1649–1740

The denominational theory of the Church: the Independents, Westminster and America (1649–1740)

Shelley: denominations became the main expression of Christianity in modern times because Christians gained the freedom to differ. The denominational theory of the Church, the opposite of sectarianism, was created in the seventeenth century by radical Puritan leaders (the Independents, the minority at the Westminster Assembly): the true Church cannot be identified with any single church structure, and separation in itself is not schism. The word “denomination” became fashionable around 1740, in the early years of the Great Awakening; in America the theory found the most supporters.

Key points

• Sect and denomination: a sect claims to be the only true Body of Christ and is therefore exclusive
• Sect and denomination: a denomination does not claim to be the whole Church; the word came into vogue about 1740, the theory a century earlier
• Roots in the Reformation: the Reformers sowed the theory’s seeds: the true Church cannot be equated with any body, succession lies in believers, not bishops
• Roots in the Reformation: Calvin noted the Church’s bounds cannot be drawn, yet the Reformers suppressed dissent and held to one religion per state
• Shelley: the creators of the denominational theory were 17th-century Congregationalists, a minority at the Westminster Assembly (1643–1649). Independents taught: differences on Church form are inevitable, no Church holds all truth, separation is not schism. Their toleration did not spring from indifference to doctrine: unity in the “one true Church” extended to those sharing the inmost essence of faith, with diversity allowed in outward expressions. In England the theory was accepted only in part: the Church of England kept its favoured position even after the 1689 Toleration Act, which recognized Presbyterians', Congregationalists', Baptists' and Quakers' right to worship freely. In the American colonies the theory gained more and more supporters. Denominations became the sign of recent centuries not as an ideal choice but as a better path than any other proposed

Place

England, the American colonies