Competing Kingdom and Doctrinal Narratives: The First Reformation versus Twentieth Century Dominionism

Recovering the First Reformation - Toward a Proto-Protestant Narrative of Church History (XI)

The first half of the Twentieth Century saw the collapse of the Kingdom-progress narrative and eventually an attempt was made to re-cast it but this time in much more specific and deliberate terms. Postmillennialism didn't die but it took a backseat. However its ethos was perpetuated in the form of Dominionism – a theological spectrum that was able to penetrate virtually every facet and faction of the Protestant and Evangelical movements.

The Legacy of First Reformation Separatism versus Magisterial Protestantism's Establishment Ethos (1517-1914)

Recovering the First Reformation - Toward a Proto-Protestant Narrative of Church History (X)

There is value in a further elaboration of this contrast between the First and Magisterial Reformations and thus as an exercise it's worth briefly surveying the latter's historical and ethical legacy as it transitioned from the Renaissance era into modernity.

New Testament Christianity, Homeschooling and the Collapse of French Pluralism

https://evangelicalfocus.com/europe/8340/evangelicals-react-to-frances-plans-to-fight-islamist-separatism

I am certain that attitudes have changed in Europe since I spent considerable time there in the 1990's. At that time homeschooling was novel and while it was becoming popular in the United States, such expressions of individualism and counter-culture were not popular in Europe – even among Christians.

The First Reformation and Magisterial Reformation Contrasted

Recovering the First Reformation - Toward a Proto-Protestant Narrative of Church History (IX)

Another way of reviewing and emphasizing the characteristics of the First Reformation and the various proto-Protestant movements is to juxtapose and contrast them with the Magisterial Reformation and the type of Protestantism that it produced. This is seen in two areas – doctrine and ethics. Questions of Biblical authority and general understandings of how doctrine functions were answered differently. And, there were profound differences in how the First and Second Reformations interacted with society, power, wealth and the state. In other words the two movements had radically different concepts of ethics in light of the Scriptures – at which point we will begin.

Waldensian Historiography

Recovering the First Reformation - Toward a Proto-Protestant Narrative of Church History (VIII)

The question of Waldensian placement becomes complicated as they transcend the three epochs we're touching upon – the pre-Schism First Reformation, the post-Schism shift and fragmentation, and finally the Magisterial Reformation.

The Hussite Spectrum

Recovering the First Reformation - Toward a Proto-Protestant Narrative of Church History (VII)

The Great Schism which erupted in 1378 generated a new wave of dissent which while not unrelated to the earlier movements and impulses, nevertheless generated more radical factions which for a season took up the sword. These movements failed and yet in most cases the core ideas and commitments endured and the survivors would eventually merge back into the non-violent sword and coin rejecting, non-Sacralist and separatist posture of the movement's first wave. They would not be challenged or tempted again with regard to Sacralism until the time of the Magisterial Reformation.

Supreme Ironies: The Coney Barrett Nomination

(updated and amended)†

Taking in all the drama and pending procedural battles over the Amy Coney Barrett nomination I was struck by the numerous ironies that are at work. Given that the background has grown rather complicated it's something that few outlets bother to probe or pursue. And yet there's an interesting story and both political factions come out looking pretty bad.

The First Reformation

Recovering the First Reformation - Toward a Proto-Protestant Narrative of Church History (VI)

Some would date the First Reformation to the era of The Great Schism (1378-1417) when the papacy was split between the Avignon and Rome factions. Lollardy proper (it is argued) arose in England during this period and Czech Hussitism arose immediately after it. The already established Waldensians also flourished during this era and some believe the period represents a first wave of doctrinal protest movements – a case of all of these groups (to varying degrees) appealing to the Scriptures to argue against the developments within Catholicism.