happened, but all spoke in tongues. They
sought, laid hands on Agnes Ozman and she was baptised in the
Spirit. A dozen others were soon similarly baptised. Classes were
suspended and they all waited on God. Agnes Ozman received
on the FIRST DAY OF THE NEW CENTURY, JANUARY 1st
1901.

Parham preached on the baptism of the Spirit. Crowds came to

see and hear. Topeka papers ran the story. However, though
some people took the message from her to other parts, the
Topeka out pouring was rather short lived. Parham went to
Houston Texas. It had begun, now his work in Texas, remarkably
successful, would lay foundation of later outpouring in Los
Angeles, which established Pentecost was here to stay.

AZUSZ ST. LOS ANGELES:

William J. Symour –black holiness preacher in Houston, Texas
studying under Parham, was invited to come to Los Angeles to
hold meetings. He arrived and spoke immediately on Acts 2. In
April seven were filled with the Spirit. He wasn’t baptised yet but

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believed he did. The home were they met in Bonnie Bray St

couldn’t accommodate the crowds.
They moved to an ex- stable at Azusa Street. Symour was an
unlikely leader of major revivals, humble, self –effacing.
Soon hundreds however, were drawn to Azusa Street by the
events. Healing, tongues. “No one knew what could happen next”-
the Spirit was in control.
On April 18, 1906, Los Angeles Times, carried news of Azusa St.
Pentecostal in same issue as the San Francisco Earthquake was
thus heralded around USA AND ENTIRE GLOBE. AZUSA St
launched its own magazine Apostolic Faith and the first issue
carried news of revival around the world.
 
Soon the messages were to be taken to Europe and around the
globe. In USA Azusa St converts spread everywhere, establishing
strong congregation but few of these managed to come together
in organisation/centralisation. Initial movement at organising
churches failed in Carolina. Many diverse groups, some excess.
Pentecostalism had numbers single “Father”- however, some
major groups did develop. Notably the American Assemblies of
God 1914 formed at Hot Springs, Arkansas now the largest
Pentecostal denomination) and the church of God, Cleveland
Tennessee.
The term “Pentecostal” was first applied in Los Angeles to
describe the groups not associated with Azusa St.
 

BRITISH PENTECOSTALISM:

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T B BARRATT- English born Norwegian Methodist Minister read

1st edition of Apostolic Faith about Azusa St. went there to
witness. On way back in New York he received the baptism in the
Spirit. Took message back to Norway and Scandinavia.
 
Spiritual coldness- Coldness not energy or force in itself, merely
the absence of heat. Church leaders made a tragic mistake in
supposing revivals are self-perpetuating force that does not
require watch and care. 

CONDITIONS THAT PRODUCED THE PENTECOSTAL

MOVEMENT
"If my people.............." 2 Chronicles 7:14
 
1. Repentance- plight of Church in 19th Century. Many fasting,
heart searching and repenting.
 
"Depth of every revival can be measured by the depth of
repentance".
 
2. Intercession- prayer was vital. A call to prayer sounded at the
end of the Century. "Fervent and prolonged prayer is such a rarity
that we may be sure that God alone can produce it". Jeremiah
33:3- a favourite text.
 
3. Searching Scriptures- back to Bible Conventions began;
ministers met together, Bible students turned again to the word.
 
4. Expectation of the later rain- Bible conferences stressed
promise of outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the last days called "

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the latter rain".  Day of Pentecost did not exhaust the fulfilment of
Joel's prophecy. 
 
5. A subsequent Experience- concept of baptism of Spirit
increasingly seen as a subsequent to Salvation / repentance.
Promise FOR ALL.
 
6. Emphasis on foreign missions- endowment of power not an
end in itself. A means for "the harvest".
 
Church awakening from isolation. Missionary zeal swept Church
at the end of 19th Century. (Symbol of Livingstone's exploration).
 
7. Restoration of Super natural- Miracles, Signs and Wonders.
Some through centuries had dared to believe it was the will of the
Lord to heal the sick. Only late in the 19th Century was Biblical
view of Divine Healing presented systematically. Men like A. J.
Gordon - Boston Baptist, Andrew Murray- South Africa and John
Alexander, their loud voices and likely singing. They were often
persecuted and attacked. 
 
By this time Bourne and Clowes had retired, the Primitive
Methodist had 1, 278 chapels and 85,565 members. By the end of
the century the membership had reached 212,000. Reliable
historians claim that as did Wesley a century earlier, the Primitive
Methodists saved Britain from revolution in the 19th Century,
converting the ringleaders of anarchy and violence in thousands
of parishes.
 

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SECOND US AWAKENING (1858)

The second US awakening started with a missionary Jeremiah

Lamphier burdened by the need around him, inviting others to join
him in a noonday prayer every Wednesday. The first meeting
started late and six joined him. This grew to 40 by the third week.
They decided to meet daily. With the onset of great financial crush
as banks folded, so revival began. Spurgeon describes it as such:
In March 1858 it was front page news that over 6,000 were
attending daily prayer meetings in New York. It spread throughout
the nation to other great cities where it was not uncommon to see
business closed with notice: “will re-open at the close of prayer
meeting”.
It was a prayer meeting revival, and not a Sunday one, occurring
in everyday business, college and home life.
 
Edwin Orr after much study estimates that: “fully one million were
converted out of a population of less than thirty million in the
revival in two years period 1858-1859”
 
The churches increased their numbers by that figure. And the
church was “reinvigorated by one million nominal church
members being revived”
 
ULSTER 1859
News of the American revival spread to Ulster, where expectancy
grew for a similar revival. The origin of the Ulster revival, however,
is generally felt to be a weekly prayer meeting of four men which
began in the same month Lamphier began his. With the news of
American revival many prayer groups and meetings started.

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Most notably:  Birmingham (10,000 converts in 9 weeks), Leeds
(2,920), Glasgow (over 1,500) and many more:
Gorge’s ministry ended sadly in division with Elim: Both painful
and costly. Neither party really escaped intact. George lost the
larger anointing of his evangelistic ministry; Elim lost its pioneer
and most anointed servant. George founded the Bible matter.
Essentially, the split was about Church George wanted the
churches of his newly grown movement to have complete local
autonomy. At a time before many of them were ready. Elim were
often intransigent, but yielded to most of his concessions. It was a
tragic break that hindered God’s Work.
ASSEMBLIES OF GOD: Formed 1924 as a looser association of
churches. Pentecostals “Uniting for sake and glory of God” Initials
plans to unite with Elim came to nothing Elim had centralised
administration Assemblies of God had Congregational, more
autonomous structure.
DONALD GEE: was great spokesman for Assemblies of God. A
writer of clarity and skill. He is not celebrated Pentecostal author
and commentator.

APOSTOLIC MOVEMENT: D.P and W.J Williams – Emphasis on

prophetic utterance (took it down….) A more extreme and
selective group with strong Welsh Character. Based at Pen Y.
Grois in Wales. Relatively few churches still functioning.

SMITH WEGGLESWORTH: 
Bradford. The Apostle of Faith. A blunt, rough, ordinary man,
baptised in Spirit AT Sunderland. Tremendously live and popular.

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Great healing ministry. Remained independent, moving from one

group to another to evangelise.
Essentially, Pentecostal Churches, born in vitality of initial
outpouring of Holy Spirit, were soon caught up in the institutions
of what they had started, Believers became churches
(necessarily), which became denominations, administrations,
owned land and property, established setter and ordered
churches and soon, became in their own way as traditional as the
churches many of them left or were forced out of. This is a familiar
pattern.

THE CHURCH AND THE WORLD; A CONTEMPORARY

SURVEY:
Matthew 10: 18-20 – Plan for the harvest. The following Summary
is based on information from C. Peter WAGNER, Professor of
Church Growth, Fuller Theological Seminary. Wagner believes a
great harvest has already began. It will be like nothing the Church
as previously known.
1.       The “fruit that remains” is in the Church
2.       Where most of the growth is taking place, miraculous signs
and wonders are taking place
Despite early growth of Pentecostalism, relatively slow in the
growth Church worldwide until Charismatic outpouring in late 50’s
and 60’s. Now an estimated 120 million Pentecostal/Charismatic
believers in world. 78,00 new Christians every day worldwide

EXEMPLARAY CASE STUDIES:

LATIN AMERICA; Beginning 20th Century – 50.000 evangelicals

Project end 20th Century – 100million

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Chile –Santiago; Church with 90,000 members. World second

largest Ordering pews by mile.

Argentina- Rev. Omar Cabrera- Santé Fe; Practices breaking the

power of Satan even geographical areas. Thousands come to
Christ.

Nicaragua – 3.2% Evangelicals in population before Civil War

Risen to 12.9% by 1985. In a Marxist Country

Guatemala- 1930- 1,000 evangelicals. 1980- Half million (25% of

population) First evangelical President for one year.

AFRICA; Beginning of 20th Century- 3% evangelicals Project end.

20th Cnetrury-50%

Ethiopia; 30, 00 to half a million- in Lutheran Church growth. For

many first experience of gospel accompanied by signs and
wonders

APOLOGISTS:
These were few of the men who wrote Church history:

1.       JOSEPHUS:
he was a JEWISH Historian born in A.D 37 of a priestly Jewish
family. He was well-educated and followed the Pharisaic form of
Judaism. He did all his writings in Rome a lot on the accounts of
the Old Testament collects which he managed to get from the
canon or sacred writhing in The Jerusalem Temple.

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2.  JUSTIN MATYR: - Gives a great insight on the History of the

Church, how the first century Church conducted itself in the early
days. He was a covert from paganism but became the most
notable historians of the 2nd century. He was from Palestine, but
had close links with Ephesus the Capitial of the roman province of
Asia. He was martyred in Rome in A.D 165.

3.    BEDE: - Born A.D 673-735 The most talented historians of

the middle ages, spent most of his entire life in the monasteries of
Wermouth and Jarrow in the North of England. The development
of Christianity in Britain found its perfect Historians in BEBE who
was well known in the middle of the 9th century for his holiness in
life. He even translated the Bible into English.

4. EUSEBIUS: - Wrote the History of the Church on a grand

scale. Born in Palestine (A.D 263-339) he was on the run during
the great persecution. He saw many martyrdoms in Egypt and
was himself imprisoned for his faith. Though there were other
Historians like Hegesippus and Julius Africans before him, but
only fragments of their works remained.

5.John Foxe and Kenneth Latourrete- emerged in the

18TH Century and some collections as well. In 1884-1968.
.

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