This paper surveys several pivotal chapters in Christian history, spanning the eighteenth through twentieth centuries. It examines John and Charles Wesley's Methodist revival and their effort to restore personal, grace-centered faith within Anglicanism; the impact of the French Revolution on the Roman Catholic Church and the broader social engagement of Protestant denominations; nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century missionary expansion, including the Edinburgh Missionary Conference of 1910; and the major religious developments of the twentieth century, notably the rise of Pentecostalism, the Second Vatican Council, and the influence of world events such as the Great Depression and two World Wars on Christian life and institutions.
By the eighteenth century, religion in many Protestant countries — especially England — had become a largely political force, growing less and less concerned with the spiritual salvation of its congregants. John and Charles Wesley were two important figures of that century who tried to change this, with a great deal of success. They re-established the doctrine of salvation by God's free grace among not only the people of the Anglican Church, but everywhere the brothers traveled, and beyond, as their message and methods spread.
Charles Wesley primarily wrote hymns that served a deeply spiritual purpose, while John Wesley began preaching in public — a highly controversial act when he first undertook it — and continued making extensive journeys by horseback for preaching engagements well into his seventies, at which point he switched to a carriage and continued his activities for another decade. Not all were receptive to the brothers' message, but they helped revitalize and subtly reshape Protestantism into a personal religion rooted in individual faith and grace.
As the eighteenth century drew to a close, a tremendous blow was dealt to the Roman Catholic Church by the French Revolution. Political as well as intellectual tensions between the Church and the people — and between the Church and the monarchy — had been brewing for years. The Enlightenment-influenced Revolution marked an opportune moment for the overthrow of France's long ties to Rome. This was an extreme example of a growing trend throughout the Christian world.
The Christian response to the changing times was equally proactive. Christianity, and Christians especially within many Protestant denominations, became more involved with social issues and thus a more present and prominent part of life and national or communal character. This engagement operated on both political and social levels, as churches sought to define their relevance in an age of rapid intellectual and political transformation.
Missionary efforts during the nineteenth century led to a massive expansion of the Church and of Christianity worldwide. The first several decades of the twentieth century saw several international and inter-denominational conferences addressing the evangelical need for continued missionary efforts and the practical means of carrying them out. Robert Speer was one of the most dedicated figures at these conferences, exhorting others with a zeal that he also demonstrated through his own actions.
The gains of the nineteenth century, however — as well as some achieved in the twentieth — had come at the cost of hundreds of thousands of Christian lives, confirming the unfortunate truth that "the blood of the martyrs was the seed of the Church." The deaths of these martyrs had largely ceased by the time of the Edinburgh Missionary Conference of 1910, which established a new consciousness regarding the missionary purpose and its pursuit, and is widely regarded as a foundational moment in the modern ecumenical movement.
"Pentecostalism rises; Vatican II and world events transform Christianity"
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