Kingdom Parables

THE KINGDOM PARABLES
The Quakers and Methodists began as a small house groups.
Methodism grew up into a large international church under John
Wesley (1703 - 1791) and his brother Charles Wesley (1707 - 1788 the
author of over 5000 hymns) and under the great orator George
Whitefield (1714 -1770)
6.4 THE ESCAPING CHURCH
The church now freed from the domination of Romanism was a joyful
church. But the sheer force of being wrenched out of the institutional
church led it to become a personal religion. The church as a whole
maintained the structure of priesthood and administration of Romanism,
but faith became a personal affair. Secularism of faith was its first
implication. The state and the church were defined as active in two
separate spheres of human existence - one in physical realm and the
other in spiritual realm. There arose a complete seclusion of political,
economic and social life from the faith of the person. In this failure to
express faith in socio-political realms, developed an inward looking
pietism.
On the other hand, the failure of the Church in expressing its holiness
through society and state, brought forth the real weapons for Satan.
From this evolved the concept of Super Man God of this age. “God is
dead. We killed him”, declared Nietzche the son of a German Lutheran
Pastor (1844 -1900). “God is dead. He spoke to us and now he is
silent. It is time to transvalue all values of life and Philosophy.”
In the fields of science, philosophy and thought, new and revolutionary
steps were made. It will be difficult to make even a passing reference to
all mean and ideas in all these fields here to indicate their influence on
the liberated church. The pendulum was moving in the opposite side to
higher levels.
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