Welcome back to another episode of Five Minutes in Church History.

On Five Minutes in Church History, we love going to the story of American Christianity.

At least I do, and I hope you enjoy going along for the ride.

I thought it would be helpful to take a step back and provide a big picture, an overview

of American Church History.

And since this is Five Minutes in Church History, let's do it in five movements.

So here are the five movements. Are you ready?

First is Puritanism. This takes us from 1620 to 1700.

Next is the movement of Awakening and Decline. This spans all of the 1700s.

Then as we move into the 1800s, we have the movement of Revivalism alongside of Rationalism.

As we move into the 1900s, we have the movement of Fundamentalism against its counterpart, Liberalism.

And then around 1940, we enter into the movement of Evangelicalism.

And perhaps the best way to get at its counterpart in American culture is simply to call it Secularism.

Well, let's go back to Puritanism. If you go from 1620 to 1700, that's two generations.

That's two 40-year periods. And in that first generation, these Puritans, they were rather serious folks.

And they were committed to their Puritanism. But as is the case, sadly, in the second generation,

those commitments of the first generation were not as strong and were softened and weakened.

And so we already begin to see Decline.

That Decline moves us into the 1700s. I referred to this period, the 1700s, as Awakening and Decline.

Truthfully, it's a time of Decline, then Awakening, then Decline.

So let's look at it. The Decline is 1700 to 1740. It's typified in no better place than Jonathan Edwards' own congregation.

Here he is in a Puritan church. Here he is a Puritan minister. But his congregation has long shed its Puritan sensibilities

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