01.01.

12 CITIES & COASTLANDS

OUTLINE

EXPANSION AND REVOLUTION

The great century
Political revolution

INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
Machine and manufacture
Society and church
Evangelism and artisans
Christians and social concern

CHURCH REVOLUTION
Plymouth Brethren
Oxford Movement
Student movements
Evangelical awakening
Secular challenge

MISSIONARY REVOLUTION
Church and the world
Into all the world
Factors in mission
Carey and India
Livingstone and Africa
Taylor and China
Reflection

Questions
Open Reflection
Reading & Resources

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 SALVATION LANDSCAPE
An opportunity to understand, discuss and reflect upon the story of the people of
God; seamlessly integrating biblical and church history against a background of
world history and applying our observations to the Christian community today.
LEARNING GOALS:
Unit Objective: To enable learners to understand the relationship between history,
mission and eschatology in defining the environment, inspiration and the purpose of
Christians as the people of God.
Module Objective: To enable learners to recognise and understand the biblical
presentation and historical development of Christianity
Learners will:
Review historical events
Analyse different interpretations
Identify the spiritual dimension of world history
Reflect on the relevance to the students own times
Learners will acquire a knowledge and understanding of:
Sequential events
Historical context
Methods of history telling
Influence / impact of events on subsequent events
Session Learning Goal:
Learners will understand the impact of the church on society and mission in the
19th century
Session Description:
Society, church and mission in the 19th century

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 01.01.12 CITIES & COASTLANDS

EXPANSION AND REVOLUTION

The great century1

The church historian, Kenneth Scott Latourette, has referred to the nineteenth
century as the great century of the Christian church. As we shall see, these were
days of unparalleled geographical expansion of the gospel into all the world. Events
for the church take on truly global perspective, alongside a renewed inner vitality
within the faith.

Everywhere it is revolution that was in the air; in politics, industry, society and the
church. So many of the ideas and structures that had been held sacred and
established for centuries are suddenly being overthrown. The desire for expansion
and freedom was everywhere; but its pursuit did not mean that it was always found.
There are many examples of how one persons freedom becomes another persons
tyranny.

Nevertheless, God is on the move. There is blessing and there is also frustration. A
new era has dawned and the stage is also being set for the times in which we live.

Political revolution

The year 1789 heralds a new era. This was the year that the world was shaken by
the news of the French revolution. The same year saw the Bill of Rights published in
North America, which guaranteed freedom of speech, assembly and religion to the
colonists who had declared independence from Britain in their revolution of 1776.

France, under king Louis XVI, experienced great injustice. The clergy or nobility
owned most of the land while 95 per cent of the population were peasants who were
ruthlessly exploited. The writings of Voltaire, Diderot and Rousseau fuelled the
discontent by arguing for radical change on the basis of science and reason; in the
event the powerful human forces erupted. In 1789 the Declaration of Human Rights
was published, and on July 14th the Bastille was stormed and the French revolution
1 Itis a matter of interesting discussion as to when we should consider the 19th century begins! There
are three options: -
in the year 1800 which is the logical chronological point to begin;
in the year 1789 when the turbulent events of the French Revolution inaugurated a new era;
in the year 1815 when Napoleon was defeated and the climate for Europe in the 19th century was
established;
We take 1789 as the most significant point to begin.

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was on. The church handed over its wealth and control to the revolution. The days
between September 1793 and July 1794 saw the Reign of Terror; with Louis and
numerous others being guillotined, republican calendar instituted, many religious
buildings destroyed and a woman of doubtful morals was enthroned in Notre Dame
cathedral as the goddess of Reason. While the execution of Robespierre brought
the excesses to a halt, France remained ungovernable until Napoleon took control in
1795; crowning himself as Emperor in 1804. From 1793 France was almost
continuously at war with other European powers; England, Netherlands, Prussia,
Austria and Spain, until Napoleon was defeated in 1815.

The French revolution and its aftermath has left an indelible mark on both the
nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Its overthrow of the establishment and appeal to
reason remained an inspiration to many. The monarchies of Europe, threatened by
the ideas of the Terror and the aggression of Napoleon, reacted by asserting the
divine right of kings and the authority of the church. The Catholic church, being less
flexible and adaptable, suffered more from the political and ideological struggles of
the age than did the Protestant communities. The surging of political revolution
meant that the pope was losing ever more secular power, this led to a papal
emphasis on ecclesiastical power; for example in 1870 papal infallibility on matters
of faith and morals is declared.

Between 1815-1914 there was a century of relative peace and mounting prosperity.
There were wars; the Crimea [1854-1856], the Franco-German [1870-1871] and the
American Civil War [1861-1865]. There were wars of expansion against; native
Americans, India, Burma, Indochina, China, New Zealand Maoris, Boers in South
Africa and between Russia and Japan. However, none of these conflicts threatened
the Christian faith as the conflicts in the past had done and would do in the future.

INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

Machine and manufacture

Ever since the mid seventeenth century there had been a gradual process of
innovation and technological development in many industries. This brought about
the most important change in history since the development of cities and agriculture.
It took place in Britain and brought huge changes within society and the world; the
churches had to do their best to cope with a wholly different way of life.

The single most important break through was the steam engine. It gave the
manufacturer power independent of the weather or the season, freeing them from
sole dependence upon wind and water. Added to this there was the development
and expansion of canal, railway and road networks; increasing logistics. Factory
owners had to invest in expensive equipment, with the result that they demanded
efficiency, minimum production levels, return on investment; these were all new
concepts. For the first time we find capital, power and labour all under one roof. Here
was innovation, mass production and growing markets in an expanding population.

All the advantages of this industrial society carried a curse with them as well; long
hours, poor wages, urban slums, women and children working. These in themselves

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were not new, they had already existed before; what was new was the way in which
people were linked to the relentless rhythm of a machine rather than the more
natural rhythm of the day and the seasons. Now the clock replaced the sun as
timekeeper, the factory whistle rather than dawn and dusk. The machine continued
unyielding once fed with fuel. There was a birth of the new values like precision,
care, and the avoidance of waste; these began to shape a new morality with an
economic base.

Society and church

A new social map of Britain was being drawn. In 1700 there were few great towns
apart from London; those that there were had been ports and market centres for
centuries. There was also the centuries old concentration of wealth and population in
the southeast. From 1800 there was a dramatic shift to the north, with towns growing
up around factories sited for the convenience of raw materials or transport. All this
brought a remarkable change to British society, both in their distribution around the
country and in the balance of occupation between agriculture and manufacture.
Drawn from the countryside in search of work, huge urban slums grew in the shadow
of the factories, and gave birth to what General Booth was to call darkest England
because of their poverty and squalor.

This dramatic change presented a huge challenge to the church. The Church of
England was slowest to respond, for several reasons; it often was the Tory party at
prayer with little concern for society, added to which creating new parishes needed
cumbersome and expensive legal procedures, so changes took time. Methodism
was far better suited to meet the needs of the urban poor, but along with the
Presbyterians, time and comfort had tended to make them middle class. Catherine
Booth said, You cant get at the masses from the chapels. It was the Baptists
[Tabernacles] and the Primitive Methodists [Bethels] who were largely working
class; but others were to join them.

Evangelism and artisans

The task of evangelising the working class was a continual problem, because once
they were saved they tended to become middle class; adopting temperance, thrift,
self improvement and an emphasis on family life. The phenomenon of redemption
and lift was clearly obvious. Even in the dark alleyways of the slums there was a
clear distinction between the chapel working class and the brute working class.

There were many different attempts to meet the needs of the working class people: -

The PSA Movement [Pleasant Sunday Afternoon]: This endeavoured to reach

working men in particular, they felt especially alienated from the Church and often
too embarrassed to attend because of their poor clothing. The movement created
an environment where they could feel comfortable and hear the gospel. It had as
its motto, bright, brief and brotherly.

Labour movement: There was hesitation about Methodists becoming involved in

politics at the beginning of the century, but as time progressed many Methodists,

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 as well as other Christians, became in the struggle for just working conditions.
The Methodist encouragement for men and women to preach, to be involved in
chapel affairs and to read and study, gave them the confidence to speak out for
the work force, argue clearly and challenge the status quo. They could step easily
from pulpit to strike platform. There were involved in the emergence of trade
unions, produced some of the early Chartists and Labour members of Parliament.

The Salvation Army: William Booth [1829-1912] was apprentice to a

pawnbroker. Converted in 1844, in a Wesleyan chapel, he soon becomes an
itinerant evangelist. He marries Catherine, but they leave the Methodists in 1865
to open their Christian Mission in a tent on some waste ground in Londons
notorious Whitechapel district. By 1878, in order to give the work energy and
identity among the heathen masses they called it The Salvation Army. From the
beginning they faced hostility from street mobs, often supported by tavern owners;
their early music bands were a challenge to hostility. They were also strongly
opposed by the Christian establishment; even Shaftesbury said it was a trick of
the devil to make Christianity look ridiculous. Booth was active for social reform
but clearly said that changed hearts would only change physical conditions,
nevertheless he would never preach to a starving person. The Salvation Army
was probably the only movement to really be on the wavelength of the masses in
the nineteenth century; it was a force to which they could identify, a task to which
they could be committed. In 1890 Booth publishes his book, Darkest England
and the way out showed that the submerged tenth of the British nation were in as
much slavery as certain African tribes. While Booth chose to be authoritarian in
order to achieve results he constantly inspired his followers by his own example
and selfless lifestyle and pithy sayings like, Go for sinners and go for the worst! -

In 1885 the campaign against the white slavery of teenage prostitution;

In 1888 the first Food and Shelter outreach;
In 1891 the pioneer safety-match factory opens in east London;
In his life Booth travelled 5,000,000 miles and preached 60,000 sermons;
In all, seven of the Booths eight children became preachers and leaders;
At Booths death there were 9,415 Salvation Army corps and 15,988 officers
worldwide; currently there are over 25,000 officers in 91 countries helping
2.5 million people at 10,000 centres annually.

Christians and social concern

There were in fact numerous Christian men and women, throughout the nineteenth
century, who worked to bring about changes in different areas of society in the name
of Jesus, highlighting different causes. We can only mention a few as examples of
the others: -

Slavery: Britain controlled more than half the volume of the world slave trade. It
was the Quakers, evangelicals like Thomas Clarkson, and members of the
Clapham Sect with Granville Sharp and their Parliamentary spokesman William
Wilberforce, who turned the tide of opinion against that odious traffic in human
flesh. For more than twenty years Wilberforce brought the issue regularly before

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 Parliament, until they finally changed the law just before his death in 1833. It has
been said of him, few people have achieved more for the benefit of mankind.

Prisons: John Howard did early pioneering work on prison reform in the
eighteenth century. Elizabeth Fry [1780-1845] the Quaker, began her welfare
work in Newgate prison in 1813. She would visit, teach and read the Bible to
them. She worked for segregating the sexes in prison, classifying criminals, and
women warders for women and education for prisoners. She also worked for the
care and rehabilitation of discharged prisoners. Her maxim was, Charity to the
soul is the soul of charity.

Factories: The challenge to the terrible working conditions for women and
children, labouring in the Industrial Revolution, found their focus in Anthony
Ashley Cooper, Lord Shaftesbury [1801-1885]. He fought tirelessly to improve
conditions in the factories, mines, collieries, and for chimney sweeps, and those in
the millinery industry. He did this by detailed research into the facts, which were
then used to help pass various acts of Parliament. He also worked in the slums,
supported the Ragged Schools, training ships and numerous other causes.

Children: The plight of waif and orphan children was the concern of a number of
evangelicals during the century; George Muller with his orphanages in Bristol, and
Charles Kingsley who wrote the Water Babies. Thomas Barnardo [1845-1905]
was an Irishman who wanted to be a missionary in China. While studying
medicine in London he was drawn into work with destitute children in Stepney in
1870, after his encounter with the homeless lad Jim Jarvis. It is estimated that in
35 years some 59,384 children were cared for in his homes and that he materially
helped a further 250,000 before he died.

REVOLUTION IN THE CHURCH

We have already noted how the new social structures brought about by the Industrial
Revolution gave rise to radical changes within the church. It also saw the emergence
of a plethora of new societies using many different labels such as, denominational,
undenominational and interdenominational. There were also groups struggling with
the expression of faith within the church structures of the day; they in turn gave rise
to new forms of church life: -

Plymouth Brethren

Despite their name the movement began in Dublin with a medical student Edward
Cronin. Wanting to return to the simplicity of Christian life and worship portrayed in
apostolic times, he met informally in a private house, to break bread and to pray,
with like minded individuals drawn from among Anglican and Nonconformist
evangelicals. They were reacting against what they saw as the deadness, formalism
and sectarianism of much of the church at the early part of their century. Among the
early participants were Anthony Norris Groves and JN Darby. Their characteristic
concerns were: -

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 A simple communion service emphasising the priesthood of all believers;
An expectation of the imminent return of Jesus;
A constant appeal to the scriptures;
A renunciation of worldly possessions and status;
A Calvinistic approach to doctrine;
An enthusiasm towards evangelism.

Darby proved to be the strong teacher of the group, with a strong leaning towards
prophetic studies. Groves was concerned by his dominance and his legalistic
tendencies, which were the very thing they were trying to remove themselves from.

In 1831 BW Newton began a thriving congregation in Plymouth. However, in 1845

Derby clashed with Newton and a division occurred, the longer-term impact of which
affected all the assemblies. From that time on Brethren became two distinct groups;
the Open holding to the original principles and the Exclusive which became
increasingly centralised and separatist.

In 1829 Groves with his wife and some friends sailed to Baghdad and later to India
as a missionaries. From these small beginnings was to grow what was to become
one of the largest Christian missionary networks Echoes of Service. It was to
sponsor as missionaries one in every hundred of the home congregations. Brethren
have in fact always had an impact in the evangelical Christian world out of all
proportion to their numbers.

Oxford Movement

While it begins in 1833, the Oxford Movement [so called because of the number of
Oxford dons in its original leadership], has its roots in the High Church attitudes of
the Anglicans of the seventeenth century. As we have seen, the Anglican church
was most strongly influenced by the evangelicals and High Church perspective was
found much more in Ireland. When the government planned to reduce the number of
Irish bishops many with a High Church persuasion felt they could not be silent. John
Keble [1792-1866] an Oxford don preached his famous Assize sermon in 1833
challenging the action as an affront to the sovereignty of God. He stirred many,
including some with evangelical backgrounds, who felt that evangelicals emphasis
on personal conversion had dimmed the vision of the church as a living body with a
link to the church of all ages through bishops, priests and deacons. They published
their ideas in a series of Tracts for the Times; this gave them the nickname
Tractarians. Because the members of the movement tended to be backward
looking, very conservative and sacramental in their theology they were accused of
going against the spirit of the Reformation despite their published denials. They
believed, in fact, that the Anglican church was as close to the early church as it was
now possible to get; there was no pope, but there was apostolic succession and
authority.

From 1840 the Oxford Movement was led by John Henry Newman [1801-1890]. He
had an evangelical background but came to believe that the Anglican church was a
middle way between Catholicism and Protestantism. He went on to try to show that
the Thirty Nine Articles of Anglicanism were in basic agreement with the decisions

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of the Council of Trent. His views provoked such a widespread outcry that he was
driven to the conviction that real authority lay in the Church of Rome. The pressure
led him, in 1845, to became a Catholic. The Oxford Movement was weakened at this
time because some of its key leaders took a similar decision.

The Oxford Movement revived an important aspect of the Anglican devotion and
spirituality. In the 1840s many churches had simply the dull recitation of the prayer
book, while evangelical congregations added hymns from the dissenting traditions.
By 1842 we see some of the Oxford Movement reviving an interest in mediaeval
liturgy, beginning to bring colour and high quality music and a more sacramental life
into the worship of many parish churches. This continues to have an important
impact in many traditions within the Protestant world. Members of the Oxford
Movement also did important pioneering work amongst the poor in the nations large
urban slums.

Student movements

An important characteristic of church emphasis in the nineteenth century was its

emphasis on students; both their needs in a changing world and their potential as
leaders and missionaries in the next generation. This is seen in the rise of some
significant organisations:

The YMCA: There appear to have been a number of independent groups which
emerged, mid century, in several European countries, with an evangelistic and
pastoral concern for students. But it was the personality of George Williams
[1821-1905], a convert of the evangelist Finney, who used to meet for Bible
studies with young men; that gave rise to the London Young Mens Christian
Association in 1844. This created a catalyst for similar groups, on an
international scale, which became a single organisation, the World Alliance of
YMCAs, in 1878. Their Red Triangle is now the global symbol of an
organisation that today has over 6 million members. Its initial purpose was
evangelistic, and to provide shelter and friendship to students who found
themselves alone and isolated in large cities when travelling or carrying out their
studies. The womens equivalent YWCA with its Blue Triangle grew out of
smaller groups to be incorporated in 1877.

Student Christian Movement: The SCM grew out of several student

movements, the Student Volunteer Missionary Union, in Cambridge University
being particularly important. This came into being in 1892 through the
Cambridge Seven who went as missionaries to China in 1885. Subsequently,
the SCM chose to move away from its evangelical origins to become
interdenominational rather than nondenominational, incorporating both liberal
and High Church influences. Its members made important contributions to the
ecumenical movement in the 1900s.

Student Volunteer Movement: It was an American movement founded

specifically to enlist Christian college students for foreign missions. It originated
from a summer Bible study conference in 1886 presided over by DL Moody. The
influence of Robert Wilder encouraged over 100 students to indicate their

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 willingness to serve as missionaries before the conference closed. A tour of
universities led to more response. In 1888 it was formally organised under the
leadership of John R Mott, with the motto, The evangelisation of the world in
this generation. While it lost its momentum in the 1920s it nevertheless saw
20,000 young people become foreign missionaries.

Evangelical awakening

Throughout the nineteenth century there were considerable periods of revival that
began in America, and then spread to Ireland, England and Scotland. In Britain
alone over a million people were added to the church. Three key figures were: -

CG Finney [1792-1875]: As a young man with limited formal education, Finney

entered a law office in Adams, New York. He was later admitted to the bar. He
began attending church services with a friend; initially critical of religious ideas
he had a conversion experience in some woods near his home after reading the
Bible for himself in 1821. Within a year he began preaching in the Presbyterian
church, saying he had a retainer from the Lord to plead his cause. For the next
eight years he carried out revival meetings in the burnt over districts2 of the
eastern states with amazing results; especially in Rochester in 1830-31. In 1832
he became a pastor, and during this time wrote his book, Lectures on Revivals
of Religion. In the book he argued that revival was not a miracle but the use of
proper means; it was widely read and debated. In 1835 he became professor of
theology at Oberlin, Ohio, but remained active in preaching. He developed
perfectionist teaching and was also involved in social issues, especially the
abolition of slavery. He travelled to Britain twice in the 1850s. Finney is credited
with seeing some 500,000 conversions during his ministry.

DL Moody [1837-1899]: Moody left home at 17, with little education, to become
a shoe salesman in Boston. Brought to faith by his Sunday school teacher, he
failed a test in Bible knowledge and was refused church membership. Moving to
Chicago in 1856 he became a very successful in business as a travelling
salesman. Every Sunday he would fill four church pews with outsiders brought
in from the street corners. By the age of 23 he had began his own Sunday
School which he began to work for full time two years later. During the Civil War
he worked among the soldiers and continued the Sunday School; which soon
became a fully established church. Between 1873-1875 he toured Britain with Ira
Sankey his song leader; initially unknown and beginning in the north of England
they had small successes, this turned to strong response in Glasgow and
Edinburgh. Finally, in 85 meetings over a four month period in London, 2.5
million people came to hear him! He returned to America a national figure. The
rest of his life was spent preaching across the United States, as well as
establishing schools, the Moody Bible Institute and being involved in social
work. It is estimated he travelled a total of one million miles and communicated
the gospel to 100 million people.

2 The burnt over districts were those parts of the eastern states which had been most greatly
influenced by the revivals of the great awakening in the eighteenth century.

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 CH Spurgeon [1834-1892]: Born in Kelvedon, Essex; both his father and
grandfather were nonconformist ministers. Converted in 1850, he chose
believers baptism to the disappointment of his parents. He began preaching in
Cambridgeshire as a 17 year old, and within 18 months his reputation had
reached London; he was invited to preach in New Park Street Chapel. He
became pastor there as a 19 year old. Spurgeon had mediocre formal
education, but was an avid student reading on average 6 books a week and
building a library of 12,000 volumes. He began with a congregation of 232 but
soon no building seemed large enough to hold all who wanted to hear him. In
1861 the Metropolitan Tabernacle was especially built to hold the 6,000 who
were regularly coming to hear him. It is said that between 1861-91 some 14,460
people joined the congregation. Because of a period of economic and social
distress a National day of Fast and Humiliation was held in 1854, Spurgeon
spoke at the Crystal Palace to 24,000 people. His sermons were all printed and
fill 63 volumes, these and his many other books make him the most widely read
preacher in history. Calvinist by persuasion he had his share of controversy;
challenging hyper-Calvinism, Arminianism, infant baptism and radical ideas
among the Baptists which led him to resign from the Union. Called the prince of
preachers in his own lifetime; his clear voice, popular language, humour, grasp
of scripture and love for God made a remarkable impact on his generation.

Secular challenge

The word Victorian conjures up a picture of grim, humourless religious observance

practised by the majority of the population; but this is not the whole picture. On one
hand it was a time of remarkable social action and response to the gospel, but it was
also an age of doubt, spiritual discontent, and intellectual unease. The seeds of
rationalism, skepticism were continuing to bear full fruit. Science, philosophy and
history were all being used in an attempt to show that Christianity was false :-

Science3: The educated elite in the Victorian age were fascinated by

developments in the study of geology which appeared to indicate that the earth
was much older than previously thought. In itself this was not destructive for
faith; many of the leading geologists were Anglican clergy, like William Paley,
who believed that their work demonstrated the wonder of God in creation and
illustrated the argument for the existence of God from design. In 1859, the young
Charles Darwin, an admirer of Paleys, published his Origin of the Species. He
not only argued for evolutionary development from simplest life forms to human
beings, but also suggested that instead of divine providence an impersonal
struggle lay behind the process. The ideas were brought into public debate by
Aldous Huxley made a stand of humble agnosticism, and fuelled the
controversy between science and scripture.

Philosophy: In Germany the debate was between reason and faith rather than
science and scripture. Immanuel Kant argued that the mind could only reason
from sense objects so to think philosophically about God must be flawed. He
argued that if God is to play any part at all it could only be in the area of morals.

3 This is developed in much more detail in the session on Science and Faith 04.11.04

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 Friedrich Schleiermacher was a theologian who agreed with Kants objections to
philosophical theology. He saw the essence of faith being in a persons religious
experience and their sense of absolute dependence upon God. In both cases
we see God being reduced, individualised and made subjective.

History: The ideas of the German philosopher Hegel influenced the thinking of
Karl Marx; a German Jew born to Lutheran parents, who settled in London. In
1867 he drew a synthesis from German philosophy, French politics and English
economics and wrote Das Kapital; his grand indictment of the capitalist system.
He divided his time between social agitation and researching evidence in the
reading room of the British Museum. He believed that history was the product of
the human struggle with the material world to meet their basic needs that would
result in the emergence of a classless society. He believed that a revolution to
this end would begin in Britain; a political programme already announced in The
Communist Manifesto, which he wrote with supporter and patron Friedrich
Engles in 1848. It would take the next century and another location for the full
impact of his ideas to begin to be felt4.

MISSIONARY REVOLUTION

Church and the world

Before 1789 the geographical and cultural focus of the Christian church was, with
few exceptions, the continent of Europe5. At that date there was no indication that
Christianity would, in fact, soon become the most widespread religion on earth.
Since 1500 the church had indeed projected itself outwards; especially through the
work of the Catholics, and particularly that of the Jesuits. Nonetheless, it was limited.
The continents of the New World saw the major impact through emigration and
exploitation from Europe; the south becoming largely Catholic, and the north,
Protestant. In all other areas sacrificial mission had essentially left limited results.

The reasons for the minimal impact of the church outside the Continent are to be
found within Europe itself, they were: -

Political: religious and civil wars had left the nations divided;
Demographic: the population had been reduced and enfeebled;
Economic: the finances of the nations had been weakened;
Theological: most Christians saw the great commission as applying only to
the apostles; Calvinists believed that if there were elect among the nations
they would be saved sovereignly.

The Protestants in particular had so spent their energies in divisions and theological
disputes they had little vision or interest in taking the gospel to the wider world. The
attitude of the Protestant church to mission, in particular, is seen in the fact that:

4 The impact is discussed in the session on the 20th century Wind and Fire 01.01.13
5 This is developed more fully in the session Developments in Mission 01.02.01

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 The Anglicans formed the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in
1701; but only because they were appalled at the growth of Presbyterianism
in the colonies, and stories about the vice among the settlers: essentially
concerned with the English overseas;
The explorer Captain James Cook believed that the peoples he was
discovering would never her the gospel because it would never be
financially worthwhile.

Into all the world

The reasons for the remarkable global expansion of the church following 1789 are
not simple to explain. Nevertheless, some of the main influencing factors were: -

Economic: the Industrial Revolution created a commercial interest to

explore for raw materials and markets for the products of the factories;
Political: the rise and fall of the European empires and their desire for
expansion and the control of new territories;
Scientific: the Europeans knew an outline map of the world similar to our
own but little about the interiors of the great continents; curiosity inspired
voyages of discovery with larger ships and improved navigation;
Logistic: steam revolutionised the speed of travel by rail and boat; the
opening of the Suez canal in 1869 dramatically reduced travel times to the
orient;
Psychological: merchants who had created trading bridgeheads in many
nations believed that the strength of European culture could replace the
indigenous political and social powers;
Theological: the growing recognition that the people of the world would not
hear the gospel unless they were told and that the church had the
responsibility to do so.

Few of these factors were Christian but they created the environment in which the
missionary expansion took place. These factors changed the world, they also
changed the church; for good in restoring a global vision and the challenge to
proclaim the gospel to all peoples, negatively through the compromises that were
often involved.

At the outset the majority Christian reaction to missionary endeavour was mixed and
cool, but there were those who were to light a torch for a different attitude: -

There was the indisputable and challenging example of the

Moravians;
By the 1790s Calvinistic Baptists, Arminian Methodists, Anglicans
and small dissenting groups, all began to move with concern for the
conversion of the heathen;
Apart from the continuing example of the Catholics, for the first three
decades the missionary movement was restricted to the evangelicals;
after that missions became a concern for the church as a whole;
The evangelical awakenings gave rise to the emergence of
Protestant missionary societies:

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 Baptist Missionary Society [1792];
London Missionary Society [1795];
Church Missionary Society [1799];
British and Foreign Bible Society [1804].

Factors in mission

Political and economic expansion on the part of European nations provided a major
opening and perceived benefit for mission; but raises major questions about the
relationship between the gospel and western culture and colonialism. But the
political and economic forces operated out of self-interest; exploration led to
settlement, which in turn led to trade, exploitation and finally rule. For missionaries to
ally themselves with imperialism, as many did, inevitably compromised both
themselves and their message. Christianity and western culture became seen as
one and the same thing. Some peoples welcomed missionaries in the hope of
getting the advantage of civilisation; others felt themselves exploited by a gospel
imposed from without. There was, however, resistance to missionaries by some
commercial groups who feared they had revolutionary sympathies [eg Baptists], or
would interfere with their expansion and exploitation

The ruthless nature of imperialism is demonstrated in the way Africa was carved up
by the European nations : Britain, Portugal, France, Germany and Belgium, until
only Ethiopia was self ruling; and that only because she successfully repelled Italys
advances. The attempts of some missionaries to put right the evils brought upon
Africa by both the slave trade and imperialism, led to the development of the
missionary doctrine of the Three Cs - Christianity, commerce and civilisation. The
plan was to let Africa develop with both the plough and the scriptures. The first
attempts were near failure, but Christians kept trying and in time self supporting /
trading Christian communities were developed.

Many of the earliest missionaries can only be described as patriarchal in their

attitude towards their converts. They yielded to the colonial model that the western
person is wise and good. The new churches were usually western in style down to
the smallest detail, which the converts imitated because they thought it must be
right. Only very rarely and very slowly did the indigenous church emerge. The
problem of partnership and equality in church and mission was only slowly
addressed.

The nineteenth century saw a change in the gender emphasis of mission. The
earliest missionaries, especially Catholic and Orthodox were not only male but
usually celibate. The earliest Protestant missionaries were usually married couples
and by middle of the century the majority of missionaries were women.

For all that it is important to highlight some of the negative influences in nineteenth
century mission, nevertheless the early days of pioneer missionary work was without
question an age of spiritual giants. The breadth of expansion and the number of
remarkable men and women makes any fair presentation of the story impossible.
We have selected three individuals simply to illustrate particular concepts: -

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Carey and India

William Carey [1761-1834] was the son of a Northamptonshire schoolmaster, and

apprentice to a shoemaker. He became a dissenter and was baptised as a believer
in 1783. In 1792 he published, An inquiring into the obligation of Christians to use
means for the conversion of the heathen - in which he argued that the great
commission still applied. In the same year he preached his famous, Lengthen the
cords sermon; proclaiming his famous maxim, Attempt great things for God, expect
great things from God. The direct consequence was the founding of the Baptist
Missionary Society in October 1792. This was the first foreign mission to come out of
the evangelical revival. The next year William Carey, and his family, set off for India.
He worked for three months a year as a foreman for an indigo factory; he then spent
the rest of his time studying oriental languages at which he was a genius. In 1799,
joined by two other Baptists, he settled in Serampore in Calcutta, working together
for the next twenty-five years; known as the Serampore Trio. They also established
a theological college. By the end of his life Carey had translated the whole Bible into
6 different languages, and made partial translations in 24 others, as well as
producing grammars and dictionaries in many of them; truly incredible achievement.

Not only has William Carey been given the title, the father of modern missions, but
showed the missionary emphasis on translating the scriptures into the language of
the peoples. At the end eighteenth century the Bible was translated in whole or in
part in 70 languages. By the end of the nineteenth century the figure was 300.

Livingstone and Africa

David Livingstone [1813-1873] was born in Blantyre, on Scotlands industrial coast.

He was born to poor parents, and he worked in a cotton mill from the age of ten
years. He was self-taught in early life, but went on to study medicine in Glasgow
and London; and also theology. He was never a very promising student. From 1841-
1856 he served as missionary in South Africa with the London Missionary Society;
but he soon moved into the uncharted territory of the interior. Between 1851-56 he
walked across Africa from West to East; however, the missionary board was not
convinced as to the spiritual value of such journeys. He returned to Africa in 1858 to
lead a government expedition to explore the Zambezi; he called it, Gods Highway
into the interior. It ended promisingly in 1863. He then returned to Africa without
European companions and continued his quests until his death. David Livingstone
believed in the unity of all truth; both biblical and scientific. While some of his work
was not directly missionary in the opinion of the day, he saw everything that he did
in the context of preaching the gospel, the relief of suffering, and the increase of
knowledge. He gave the vision to much of the later missionary work.

Taylor and China

Hudson Taylor [1832-1905] was a Yorkshire man who went to China as a missionary
in 1853. However, due to lack of support from his missionary society he soon went
independent. Having done medical training, he founded the China Inland Mission;
the first truly interdenominational missionary society, and the prototype of the faith

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mission, which was to be so important in the nineteenth century. His policy was
clear:

To bring the gospel to every unevangelised province in China;

To refuse public appeals for funds so as not to divert giving from
other missions;
To accept missionaries with no formal college training;
To insist that missionaries identify with the nationals in every possible
way; dress, food, language;
To direct the mission from China, not London, while keeping the
home end informed through writing and preaching.

It is hard to realise how radical Hudson Taylors actions and attitudes were; they cut
at the heart of the colonial approach to mission and focused on the indigenous
church, which was revolutionary at the time.

Reflections

As the nineteenth century European missionaries went abroad, they had no reason
to expect a greater response to the gospel overseas than they did in Europe; but the
reality soon became clear: -

The Christians in India, China and Japan began to play a significant

part in the world church, but the most dramatic changes took place in
Africa and the Pacific;
The peoples of Hinduism and Buddhism did not easily respond to the
gospel; for intellectual, moral, traditional, social and national reasons;
rather they were able to absorb it into their own religious frameworks;
The countries of Islam most strongly resisted the gospel. Robert
Bruce an Irish missionary wrote from Iran, I am not reaping the
harvest, I can scarcely claim to be sowing the seed, I am hardly
ploughing the soil, but I am gathering out the stones; but that too is
missionary work;
It was amongst the worlds primal religions that the most significant
growth in the world wide church appeared.

As the twentieth century dawns, as we shall see, the first World Missionary
Conference was held in Edinburgh in 1910; under the watchword, the
evangelisation of the world in this generation. The forward look of that conference
endeavoured to build upon the successes of the nineteenth century. The frustrations
and joys of that moment will become apparent.

Questions

1. What specific lessons does the nineteenth century have to teach us in the church
of today?

2. Why do you think Latourette called the 19th century, the great century of the
Church?

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Open Reflection
While Christians in the 19th Century were creative, innovative and courageous, a
major failure was their inability to distinguish between the essence of the gospel and
its expression between cultures when they took the message of Jesus to other parts
of the world. What lessons can we learn from 19th Century Christians to avoid
making the same mistakes in cross-cultural mission? Where do you see examples of
both mistakes and successes in this area in the church and mission today?

Reading & Resources

DB Barrett [Ed] World Christian Encyclopedia pub Oxford 1982

W Booth In Darkest England and the Way Out pub Charles Knight 1970
M Broomhall Hudson Taylor pub CIM 1929
RJ Campbell Livingstone pub Ernest Benn 1880
O Chadwick The Victorian Church [2 Vols] pub SCM 1987
R Collier The General Next to God [William Booth] pub Collins 1965
J Comby How to Read Church History [Vol 2] pub SCM 1989
F Coutts Bread for my Neighbour [Salvation Army] pub Hodder 1978
T Dowley [Ed] Lion Handbook: The History of Christianity pub Lion 1977
M Drewery William Carey: A Biography pub Zondervan 1979
G Faber Oxford Apostles: A Character Study of the Oxford Movement
pub Faber 1974
JF Findlay Jr Dwight L Moody: American Evangelist pub Ann Arbour Press 1969
RH Glover & HJ Kane The Progress of World Wide Missions pub Harper 1960
KJ Hardman Charles Grandison Finney: Revivalist and Reformer
pub Syracuse Univ Press 1987
KJ Heasman Evangelicals in Action pub Geoffrey Bles 1962
T Lane Lion Concise Book: Christian Thought pub Lion 1986
GH Lang Anthony Norris Groves: Saint & Pioneer pub London 1939
KS Latourette A History of Christianity pub Harper 1953
KS Latourette The Great Century [History of the Expansion of Christianity Vol.4-6]
pub Zondervan 1970
KS Latourette Christianity in a Revolutionary Age [5 Vols] pub Zondervan 1957-
61
H McLeod Religion and the Working Class in Ninteenth Century Britain
pub Oxford 1984
S Neill A History of Christian Missions pub Pelican 1964
E Norman The English Catholic Church in the Nineteenth Century
pub Oxford 1984
JE Orr The Light of the Nations pub Paternoster 1965
J Pollock Wilberforce pub Lion 1977
J Pollock Shaftesbury: The Poor Mans Earl pub Hodder 1985
J Rose Elizabeth Fry pub Macmillan 1980
CH Spurgeon Autobiography [2 Vols] pub Banner of Truth
B Stanley The Bible and The Flag [Mission and Imperialism] pub Apollos 1990
A Vidler A Century of Social Catholicism 1820-1920 pub SPCK 1966
A Vidler The Church in the Age of Revolution pub Penguin 1966

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Video Moody Quadras Films
Video CH Spurgeon Tonight Gateway Films
Video William Carey Gateway Films
Video A Weavers Son: William Carey CTVC

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