The Decline and Fall of New England Congregationalism
This article by Rev. Angus Stewart traces the historical decline of New England Congregationalism from its promising foundations with the Pilgrim settlers through the era of Jonathan Edwards to its eventual apostasy by the early twentieth century. The work examines how a community once characterized by covenant theology, Reformed worship, and spiritual revival gradually departed from its theological moorings. The resource serves as a historical case study relevant to Protestant Reformed readers interested in understanding how doctrinal compromise and spiritual declension occurred in American church history.
Rev. Angus Stewart (slightly modified from an article first published in the Protestant Reformed Theological Journal) (I) Introduction (II) The City Set on a Hill (III) Jonathan Edwards (IV) The New England Theology (V) Conclusion (I) Introduction Of the various parts of God’s earth, New England would appear to have been one of the most favoured. Settled in the sixteenth century by godly Congregationalist pilgrims, it had complete freedom from the oppressive Church of England, and...