Module 10: Modernism & Liberalism

Hi everyone, and welcome back to the tenth module of the History of Christianity 2 Course. In this section, we'll work through the history of one of the low points of the Protestant churches and how God's faithful people responded. This module will cover the philosophies and movements known as modernism and theological liberalism, as well as the church's responses to those movements.

This module will help you to understand the worldview and ideas behind the heresies of modernism and theological liberalism and how these destructive ideas deceptively infiltrated churches and Christian institutions. And you will also be exposed to the two categories of response that God's faithful people made to these foreign and false worldviews and their deception. The student will be able to consider the impact and legacy of these heretical worldviews and the faithful responses and how the world has changed because of them.

The student will be exposed to the underlying philosophies and ideas behind the heresy of theological liberalism and its deceptive and corrosive influence on churches from that time onward. The student will also be exposed to the successful means by which this influence was resisted and overturned. The student will have opportunity to evaluate all these various principles, approaches, ideas, mindsets, and practices, and the lessons that can be learned from theological liberalism and the faithful responses to it. This module will also aid the student to work through how the lessons learned are applicable in their own life and ministry.

Introductory Scenario

Imagine that you are a spy. Your particular job is to guard against enemy spies who are attempting to infiltrate and sabotage your side. You will need to be especially diligent and discerning, because the enemy spies will try to appear to be on your side and blend in. Some may even have been brainwashed to actually believe they are on your side to more effectively assimilate and disrupt your side's mission. How could you recognize whether someone is actually serving your side or the enemy? If you suspected someone of working for the enemy, how would you test and prove this? If they turned out to be an enemy spy, how would you protect against and work to mitigate their sabotage? How could you help others not to be deceived by enemy deception and distraction? Please consider these questions and be watching for material that will help you answer them as you work through this module.

Module Objectives and Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this module, the student will:

  • Describe the history of modernism and theological liberalism, and how these ideas infiltrated churches.
  • Understand the worldview behind theological liberalism and the strategies that were used to insinuate these ideas into and to take over Christian institutions.
  • Describe the main approaches and strategies with which the faithful churches resisted and countered the influence of theological liberalism and the results of those strategies.
  • Demonstrate a commitment to recognize, resist, and reverse the effects of theological liberalism and its descendants wherever found in current institutions.
  • Place the major events and people of these movements in a general chronology.

Instruction Guides

In this section, you'll find links to important instructional documents for this module. Click the following links to open each document. There is a set of instructions for individual study and a document for group study.

Individual Student Guide
Group Student Guide

Textbook Content

In this section, you'll find a study guide for the textbook reading for module 10. And then you'll find the link to a practice quiz covering this textbook reading.

Textbook Reading List and Study Guide for Module 10

This section also contains a review quiz to test your understanding of the textbook material for this module. By clicking the banner below, you will be given a series of questions, in random order. The quiz will be different each time, so feel free to take it more than once.

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Gonzalez Textbook Quiz
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Textbook Review Quiz for Gonzalez chs. 31-32, 36

Click the button next to the best answer for each question, or drag each term to its best definition. Then press the Submit button at the bottom to see if your answers are correct.


Drag each term to its best definition.
Scopes Trial
Richard Niebuhr
Charismatic Wave
Moral Majority
Norman V. Peale

Wrote "The Kingdom of God in America," criticizing Christianity for protecting racial and social self-interest

Widespread experience of Pentecostal phenomena among mainline non-Pentecostal denominations

Promoted Christianity as "Positive thinking" to be a means to inner peace and happiness.

Group of Evangelical leaders organized to defend moral values and conservative social policies.

Caused by teaching evolution in schools. Used to portray fundamentalists as closed minded anti-intellectuals.

For which cause did most Protestants unify in the 1920s in the USA?

Scopes Monkey Trial

Sorry, see Gonzalez p. 476

Civil Rights

Sorry, see Gonzalez p. 476

World War 2

Sorry, see Gonzalez p. 476

Prohibition

Good Job

In Rerum Novarum, Leo XIII taught that because the government should protect the poor, the idea of private property, which protects the rich, should be rejected

True

Sorry, see Gonzalez p. 407

False

Well Done
Drag each term to its best definition.
On the Origin of Species
Freud
The Communist Manifesto
Harnack
Schleiermacher
Kierkegaard

Popularized the idea of evolution as progress

Taught that humans are often moved by forces underneath the conscious level in the subconscious

Taught that the early church abandoned the teachings of Jesus for teaching about Jesus

Christian who wrote against making Christianity easy and cheapening grace

Tried to make Christianity acceptable to rationalists and romantics by describing it as a "feeling of dependence"

Analyzed history in terms of class and ideological struggle

The Roman Catholic church tried to remain neutral during WWII.

True

Correct

False

Sorry, see Gonzalez p. 411
Drag each term to its proper definition
Syllabus of Errors
Papal Infallibility
Rerum Novarum
De Lamennais
C.E.L.A.M.
Ineffabilis

One example of Pius XII recognizing the international character of the Roman Catholic church

Taught that the popes should cooperate with republican and democratic movements

The decree of Pius IX defining the immaculate conception of Mary, without church council assent

Taught that when the pope spoke ex cathedra, his teachings were divinely inspired and perfect

Official list of ideas that the Roman Catholic church rejected and taught against

Decree of Leo XIII that dealt with the treatment of workers by employers

Roman Catholic theologians and authorities typically rejected modernist ideas.

True

Correct

False

Sorry, see Gonzalez p. 399-400
At the end of the 20th century, the church continued to grow in North America, both in numbers and in influence

True

Sorry, see Gonzalez pp. 492-493

False

Correct
Which event(s) shattered the optimism of American Christians?

The Barmen Declaration

Sorry, see Gonzalez p. 478

World War 2

Sorry, see Gonzalez p. 478

The Great Depression

Well Don

World War 1

Sorry, see Gonzalez p. 478

Scopes Monkey Trial

Sorry, see Gonzalez p. 478

Protestant theologians and authorities typically rejected modernist ideas.

True

Sorry, see Gonzalez p. 385

False

Correct

Lecture Content

In this section, you will find the video lectures for the Modernism & Theological Liberalism module. They are designed to be watched in order, but each video should make sense on its own. Click each banner to open access to each video. There are also links with each video if you prefer to watch on the Rumble or YouTube interface or download just the audio to listen offline.

Lecture Study Guide for Module 10
Blank Lecture Notes for Module 10
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10a: Modernism & Liberalism
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Watch on Rumble
Watch on YouTube
Download Audio
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10b Response to Liberalism
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Watch on Rumble
Watch on YouTube
Download Audio

Reviews

In this section, you will find the review slides from the course lectures for module 10. This is a convenient way to view and review the summaries for each lecture. Click the banner to open the slide show.

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Review Slideshow
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Click the prev. and next buttons (bottom right of the slide) to move through the slides. You can also click on any thumbnail to go directly to that slide.

Discussion/Reflection/Essay Questions

This section contains questions for further thought and discussion from Module 10. It is recommended that you take time to think through these issues in order to thoroughly grasp the significance and explore the application of the material you are learning. These questions can also be used as essay questions in a classroom setting exam. Below, you will find links to the Response and Application Reflection Instructions for Individuals, and the Response and Application Discussion Instructions for Groups. And you will find a link to the detailed question document for this module. Or Click the banner below to view the questions in a simplified format.

Instructions for Individuals
Instruction for Groups
Discussion/Reflection Questions for Module 10
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Discussion/Application Questions
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The following questions are for your thoughtful consideration and discussion:

  1. Describe Theological Liberalism. Why did it do what it did? How did it turn out? What did you learn?
  2. Describe current forces pushing for compromise. Why are they tempting? How can you resist?
  3. Where are there tendencies to compromise in the current church? How can you make a difference?
  4. Where are there tendencies to compromise in your own life? How can you resist them?
  5. How did the church play offense well? What was good about what they did? Why? How does this apply?
  6. How did the church play defense well? What was good about what they did? Why? How does this apply?
  7. What else did you learn? How does it apply?

(Optional) Timeline - Part 10

This section contains instructions for an optional Timeline activity to be constructed over all sixteen modules. Below is a link to the detailed instructions for this activity.

Timeline Project Instructions

Step ten of the Timeline should include the following information:

  • Any significant events, ideas, and people representative of modernism and theological liberalism.
  • Any significant events, ideas, and people representing the faithful Christian response to modernism and theological liberalism.
  • Any significant writings from these movements, and the ideas, doctrines, and approaches which they represent, and the impact they had.

(Optional) Principles Chart - Part 10

This section contains instructions for an optional Principles Chart activity to be constructed over all sixteen modules. Below is a link to the detailed instructions for this activity.

Principles Chart Instructions

Step ten of the Principles chart will add any important principles noted from the rise of theological liberalism, how it gained influence, and from the faithful Christian response - the results these movements had, the reasons behind those results, and how those principles can be applied.

It is suggested that the student begin this activity before watching the Guiding Principles portion of the lecture. Then the student may supplement their work after learning additional insights from the Guiding Principles.

(Optional) Term Project Research & Organization

The student will continue researching their chosen topic for their term project. The student should seek to follow where their research leads, and fill any gaps in their knowledge. The student should also continue organizing all that they are learning into a logical and coherent structure, based on the information they have researched, which will serve as the organization for their term project presentation.

Below is a link to detailed instructions for the entire project.

Term Project Instructions

Primary Source Reading

This section contains instructions and resources for the Primary Source Reading activity. The student should read a minimum of 10-20 pages from a primary resource or resources discussed in this module's lecture and write or discuss a brief response to their reading. Below is a link to detailed instructions for the Primary Source Reading, which contain a list of recommended resources, by module. And click the banner below to access a list of recommended resources with links to where they may be found.

Primary Source Reading Instructions
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Primary Sources
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The following is a list of the recommended primary sources for this module. This list contains links to the resources in print and/or online format. These links may change, so feel free to search for other sources for these same titles. In addition, please do not feel you are limited only to this list. Feel free to choose from any primary source from the period and topic covered in this module:

Links to Primary Sources

Review Quiz

This section is a link to a review quiz to test your understanding of the objective material for Module 10. By clicking the banner, you will be taken to a series of questions, in random order. Answer each question and then push the Submit button to check your answers. Every question must be answered before you can submit the quiz. At the end, you will be shown your score for the entire quiz. The quiz will be different each time, so feel free to take it more than once. Click the banner to begin the quiz.

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Quiz for Module 10
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Review Quiz for Module 10

Here is a review quiz for the material covered in this module's lectures. Click the button next to the best answer for each question, or drag each term to its best definition. Then press the button at the bottom to see if your answers are correct.


The Lecture suggests that theological liberalism as a whole was good for the church and society

True

Sorry, see Lecture 10a

False

I'll allow this, but it is not nearly a strong enough answer

False! False! False! Absolutely Totally False!

Well Done
Which of these was NOT one of the Princeton Theologians?

Abraham Kuyper

Correct

A. A. Hodge

Sorry, see Lecture 10b

Charles Hodge

Sorry, see Lecture 10b

Archibald Alexander

Sorry, see Lecture 10b

B. B. Warfield

Sorry, see Lecture 10b

Schleiermacher was trying to make Christianity acceptable to unbelieving people, but in the process, compromised and ultimately denied real Christianity

True

Good Job

False

Sorry, see Lecture 10a
Which best describes higher criticism?

Careful study of the Bible from a neutral, scientific perspective

close, but not quite, see Lecture 10a

Careful study of the Bible from a perspective which was skeptical, but claimed to be neutral and scientific

Well Done

Careful study of the Bible from a stated skeptical perspective

close, but not quite, see Lecture 10a

Careful study of the Bible from a Christian perspective

Sorry, see Lecture 10a

Drag to match each name with its best definition
Wellhausen
Von Harnack
Schleiermacher
Rauschenbusch
Fosdick

Concentrated on a feeling of dependence and changed theology from the study of God to the study of human religious experience

Defined Christianity as the Fatherhood of God, brotherhood of man, and value of the individual soul

Advocate of the Social Gospel, who emphasized fighting social ills and working for social progress as the essence of Christianity

Influential leader of source criticism, which separated the writings of Moses into four sources (JEPD) and reconstructed the Old Testament history as different than the claims of the Old Testament itself

Presbyterian pastor who popularized theological liberalism by proclaiming popular psychology and arguing against traditional theology

The Lecture suggests that as the disciplines of history, biology, and archeology grew in knowledge, they tended to prove the Biblical worldview and undercut the presuppositions of modernity

True

Well Done

False

Sorry, see Lecture 10b
The Lecture argues that the problem with Romanticism and Rationalism is not that they think and feel, but that they do these things without reference to God

True

Well Done

False

Sorry, see Lecture 10a
Drag to match each alternative worldview to its description
Rationalism
Romanticism

Idolatry of feeling

Idolatry of thinking

Theological liberalism was not concerned with ethics - how people lived

True

Sorry, see Lecture 10a

False

Correct
The Lecture stresses that the terms "liberal" and "conservative" mean the same thing in theology that they do in politics.

True

Sorry, see Lecture 10a

False

Well Done

Module Completed!

Congratulations, you have reached the end of the tenth module. I hope that you have found it rewarding and have noticed personal growth.

I encourage you to continue on the next module as soon as is convenient. The button below will take you to Module 11.