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- For other usages, see Dispensationalism or Restoration Movement.
Restorationism refers to an unrelated group of comparably motivated religious movements that attempted to transcend the divisions of Protestant denominationalism and the creedal theology of orthodox Christianity and restore Christianity to its original form. The term often has special reference to movements that arose in the eastern United States and Canada in the early and mid 19th century in the wake of the Second Great Awakening.
Restorationist beliefs are sometimes referred to as Christian primitivism (meaning original) which describes a number of movements attempting to return to Early Christianity, including the Baptists and before them, the Anabaptists. The newer term has special application to the Restoration Movement, and by comparison it is applied to other contemporary groups, whose similarity is largely coincidental. The name Restoration is also used by groups descended from early followers of Joseph Smith, and is preferred as a self description over the more common name Mormonism. These two movements have a briefly overlapping history. Other groups are also called restorationists because of their comparable goal to re-establish Christianity in its original form.
Preparation
Leading up to the 19th century, the Calvinist and Wesleyan revival, called the Great Awakening, had established the Congregationalist, Presbyterian, Baptist, and new Methodist churches on competitive footing for social influence in the new America. However, as that great "revival of religion" began to wane, a new era of secularism began to overwhelm the social gains that had been experienced by Evangelical churches. Furthermore, that revival had popularized the strong opinion that Evangelical religions were weakened and divided, primarily due to unreasonable loyalty to creeds and doctrines which made salvation, and Christian unity, seem unattainable.
The Second Great Awakening made its way across the frontier territories, fed by intense longing for a prominent place for God in the life of the new nation, a new liberal attitude toward fresh interpretations of the Bible, and a contagious experience of zeal for authentic spirituality. As these revivals spread, they gathered converts to the Protestant sects of the time. However, the revivals eventually moved freely across denominational lines, with practically identical results, and went farther than ever toward breaking down the allegiances which kept adherents to these denominations loyal to their own. Consequently, the revivals were accompanied by a growing dissatisfaction with Evangelical churches and especially with the doctrine of Calvinism, which was nominally accepted or at least tolerated in most Evangelical churches at the time.
A protest against Protestantism
Restorationists were not content with mere cooperation between denominations. The leaders of these movements did not believe that God intended to simply fatten the old institutions, and perpetuate the old divisions, with the revivals. They perceived the new religious awakening as the dawning, or at least the harbinger, of a new age. Restorationists sought to re-establish or renew the whole Christian church on the pattern they held to be set forth in the New Testament. They had little regard for the creeds developed over time in Catholicism and Protestantism, which they claimed kept Christianity divided. Some even counted the Bible as a casualty of ancient corruption, leaving it also in need of correction. For example, the Articles of Faith 8 of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints states "We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly...".
The Protestant Reformation came about through a kind of restorationist impulse to repair the Church and return it to its original obedient pattern. But the Protestant reform movements, including the Puritans, accepted that history does have some "jurisdiction", according to historian Richard T. Hughes. Mark Noll similarly says that Protestants "apprehend the Bible's treasures as mediated through history." The Protestants believed that they must respect history, as interpreted through faith, while criticizing Roman Catholic traditions in terms of both history and scripture. Even John Calvin made the bold (if, in context, enigmatic) claim that the past is a "living magisterium". In contrast, restorationists sought to transcend history, to rebel against the "jurisdiction" of past historical development, in order to be free to embrace what they understood to be the heavenly pattern originally revealed to Christ's apostles, which is the Kingdom of God.
Restorationist organizations include Disciples of Christ, Churches of Christ, Independent Christian Churches/Churches of Christ, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Seventh-day Adventists, Jehovah's Witnesses, and others. These are widely disparate groups, and they may appear to have few similarities. But when regarded in terms of the restorationist theme, their common relationship stands out. All of these denominations arose from the belief that the true pattern of the Christian religion died out through apostasy many years before and was finally restored by their churches. Some believe that they alone fully embody this restoration exclusively; others understand themselves as conforming to a rediscovered pattern of original Christianity that is now found in many churches, including their own (this is the official stance of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), for example).
Restorationists
Restorationism is fundamentally based on a belief called the Great Apostasy. Essentially this is the claim that traditional Christianity has departed so far from the original Christian principles that it is not redeemable. Because of its divisions, errors, and compromises with the world, the claim is that the corrupted church fell out of line with the church founded by Jesus. If there were no apostasy-at-large and a church on the true-and-legitimate pattern was present, there would be no need for a Restoration. Thus, Restorationists can be compared to one another in their conviction that there has been an apostasy, which they undertook to correct.
Some who adopt the restorationists' basic standpoint simply abandoned certain features of their own tradition, in favor of beliefs that have frequently appeared in other primitivist movements in the past. Typical of such non-traditional views might be adult baptism only, and only by immersion, congregationalism, indifference toward trinitarianism, disbelief in hell, lay ministers, non-substitutionary atonement theories of atonement, free-will conversion (see Pelagianism), and often an elevated role for women.
In some cases, these groups believe that the Great Apostasy's departure from essential Christianity was so total and disastrous as to render futile any plan to remodel Christianity on existing foundations, necessitating a restoration so radical that the only feature familiar to traditional Christians is the name of Jesus the Christ.
Restoration Movement
Of these movements, the most optimistic about the then-present state of Christianity was the Stone-Campbell Restoration Movement. Others sometimes refer to the followers of this movement as Campbellites; but the movement itself never adopted the term, which it considers disparaging. These churches strongly prefer to avoid applying to themselves any of the labels of convenience, which divide Christians from one another, calling themselves instead by generic New Testament names, such as Disciples of Christ, the Christian Church, or Church of Christ / International Churches of Christ . They brought together many from Baptist, Congregationalist, Presbyterian, and Methodist churches, and other Christians across a spectrum of Evangelical and also Unitarian Christianity, at first with astounding success. But, as the movement progressed, it developed non-negotiable distinctives of its own, sometimes referred to disapprovingly as unwritten creeds and fractured into three major groups—each of which has become a recognizable denomination. Perhaps, no movement more typifies the Second Great Awakening than the anti-denominational movement, the Restoration Movement.
Latter-day Saints
Main articles: Latter Day Saint movement, History of the Latter Day Saint movement
Latter Day Saints ("Mormons") believe that Joseph Smith, Jr. was chosen to restore Christianity. According to Smith, God and Jesus Christ appeared to him and instructed him that the churches of the day were all lacking authority and taught some incorrect doctrine, and that through him God would restore, or re-establish, the true church.
The Great Apostasy was complete, Smith taught, requiring a full restoration of the original church, which included a priesthood or authority, prophet, apostles, evangelists, and teachers in order for God's Kingdom on earth to be re-established. Joseph Smith founded the Church of Christ in 1830, serving as the first prophet believed to be appointed by Jesus Christ in the latter days. Sidney Rigdon, and several other preachers, left the Churches of Christ to join Smith.
As part of his prophetic mission, Smith published the Book of Mormon, said to be translated from Golden Plates as directed by an angel Moroni. Members of the Latter Day Saint movement (Mormonism) believe that the Book of Mormon contains doctrine of the original church of Jesus Christ given to people who lived on the American continents between about 600 BC and 421 AD.
In addition, Smith claimed that he received the true authority or Priesthood directly from those who held it anciently, namely John the Baptist returned as an angel and gave him the authority to baptize (which he said had long been lost), and Peter, James and John, the ancient apostles, returned as angels and gave him the authority to lead the church just had they done anciently. The church was organized on April 6, 1830, in New York state.
Originally the church was called the "Church of Christ" due to the belief that it is the restored Church of Jesus Christ. Four years later, in April 1834, it was also referred to as the "Church of Latter Day Saints" to differentiate the church of this era from that of the New Testament. Then in April 1838, the full name was stated as the "Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints". (See The Doctrine and Covenants, Covenant 115:3-4)
Adventism
Adventism is a type of Christian eschatology which looks for the Second Coming of Jesus to inaugurate the Kingdom of God, usually in the near future. This view often involves belief that Jesus will return to receive only a small group of those true Christians who are expecting his return, and in anticipation of it have made themselves ready.
Millerites and Sabbatarianism
The Millerites are the most well-known family of the Adventist movements. From the Millerites descended the Seventh-day Adventists. This group revived apocalyptic teachings anticipating the end of the world, and did not look for the unity of Christendom, but busied themselves in preparation for Christ's return. Millerites sought to restore a prophetic immediacy and uncompromising biblicism that they believed had long been rejected by mainstream Protestant and Catholic churches. The Worldwide Church of God movement belongs to this category because it fused with the Adventists and the Seventh Day churches and spawned, among others, the personal ministry of Herbert W. Armstrong which became the Radio Church of God which became the Worldwide Church of God which then splintered into many other churches and groups while the Worldwide Church of God disassociated itself with the Restoration movements and has made major attempts to join the Protestant branch of Christianity. More recently, the Nazarene (or using the Hebrew word Netzarim) movement claims that Jesus did not intend to replace the Torah, but only to demonstrate how to follow it. The Nazarenes generally hold to Aramaic Primacy, that the Christian New Testament was originally written in Aramaic, not Greek, and make their defense from Semitic languages.
Christadelphians
Dr John Thomas (April 12, 1805 - March 5, 1871), was a devout convert to the Restorationist movement after a shipwreck at sea on his emigration journey to America brought to focus his inadequate understanding of the Bible and what would happen to him should he die. This awareness caused him to devote his life to the study of the Bible, which in turn brought him into contact with the teachings of Alexander Campbell. An independent mind and a sharp intellect inevitably led him to conflict with the teachings of Mr. Campbell, especially on matters concerning baptism and resurrection. Once the split with Mr. Campbell was inevitable, Dr. Thomas appealed to the churches of Christ both in America and in England and a growing movement emerged. A distinctive body of believers developed whose doctrine incorporated Adventism, anti-trinitarianism, objection to military service, a lay-membership with full participation by all members, as well as other doctrines consistent with the spirit of the Restorationist movement.
One consequence of objection to military service was the adoption of the name Christadelphians to distinguish this small community of believers and to be granted exemption from military service in the American civil war.
Jehovah's Witnesses
The Jehovah's Witnesses originated in the 1870s as a Bible study group led by Charles Taze Russell. Like other Restorationists, the Witnesses believe that some time after the death of the last apostle, the Church generally departed in a Great Apostasy from the original faith on major points. Like the Millerites, the Witnesses believe that the original faith could be restored through a generally literal interpretation of the Bible, and a sincere commitment to follow its teachings. The Jehovah's Witnesses focused on the restoration of a number of key doctrinal points evident from their interpretation of the Bible, including the use of the commonly accepted, English, transliteration of the Tetragrammaton: "Jehovah", in reference to the Biblical deity; a rejection of trinitarianism in favor of a type of unitarianism, active proselytization, condemnation of the ingestion or transfusion of whole, allogeneic, blood; strict neutrality in political affairs, total abstinence from military service, and a belief in the imminent inauguration of the Kingdom of God on Earth.
Restorationist dates for the Great Apostasy
Restorationism is often criticized for rejecting the traditions followed by the early church, but different restoration groups have treated tradition differently. While some view all the Church Fathers as unreliable witnesses to the original Apostolic Church, others find in the earliest Church Fathers proof that the early church believed and practiced as some Restorationists do, and the late Church Fathers differences as evidences of a gradual or sudden falling away. Common to all Restorationism is the belief that the Church Fathers or post-apostolic church leadership had no authorization to change the church's beliefs and practices, but did so nevertheless.
The Latter-day Saints (Mormons) date the apostasy earliest, beginning shortly after the deaths of the original Twelve Apostles at approximately 100 AD and certainly being in a full state of apostasy by the 4th century. With this early date, they claim the least need to reconcile known writings and practices of the early church and Church Fathers. Although their writings are sometimes cited to show reminiscences of earlier true practices, they are also used to demonstrate that doctrine and understanding had been already altered.
The Sabbatarians have generally agreed on the approximate date of 135 AD as the start of the apostasy. Justin Martyr in about 160 AD had specifically defended the first day assembly, and so is considered an apostate to Sabbatarians. Nevertheless, the early church history recorded the continued keeping of the Sabbath for creation and Sunday for the Resurrection in Hippolytus's time. They view the apostasy as not complete until the church stopped keeping the Sabbath sometime after Constantine.
The Stone-Campbell Restoration Movement views the Great Apostasy as a gradual process. Ignatius promoted obedience to the Bishop in about 100 AD , which is viewed by some as signalling the introduction of the idea of a professional clergy, who began to elevate themselves over the people, leading by a gradual process of corruption to the prophesied "man of lawlessness." Infant baptism, which restorationists condemned as coercive church membership, is a similar step toward apostasy. They believe that only adult baptism was practiced at least to the time of Tertullian, but that infant baptism was introduced locally around the time of Irenaeus. They often reject notions of original sin which entail a corruption of human nature, and admit only a defilement of mankind's habitual environment, traditions or culture. As do other restorationists, they saw the church-state alliance under Constantine as a kind of taking captive of the church, through the foolishly centralized power of the bishops. And finally, the development of the idea of the supremacy and universal authority of the Bishop of Rome is considered the completing step of the Great Apostasy, from which the Protestant reformation only imperfectly recovered, but most nearly did so among the Anabaptists and the Baptists.
See also
Restoration Movement
- Church of Christ
- International Churches of Christ
- List of famous people with Restoration Movement ties
- Restoration Movement
Mormonism
Millerites
- Jehovah's Witnesses
- Anglo-Israelism
- Millerites
- Primitive Apostolic Christianity (Sabbatarian)
- Seventh-Day Adventism
- Sabbatarianism
Other
- Arianism
- Black Death (and its effect upon Lore Tradition)
- Ebionites
- Fundamentalism
- Great Apostasy
- Herbert W. Armstrong
- Judaizers
- Messianic Judaism
- Restorationist (Church of Christ-Elijah)
- Primitive Apostolic Christianity
- Tahrif (and the Muslim concept of "restoration")
External links
Restoration movement
- Restoration Movements - "A Tale of Two Restorations," A comparison of the LDS restoration movement and the Alexander Campbell restoration movement.
- RestorationUnity.com Representing greater unity among restoration churches
- Exmormon.org - Former Mormon site offering information for those Recovering from mormonism.
- Restoration Movement Internet Portal A web portal for members of Restoration Movement churches. (Churches of Christ, Independent Christian Churches, Disciples of Christ, International Churches of Christ )
- DT Disciples Today
- Restoration Movement - Christian Churches + Churches of Christ + Disciples of Christ
Mormonism
- Mormon Restorationism - Topical Guide
- Mormon Restorationism - Joseph Smith: America's Hermetic Prophet
References
- Eph 6:1, Mag 2:1,6:1,7:1,13:2, Tr 3:1, Smy 8:1,9:1
- Hughes, Richard T., editor. The American Quest for the Primitive Church. University of Illinois Press, 1988. ISBN 0-252-01538-X.
- Birdsall Richard D. "The Second Great Awakening and the New England Social Order." Church History 39 (1970): 345-64.
- Cross, Whitney, R. The Burned-Over District: The Social and Intellectual History of Enthusiastic Religion in Western New York, 1800–1850.
Seymore, Butts, editor. " Satan Shallows". 1995
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