The Modern Church

The modern Church
The Christian church have progressed through various phases since it began.
After all the persecution, protesting and reformation, the church expanded from Europe to most
the parts of the world
The modern church dates back from 16th century after the reformation.
During the early years of the modern church roughly from the 16th to the middle of 18th century
Christianity still had influence on culture and politics.
Enlightenment Age.
Enlightenment was a European intellectual movement of the 17th and 18th centuries in which
everything was subjected to reason and science.
Enlightenment era brought disassociation of church and state. It promoted rationale thinking
rather than faith and encouraged religious freedom.
The discoveries of scientists like Sir Isaac Newton caused great change on how people viewed
religion. The evolution theory of Charles Darwin caused great damage to the beliefs of the
church about creation. This age was an age of crisis for the church.
However the church survived but come out with less power and influence.
Criticism and attacks of Enlightenment era upon the Church helped the faithful to creatively
reinterpret their beliefs in relation to the new philosophy and science of the modern period.
Effect of Modernity
Modernity brought a decline in the direct institutional role of the churches in society, but the rise
of democracy encouraged church leaders to assume an advisory capacity in the shaping of public
policy.
On the Roman Catholic part, this has occurred at the global level through the so-called “social
encyclicals.” Protestant denominations have typically made pronouncements and initiated
programs through their national or international assemblies and agencies.
The World Council of Churches, a fellowship of Christian churches founded in 1948, has
formulated what were sometimes called “middle axioms” which were intended as common
ground on which the Church and secular bodies could meet.
Though there is harmony in the church on some areas of faith in various denominations,
differences do exist on such matters as abortion, homosexual relations, ordination of women etc.
Century of Missions
The 19th century was called the great century in the history of the Christian missions.
Colonialists or New World explorers were always followed by missionaries who spread
Christianity to many pagan communities around the world.
By the late 20th century Christianity had become the most widely disseminated religion on earth.
Virtually no nation remained unaffected by the activities of Christian missionaries, although in
many countries Christians are only a small fraction of the total population.
. The modern Christian church is comprised of these major divisions Roman Catholicism,
Protestants, and Pentecostal and Charismatic churches.
Massive increases in the size of churches around the globe challenged the traditional dominance
of Western Christianity.
The 20th century saw additional challenges to the Christian cause in the form of tolarance and
freedom of worship pronouncements which caused a resurgent of many religions
Emergency of Pentecostals
Pentecostal churches did not arise until the 20th century, sparked by the Azusa Street Revival in the Los
Angeles area in 1906.
Since expressions of free charisma were increasingly suppressed in the institutional churches
Pentecostal movements emerged outside the institutional churches.
This movement led to the founding of various Pentecostal churches at the end of the 19th
century and the beginning of the 20th; it is represented through numerous independent
Pentecostal groups, such as the Church of God and the Assemblies of God.
At first scorned by the established churches, the Pentecostal movement has grown to a world
movement with strong missionary activity the world over. In the United States and other areas, a
strong influence of the Pentecostal movement of speaking in tongues, healing, and exorcism—is
noticeable even in the Roman Catholic, Lutheran, and Anglican churches.
Today pentecostalism is the form of Christian faith that is spreading fast and producing vibrant
new Christian communities even in Arab countries.
Today it remains to be seen what will become of our new information age. The rise of the
internet has given voice to numerous people who would have had no or very little audience at all
30 years ago. What effect this will have on Christianity as we know it is hard to predict.
References
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Christianity/Ethics-obeying-the-truth
https://www.christian-history.org/modern-christianity.html
https://pluralism.org/the-modern-era

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