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evangelical Christianity extend
back to the Pietism movement,
founded by the German Lutheran
P. J . Spener (1635-1705), that
swept Europe in the 17th century.
The Pietists sought a religion that
was more personal , individual and
meaningful than the systematic but
stale and remole orthodoxy pro–
pounded by the scholarly succes–
sors of Luther and Calvin. They
stressed the need for conversion,
high moral standards, and were
deeply concerned with the winning
of more souls for Christ. They de–
emphasized doctrine and dogma,
which enabled the movement to
spread among a wide variety of reli–
gions just as Evangelical ism today
cuts across religious, racial and re–
gional lines. In brief, the Pietists
promulgated a subjective " heart re–
ligion" to act as a counterweight to
the scholastic " head religion" of
the day.
Heart Religion
Nicholas Zinzendorf (1700-1 760), a
successor to Spener in the-Pietism
movement, gave the "heart reli–
gion" an added twist. Rejecting the
idea of many Pietists that con–
version should be marked by an
outward act of penitential remorse,
Zinzendorf coined the slogan that
has come to play such a great role
in the history of revivals: " Come as
you are. lt is only necessary to be–
lieve in the atonement of Christ."
Closely parallel to the Pietist
movement in Germany was the
Evangelical or Methodist (named af–
ter the methodical manner of study
and devotion) movement in
England led by John Wesley (1 703-
1791 ). In 1738, after a frustrating
period of missionary work in the
colony of Georgia, Wesley returned
to England where he carne into
contact with a group of Moravian
Pietists who had originally been or–
ganized by Zinzendorf. On May 24 ,
during a meeting of Moravians,
Wesley's intellectual convict ion of
God was transformad into a per–
sonal experience while hearing a
reading of Luther 's preface to his
commentary on Paul's epistle to the
Romans. In his
Journal,
Wesley
30
wrote that "while he [the speaker]
was describing the change which
God works in the heart through
fait h in Christ,
1
felt my heart
strangely warmed.
1
felt
1
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 then on, Wesley, like the Piet–
ists, laid much emphasis on the ne–
cessity of conversion. He devoted
the remainder of his lite to evange–
listic preaching in England.
Meanwhile, across the Atlantic,
the British colonies in America were
experiencing the "Great Awak–
ening" sparked by the preaching of
Jonathan Edwards in Massachu–
setts. For several decades revivals
and conversions spread like waves
through the colonies. As with Wes–
ley in England and Zinzendorf in
Germany, many colonial revivalists
had to conduct their campaigns
outside the established churches.
Emotional demonstrations and dis–
orders were not welcomed by con–
servativa churchmen who cared for
more subdued, decorous conduct
in the Lord's house.
Private Versus Public Religion
From the time of the "Great Awak–
ening" to the Civil War, U.S. Protes–
tantism was generally evangelical.
Although church and state were
separate, religion and culture were
not. Evangel icals believed that God
had given them North Amer–
ica-and the U.S. Constitution-as
basis for building an evangelistic
nation. Revivalism was considered
God 's way
ot
winning souls.
But this vision of religion was
shattered by the Civil War and Re–
construction. In the North, Protes–
tantism carne under the influence of
liberal scholars who began toques–
tion such fundamental doctrines as
the deity of Christ and His resurrec–
tion. Further, the wave of Roman
Catholic and other nonevangelical
immigrants and the onset of indus–
trialism with its squalor and evils
withered the dreams of an evangeli–
cal Eden.
In the South , Protestants clung to
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fundamental characterlstic of
·
Evangelicals is theír pub/le
witnessing for Christ-particulary
to
unwon souls who have not yet
heard the gaspel or accepted
Christ
as
their Savior and Lord.
This they do In an unabashedly
aggressive and varied fashion .
They may publicly witness to
others of their faith by bands and
bailads-or by bumper stickers.
They can be
seen
and heard
sharing theír faith in group
díscussions and prayer
meetings.
Some
devote
themselves to
a
special ministry,
such as witnessing to
a
particular ethnic group.
Whatever tactíc is used. theír
campaign for Christ
is
an
individual
as
we/1
as
group
responsíbility-laymembers are
encouraged to witness to others
in one way or another.