Congregationalism in the Church

Today, James and Andrew talk about congregationalism in the church according to Scripture. Donate at Christoa.com to support our ministry efforts through this podcast and around the world. One-TimeMonthlyYearly Make a one-time donationMake a monthly donationMake a yearly donation Choose an amount $5.00$15.00$100.00$5.00$15.00$100.00$5.00$15.00$100.00 Or enter a custom amount $ Your…

Appointing Elders, Loving the Brethren

In this crossover episode of Blacktop Pulpit and Secret Women Stuff, Ken, Cathy, Kati, and Andrew talk about the importance of appointing elders in every church, elder plurality, church membership, forgiveness, offense, and dealing with sin. Visit thechurchatsunsites.com to donate.

In this story of how federalism, a perception regarding the relationship between the individual and his/her government, has fared during the American experience, this blog has reached the foundation of a new colony, that of Connecticut.  The original motivation to establish that eventual colony and state was spearheaded by Puritans in three towns to separate themselves from the Anglican influence one found in Massachusetts.  That development is described in the last posting.

         It is of importance to this story since in one of the towns seeking separation was Hartford that would become the home of Yale.  There, Samuel Johnson would be influenced by the writings of Enlightenment thinkers and as a post-graduate student and tutor, led the way to institute a new curriculum called “The New Learning.”  

In the reading list of that curriculum were the works of Francis Bacon, John Locke, Isaac Newton, Robert Boyle, Copernicus, and that was only on the philosophic/science side of scholarly works.  On the literary side there were the stories of Shakespeare, Milton, and Addison.  These works and their ideas hit the “grapevine” of that time, i.e., the religious networks that, in this case, were centered in Yale College.  All this began roughly in the year 1718.

A historian who has studied this development and has reported certain central elements of it is James MacGregor Burns.[1] According to his reportage, the Enlightenment in Europe coincided with the Reformation and, as a result, the church came under critical review when it exercised its authority over questions regarding nature and government.  

Starting with Copernicus and his theorizing that the earth, contrary to religious dictum, was not the center of the universe, led to enormous energetic interest in the study of physical existence.  This encouraged a whole new approach to investigating nature that began with the Cartesian premise that nothing was known (except one’s own existence), and one needed to go out and hypothesize, observe, measure, and tentatively conclude what the basic elements of that reality are.[2]

The second element Burns points out is how extensively this newer view took hold. It stretched throughout Europe and even led to the overthrow of governments.  And once taking hold in America, it played a role in encouraging and emboldening a generation of leaders that would lead toward the independence of the colonies that would become the US.  

Third, he makes a definite connection between Enlightenment ideas and the direction American leaders would take.  These leaders will include John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison. Of particular concern were the philosophizing of certain social / economic / political qualities such as liberty and equality.  Here one can trace the original importation of the natural rights view as a legitimate philosophic tradition that owes a lot of its original arguments to John Locke, although, through the ensuing years that tradition has gone through extensive change, especially of late.

And fourth, Burns summarily sees the overwhelming effect of the Enlightenment as a “light” that made visible the realities of existence through the use of reason.  That light shone the way to go past the obstacles of traditional, faith-based thought that had stymied people’s ability to discover what humans have to contend with through the various turns in their lives.  This ranged from diseases, to movement, to meeting the wants and needs of people to survive and live better, more comfortable lives.

The aim of the Enlightenment here in America, as in Europe, was to apply reasoning to science, politics, and religion.  That reason, for example, encouraged religious tolerance; why engage in constant religious fights that in Europe led to the Thirty Years’ War (1618-1648) that ended due to exhaustion with no side winning?  It upgraded the arts as important pursuits. It promoted a secular or, at least, a non-denominational moral approach that could replace theology.  And, probably most effective, was the introduction of science as a higher education discipline.

One form or result of a secular moral view was the upstart of deism – the belief in an uninvolved deity that might have created what is, but basically stands back and lets that creation do its thing.  Apparently, this belief became common among the leadership class of the American colonies.  

What became disfavored among the elite class were such beliefs in the ability to prophesize and the occurrence of miracles.  But of most importance was the influence the Enlightenment had on the leadership and on many of the common folk as to the reasonableness and prudence in adopting religious tolerance.  This and the other Enlightened views, through the slow process outlined above, took hold especially among the educated.  

It did not directly lead toward demanding independence but laid the foundation that would later make Americans less tolerant of English policies they found distasteful and that was not limited to the upper class.  It grew among the population in general.  So, as for the relevant history of the 1700s, one can see related influences taking hold, but did they eliminate federalist foundational beliefs?  This writer believes they did not, but instead were incorporated under the federated framework the Puritans had established.

Again, that influence can be best summarized as one of congregationalism. This foundational form is counter to the vertical structure of such religions as Roman Catholicism and Anglicanism. The formation of congregations is the result of local people bonding together to establish a church and it was through that mode that Puritanical churches were established in New England. In turn, historians basically agree that this mode naturally led to the establishment of the colonial polities. They also led to the early educational institutions such as Harvard and Yale.

Next, this story will review how Harvard reenters the story of the Enlightenment through mostly the work of Increase Mather.  His work will be the topic of the next posting as that posting aims to fill in some the information gaps regarding the development of the Enlightenment among Americans during the 1700s.

[1] James MacGregor Burns, Fire and Light:  How the Enlightenment Transformed Our World (New York, NY:  MacMillan, 2013).

Rev. Dr. John C. Dorhauer, General Minister & President of the United Church of Christ