Truce - History of the Christian Church

After the evangelist D.L. Moody died at the end of the 1800s, he left behind a series of lieutenants, guys who carried on the work of sharing the gospel and shaping culture. It was these men who went on to set the foundation of the fundamentalist movement in the United States. James Gray, Arthur Pierson, A.J. Gordon, Charles Blanchard, and William Erdman, C.I. Scofield, and William Bell Riley. These guys went on to found schools, start radio ministries, spearhead publications, and amass large followings. They wrote the influential (if under-read) pamphlet series “The Fundamentals” and would fight the rise of Darwinism in schools and liberal theology in denominations.In this episode, we'll explore the emergence of fiefdoms in evangelicalism—ministries with little or no denominational oversight. This method of ministry was crucial in landing us where we are today. Could the evangelicals Church of today use a Magna Carta of sorts to keep ministries under accountability?Helpful Sources and Links: D.L. Moody: A Life by Kevin Belmonte The Evangelicals by Frances Fitzgerald A helpful article on the Magna Carta https://www.britannica.com/topic/Magna-Carta Fundamentalism and American Culture by George Marsden Short bio on Reuben Torrey Forbes article about Christianity in Ivy League Colleges Church History in Plain Language by Bruce Shelley Discussion Questions: Do you think that ministry leaders should be held accountable? Should accountability be external or is it okay to limit it to internal accountability? Are there steps that Truce can take as a show to introduce accountability without bogging Chris down with too many requirements? Do you live in a Christian “bubble”? What are the advantages and disadvantages of the bubble? Would you let your kids go to a secular school? Why or why not? It's interesting that Reuben Torrey was seen as snooty. Do you think that attitude is compatible with humble Christian service? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

DL Moody. The name may be familiar. There is a Moody Publishers, a Moody Bible Institute, Moody Radio. His name is all over evangelicalism. His remarkable life story is something worth noting. Though Moody was not a fundamentalist, some of the tactics he used to build his ministry would be employed by some of his lieutenants when they built the foundation of the movement.So we're going to spend this episode talking about this remarkable man. Born in poverty, educated to only about a 4th-grade level, he would rise to become one of the most important American evangelists. His folksy style and booming voice were winsome to the millions of people to whom he preached. In this difficult series about controversial ideas, why not take some time to discuss something that went right in the late 1800s? The ministry of Moody.I'm joined in this episode by Kevin Belmonte. He's the author of several history books including D.L. Moody: A Life. Check out his books and let me know what you think!Helpful Links and Sources Kevin Belmonte's book D.L. Moody: A Life The Evangelicals by Frances Fitzgerald A nice bio on Harry Moorhouse See the plaque where Moody was converted Discussion Questions Have you ever shared the gospel with someone like Mr. Kimball did in the shoe store? Why or why not? Is there someone you could pray for that they would be saved? Why do you think Moody was so popular in his day? Have you ever encountered Moody Radio, Publishers, or Bible Institute? The “Christian bubble” really started to take shape in the era of Moody. How has the “bubble” impacted your life? What are your views on poverty? How do people become poor and how can it be fixed? Do you think that all poor people are lazy? Why? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The 1800s were an era of big questions, many of which we answered in cruel and selfish ways. Is one race better than another? Is one religion? If so, which one? In what ways? Is one economic system better than another? Is one system of governance like a democratic republic like the US, or socialist, or monarchy, theocracy, communism, best? Some people answered these questions with a resounding "yes". But if we think our people and ways are better than anyone else's, what responsibility do we have to spread those things? Men like Henry Cabot Lodge and Theodore Roosevelt were firm believers in social Darwinism, though their vision of it meant teaching those less "civilized" people our ways. And they were okay with the United States taking power over them.Meanwhile, there were men like William Jennings Bryan who refused to think of others in social Darwinism terms. He spent years fighting that dark philosophy, ultimately prosecuting the Scopes Monkey trial to stop the spread of social Darwinism. But the seeds of eugenics were planted.Caught in the middle were the people of Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Phillippines, and other colonies of the Spanish empire. Spain was busy imprisoning Cubans in concentration camps. Their ruthless behavior toward America's neighbors caught the attention of the US Senate, which was already champing at the bit for a fight. Men in the United States were worried about their waning influence on society. Groups bellyached about how men were not men anymore thanks to cities and offices. In the minds of some, war was the answer to weak-willed men. And Spain provided that war.Our guest today is Paul T. McCartney author of “Power and Progress: American National Identity, the War of 1898, and the Rise of American Imperialism”. He teaches at Towson University.**CORRECTION - In the original version of this story I referred to the USS Maine as the HMS Maine. That was incorrect. HMS stands for "Her Majesty's Ship", which makes no sense for American ships. The current version was changed for accuracy.**Discussion Questions: Do you believe your people are somehow superior to another people group? Why? Does that sound like an attitude Jesus would have? If you are somehow superior, what is your responsibility to other people? Should the US help people who are being oppressed around the world? When should we intervene? Do you think that men are in decline? If so, what is the answer to that? Do you better relate to Teddy Roosevelt or William Jennings Bryan when it comes to war? Or are you a pacifist? How would Jesus have responded to the cruelty of Spain? What do you think about social Darwinism? Helpful Links and Sources: "The Evangelicals" by Frances Fitzgerald "Church History in Plain Language" by Bruce Shelley "The War Lovers" by Evan Thomas "Power and Progress" by Paul T. McCartney "The Origin of Species" by Charles Darwin Britannica article on Darwin's Beagle voyage Britannica article about Darwin's London years and natural selection Bio of Henry Cabot Lodge Article abouhttp://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/gilded/empire/text7/tillman.pdft Alfred Thayer Mahan Proctor's Speech Tillman's Speech Bryan's Speech "A Godly Hero" by Michael Kazin Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Give to help Truce. www,trucepodcast.com/donatePopulism is a tricky subject. We use it these days as a slur, but populism can be a useful phenomenon. History professor and author Michael Kazin says that populism is an important tool when it comes to regulating power. In the late 1800s, railroads and banks were out of control. Industrialists like John D. Rockefeller had uninhibited control of their markets. Rockefeller believed in social Darwinism and didn't mind using dirty tactics to undermine his competition.The Populist Party sprouted out of frustrations women had with the political machines of their day. Republicans and Democrats were not yet willing to accept women and the issues they cared about. Women were slowly becoming a force within politics, but neither party had the guts to accept them. So women and others decided to form their own party. But in the election of 1896, the Populist Party was worried about a split vote. They worried that if they were to run a candidate of their own then they might split the vote. So the Populist Party backed Democratic nominee William Jennings Bryan.Bryan was a man of God. He quoted the Bible extensively, talked about the example of Jesus. But he was soundly defeated by the Republicans and William McKinley. He had only about 4% of the budget of his opponents. The story of Bryan is an interesting one because it contains the building blocks of fundamentalism.Discussion Questions: What is a populist? Can you name some populists? What are the advantages of populism? The drawbacks? How are Donald Trump, Elizabeth Warren, and Bernie Sanders similar? William Jennings Bryan was one of the first presidential hopefuls from a major party to tour the country. How has this shaped American politics? Why do we like to see politicians in our home states? What do populism and fundamentalism have in common? Do you think that fundamentalism relies on strong figures as populism does? Why or why not? Helpful Resources: "A Godly Hero" and "What It Took to Win" by Michael Kazin Library of Congress collection of Chautauqua materials Bernie Sanders Clip from C-SPAN Elizabeth Warren Clip from C-SPAN Donald Trump clip from C-SPAN Article about Mary Lease "These Truths" by Jill Lepore Library of Congress collection of McKinley/Bryan campaign materials. It's worth searching the site in general for images from both of them. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Great Depression. Some say that it was caused by a failure of the stock market. Well... that's not all. Jacob Goldstein, host of NPR's Planet Money podcast and author of "Money: the Truce Story of a Made-Up Thing" joins us to discuss the role the gold standard played in making the depression what it was.Here is why the gold standard made the Great Depression much worse. Simply put, the panic of 1929 caused people to run to the bank and demand their money back in the form of gold. We were on the gold standard back then and you could literally go to a bank and ask for them to get your money in gold. But banks were running out! There was only so much gold on hand because banks don't generally keep 100% of their money in the vault. And banks (for the ease of our understanding things) "create" money when they do loans. So it was possible for a bank only to have a certain percentage of their loans backed by actual gold.This created real trouble. If the banks ran out of gold, they'd go broke and have to close. So the Federal Reserve decided to raise interest rates. Raising interest rates gives people an incentive to leave their money in banks because then they get more interest. BUT it also made it harder for people to borrow money or refinance their existing loans. Which put a huge crimp on the American financial system. In order to keep gold in the banks, the Fed had to hobble the loan industry. That meant that businesses couldn't get loans to help with payroll, and people looking to start a business couldn't get the money they needed. And the economy froze.That is why the gold standard was bad for the economy. Preserving it meant sacrificing the loan industry.Helpful Sources:"Money: The True Story of a Made-Up Thing" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

There was a time not so long ago when the value of an ounce of gold cost $20.67. That was true not just in one moment or one year. It was true in the 1880s, 1890s, 1900s, 1920s... This was the gold standard. A person could take $20.67 to a federal bank and receive an ounce of gold in return.This system worked really well... for a while. But by the 1890s the constant deflation caused by the increasing value of gold meant that people with loans had to work harder and harder to pay them back. The value of gold and the value of goods had an inverse relationship, like a seesaw. One side went up and the other went down.This is the topic William Jennings Bryan chose to discuss at the 1896 Democratic Convention. And it was that speech that won him the presidential nomination that year. Imagine that! Someone so passionate about inflating the cost of goods that they are chosen to be president! His bimetallism (he wanted to add silver into the mix to devalue the specie) stance came out of his social gospel leanings and his Christian faith. This was a high point for the social gospel. As the evangelical world was about to turn to the darker premillennialist view, Bryan made an impassioned plea that we could, in fact, make this world a better place.My guest for this episode is the amazing Jacob Goldstein. He's the author of the book “Money: the True Story of a Made-Up Thing”. He's also a former co-host of the Planet Money podcast and now hosts "What's Your Problem?", a show where he interviews guests about the issues in their industries. You'll also hear from Michael Kazin, professor of history from Georgetown and author of "A Godly Hero".Helpful Links "Money: The True Story of a Made-Up Thing" by Jacob Goldstein (makes a great gift!) "A Godly Hero" by Michael Kazin "The Cross of Gold" speech Discussion Questions Have you ever gotten so excited at a political speech that you would gladly carry the politician around the room? What is money? Why do some of us want our money to be backed by something else? Why gold? Is there something inherent in gold that you think makes it forever valuable? Do politicians and government officials have some responsibility to consider how monetary policy impacts those in the lower classes? What does that look like? How has your life been impacted by monetary policy? How do you feel about things like the FDIC? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This season of the Truce Podcast tracks the history of Christian fundamentalism. So far we've covered the rise of para-church ministries through preachers, the creation of dispensationalism, and the rising threat of modernist theology in the late 1800s. That is a lot to digest! So in this episode, I thought it would be helpful to sit down with some of the smartest guys I know and ask them, "how do we deal with Christian fundamentalism?"Christian fundamentalism has impacted our lives in various ways. Ray McDaniel (pastor of First Baptist Church in Jackson, WY) shares that he grew up under fundamentalist teaching. Chris Staron (host of the Truce Podcast) talks about his childhood and teen years listening to fundamentalist radio. Nick Staron discusses the last few years when he has seen fundamentalism rise inside his own circle of friends. Here are some things to consider from this episode: Modernist theology can be seen as an actual threat to evangelical theology. How should we deal with threats in a godly way? Do end times teachings open doors for sharing the gospel? How much do we really know about the end times? And how should that shape the way we live today? What does it really mean to love people who are from a different denomination? Do we still need denominations today? How can we keep ministries accountable? Helpful links: The Late Great Planet Earth - hosted by Orson Welles Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

George Marsden characterized Christian fundamentalism as "militantly anti-modernist protestant evangelicalism". Right there you see that fundamentalism is a reaction against something. And that something is modernist theology. Modernism is a broad term used to describe a few different schools of liberal theology. In this episode, we discuss the Tubingen and Berlin schools.Modernist theology is often marked by the desire to discuss the "historic Jesus". This term can be a bit confusing because it is less about understanding what historic texts say about Jesus and more about discussing the non-miraculous aspects of Jesus' life and ministry.Our special guest this episode is Chris Evans, professor of Christian History and Methodist Studies at Boston University and author of "Do Everything" a biography of Francis Willard.Discussion Questions: What does it mean that fundamentalism is a reaction to modernist theology? What is modernist theology? Do you know any theologically liberal people? Do you find it difficult to both love the Lord and love your neighbor? What makes someone a Christian? Does your view include theologically conservative people? What about theologically liberal people? Where is the line for you? How vital are Jesus' miracles to your life and faith? Is there a tension in Christianity where it is culturally difficult to be theologically conservative and still want to love our neighbors? Helpful Links and Sources: "The Evangelicals" by Frances Fitzgerald An interesting article on Arminius "Church History in Plain Language" by Bruce Shelley "Who is An Evangelical?" Thomas Kidd Historical Handbook of Major Biblical Interpreters edited by Donald K. McKim p 350 Matthew 22:36-40 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The 1800s were a time of milking cows and going to the county fair.Sure... but what else? We tend to think of this century as a quiet, pastoral era when people were friendly and life was simple. But the 1800s were a crazy time! The American Civil War, the Napoleonic Wars, the Spanish-American War, conquest, the suffrage movement, the prohibition movement, massive technological changes. It's a wonder we ever made it out alive.In this episode, we explore the early life of William Jennings Bryan and the Democratic Party, the party of Jim Crow that he would soon lead. After the Civil War, it was the Democrats who created Black Codes in the South to restrict the upward mobility of African Americans. They were the party of white farmers and soon transitioned into representing labor unions and, eventually, many black people in the United States. Bryan was one of the men responsible for that transition.Helpful Links and Sources: "A Godly Hero" by Michael Kazin Truce episode about the Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) Meeting notes of the 1873 Evangelical Alliance "Fundamentalism and American Culture" by George Marsden "A Righteous Cause" by Robert W. Cherny (book on William Jennings Bryan) Interesting bio on Stephen Douglas President Hays' acceptance speech Discussion Questions: What do you think of when you think of the 1800s? Was the 1800s a simpler time? What mistakes did the Republican Party make in ending Reconstruction? How should abolitionists have handled the South after the Civil War? Can a Christian lead a racist political party? Should they? What were some technological advances that came about in the 1800s? How might they have shifted the way people lived and thought back then? Are there technological changes going on now that could shift the way we think and interact with each other? Chris ends the episode by talking about how Christians should be a people of the means, not necessarily the ends. Do you think the ends ever justify the means for Christians? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Become a patron of the show and help make the Truce episodes you love.This season we're tracing the history of Christian fundamentalism through the life of William Jennings Bryan. But first, we need to learn some important definitions. Our big word of the week is dispensationalism. It's not as complicated as it sounds. Dispensationalism is (in part) the notion that God treats humankind differently depending on what era we are in. It is not accepted by all Christians, but it is a building block of fundamentalism. Another component of dispensationalism is the secret rapture--the idea that God will take His elect to heaven just before the tribulation. It also asserts that the Christian Church will become apostate before the end times. This last tidbit is important! Premillennialism made Christians suspicious of the outside world, but it was dispensationalism that made us suspicious of each other.John Nelson Darby is often credited as the father of dispensationalism. He came up with the idea of the rapture and is the man who packaged a bunch of existing ideas into this systematized vision of the Bible. In the 1700s and 1800s, people adapted the scientific notion of categorizing everything into genus and species and applied it to all areas of study, even when reading the Bible. This encouraged people like Darby to break the Bible into "dispensations" or eras.Our guest this week is George Marsden. He's the author of "Fundamentalism and American Culture".Discussion Questions: Are you suspicious of other Christians? Why is that? Do you believe in the rapture? Why? Does the God of the Bible behave differently in different parts of the Bible? Or is He the same throughout? Do you believe that Jewish people were destined to return to Israel based on Matthew 24:32-33 or Romans 11:25-26? What did you know about the French Revolution before our recent episodes on it? Do you think it was a significant event in world history? If so, why? Helpful Links: "Fundamentalism and American Culture" by George Marsden (book) "The Evangelicals" by Frances Fitzerald (book) "Who is an Evangelical?" by Thomas S. Kidd (book) Interesting article about Napoleon, the Pope, and the French Revolution A fantastic book about Napoleon (one of my fav books) is "Napoleon: A Life" by Andrew Roberts "American Apocalypse" by Matthew Avery Sutton (note: only the first few chapters influenced this episode) "The Roots of Fundamentalism" by Ernest Sandeen. 1 Corinthians 1:8 Helpful article about Common Sense Realism Fascination Smithsonian article about Mount Tambora Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices