Old Time Religion is not that Old

Last week, at a concert in the park, one of the groups began to lead the congregation in the song, "Give me that Old Time Religion". I have always loved the peppy, simple way that this song encourages religious sentiment. I have also always wondered what Old Time Religion is.

The song engenders an attitude in many in fundamental and evangelical churches. That attitude is that the religious experience of the evangelical church of 50-70 years ago is historic Christianity. Yet much of the "old time religion" is not historic Christianity. Instead it is rooted in revivalism in 18th and 19th century America and England.




Here are a few examples:

Sunday School--In many churches people believe that Sunday School has always existed in churches just like worship has. This is simply not the case. Sunday School began as an outreach to poverty-stricken children. Children were taught how to read and write by church people after worship on Sunday because poor children had to work every other day of the week.

It was not until the mid 19th century that Sunday School moved away from that early mission and toward using Sunday School as a bible study time for people of all ages before worship.

Hymnody--Someday, if you get a chance, find a hymn book. Read the dates when most of the songs were written. You will find that most of our most loved hymns were written in the late 18th and 19th centuries. Much of what many Baptist congregations call hymns are actually gospel songs written between the Civil War and World War II.

End Times BeliefMuch of what people believe about end times in conservative evangelical circles is derived from 18th and 19th century teachers and evanglists. Some of these beliefs were in contrast to the clearly stated beliefs of the Reformers and even some of the Church Fathers.




The 18th and 19th century teachers were pretribulation rapture, premillenial dispensationalists for the most part. These folks believe the Bible teaches a rapture followed by seven years of tribulation with a literal anti-Christ that brings about the end of the world. Most popular of these dispensationalists was a man named Scofield, who created the Scofield Reference Bible that holds sway in many churches today.

The Reformers and the Church Fathers had diverse opinions on the end times, but for the most part they were partial preterist, meaning that they believed that much (but not all) of the book of Revelation was describing the experience of the early church and the church throughout history. Also, most historic Christian theologians were amillenial. This means that they believed that the thousand year reign described in Revelation 20 describes Christ's Lordship of the Church throughout history.

"Old Time Religion" does not believe in a rapture that is followed by a series of events, followed by a millenium, followed by a final judgement. That chronology is popularized and promoted in the last couple of centuries. Instead historic Christianity believes in a second coming of Christ followed by judgment, and then the consumation of God's eternal kingdom.

These are just a few examples of how what we understand as the way the church has always been is really an invention of the church in our culture and our context.

What are others you can think of.