A step in the wrong direction?

At my last supervision two significant questions were raised:

1. Does the question you are asking reflect the contents of your proposal?
2. In the historical area of your study, will their be enough reflection by the church planters to give you enough to go on?

There were other questions, but these two are the ones that have set the direction for my Study leave. Richard and Stuart set me a deadline of March 13 to come up with some answers. If there is not enough primary material then I will have to refocus my proposal in time for my progress review with the university. Stuart gave me most opportunity for reflection when he suggested that the question I am asking is "fundamentally uninteresting". I must admit his words caught me off guard, because having spent nearly a year framing my question, I am very interested in it! Having re-visited my proposal, the question I have used to is:

How might revisiting the Church planting characteristics and techniques of the New Connexion of General Baptists (1770-1891) inform and challenge the reality of Church planting within the Baptist Union of Great Britain (1988-2008).

Unfortunately that question does not reflect what is in the proposal. I wrote the question and then wrote the proposal and didn't go back and check that the two agreed with each other. It would be better to ask:

What were the philosophical, social, political and theological themes that influenced the Church planting characteristics and techniques of the New Connexion of General Baptists (1770-1891), and how might they inform and challenge the reality of Church planting within the Baptist Union of Great Britain (1988-2008).

That question better reflects what is in the proposal and provides a more interesting basis for discussion. Unfortunately I began to look at the history of the New Connexion of General Baptists with the question that headed my proposal in mind, not the substance of the proposal. Which means that the work that I have done so far needs totally re-working. But that's not the end of the world! The second question is a little more difficult to answer. The most significant histories on the New Connexion of General Baptists are ancient and not particularly analytical (with the exception of Frank Rinaldi's thesis which is due for publication later this year). They tend to concentrate on description of the events and are interested only in where the New Connexion sit in the theological framework of their time. What I need to know s what the people who were starting the churches thought about how they were responding to the philosophical, political, social and theological themes of their day. The only way I am going to find that out is if they have written something about it. My trips to the archives should help me do that.

“The Enlightenment” by Outram, a summary

The Enlightenment

Author: Dorinda Outram Publication: Cambridge University Press (1995)

Contents

1. What is Enlightenment?, p.1
2. Coffee houses and consumers: the social context of the Enlightenment, p.14
3. The rise of modern paganism: Religion and the Enlightenment, p.31
4. Science and the Enlightenment: God's order and man's understanding, p.47
5. Europe's mirror? The Enlightenment and the exotic, p.63
6. Enlightenment thinking about gender, p.80
7. Enlightenment and government: new departure or business as usual?, p.96
8. The end of the Enlightenment: conspiracy and revolution? p.114

What is Enlightenment?

The Enlightenment should be seen as an intersection of debates, rather than one unified stream of thought. In this introduction Dorinda Outram presents the different ways the term "enlightenment" has been interpreted as it relates to this period of history. She starts with the way dominant Enlightenment thinker present their own understanding of the term in essays written for the Berlin newspaper Berlinische Monatsschrift. She notes that the interpretation of Enlightenment as a value system based on rationality was predominant in the interpretation of the Enlightenment.

This Line of interpretation of the Enlightenment saw it as an intellectual movement by great thinkers in Western Europe and displayed little interest in its social or political context or in the impact of these ideas. Outram (1995) The Enlightenment, C.U.P. p.3-4

She observes that the way Enlightenment has been interpreted by historians has changed significantly since the 1960's. She points to Peter Gay's works on the enlightenment published in the late 1960's as significant in preparing the way for the impact of the social and political context of the Enlightenment to be considered in it's interpretation. Authors Alderidge, Venturi and Darnton are sighted examples of the widening understanding of the political and social context in relation to the geographic spread of Enlightenment ideas far beyond the homogeneous white and male interpretations that had dominated its study. Dorinda follows the changing interpretation of the Enlightenment through to the work of Habernmas and Foucault who saw the progression of ideas from the Enlightenment, through Modernity into their own emerging thinking. She concludes her introduction by setting her understanding of her framework for interpretation:

... think of the Enlightenment, not as an expression which has failed to encompass a complex historical reality, but rather as a capsule containing sets of debates, stresses and concerns, which however differently formulated or responded to, do appear to be characteristic of the way in which ideas, opinions and social and political structures interacted and changed in the eighteenth century. Outram (1995) The Enlightenment, C.U.P. p.12

Coffee houses and consumers: the social context of the Enlightenment

Economic expansion, increasing urbanisation, rising population and improving communications contributed to the rise of public lectures, coffee houses, lending libraries, art exhibitions operatic and theatrical performances. These led to an increase in social integration and the public debate of ideas. Observing that only 1% of borrowing in lending libraries was of a religious nature, she suggests that the novel was the main was in which the readers encountered new ideas and attitudes.

The Enlightenment was an era where dramatic shifts occurred in the production and accessibility of ideas and especially in the case of print media. New social institutions were constructed based on the interchange of idea, rather than to mark or display social and political rank. Outram (1995) The Enlightenment, C.U.P. p.29

The Rise of modern paganism? Religion and the Enlightenment

A complex picture of religion in the eighteenth century is painted. While on the one hand the discovery of reason led to much question of accepted religious norms there was an increasing interest in religion from an alternative perspective. The enlightenment is seen as the natural continuation of the reformation (Hegel) and the debate about toleration of non standard religious practice as a debate about the place of monarchy. She suggests that there were many voices that tried to tackle the problem of religious belief with the growing Enlightenment reason:

One way out was Deism, with its total hostility to revelation. Another was to reject the attempt to make Christianity 'reasonable', and return to a view of religion which emphasised faith, trust in revelation, and personal witness to religious experience. Outram (1995) The Enlightenment, C.U.P. p.43

Science and the Enlightenment: God's order and man's understanding

The development of "Natural Philosophy" which became known as "Science" after the term was coined in the 1830's is significant in the Enlightenment. Initially it was treated with suspicion and attracted none of the central funding that it has attracted in the last 100 years. However its development in this period paved the way from the shift from religion to science as the dominant cultural force. Science began to offer people the opportunity to become independent in knowledge of the world form the traditional claims of religion. She also observes that Foucault's view of the role of science in the Enlightenment was to change all the structures of knowledge.

Thus, for some historians science is the cultural category of the Enlightenment, rather than that of religion, which seems so central to Hegel. Outram (1995) The Enlightenment, C.U.P. p.48

Europe's mirror? The Enlightenment and the exotic

The existing knowledge of far lands and other cultures grew during the eighteenth century along with colonisation and colonial attitudes. The inequality between races that colonisation presented were contrary to the ideas dominating the Enlightenment. Rousseau challenged the idea of the European civilisation being the dominant cultural form to which other cultures were to conform to.

Enlightenment views of a single grand movement of progress lying behind human history could not grapple with the idea of each cultural identity being driven by its own cultural dynamic. Outram (1995) The Enlightenment, C.U.P. p.79

She suggests with Herder that the central failure of the Enlightenment was the way it dealt with difference.

Enlightenment thinking about gender

The debate about gender was a dominant theme of Enlightenment thinking. There was a rise in female engagement in the exchange of ideas through the french "salon". However the make dominated world was reluctant to accept the female intellectual capability. The result was a measure of confusion:

Enlightenment thinkers seemed to assert, on the one hand, that women, as human beings, could have rights; but also, on the other, that because of their alleged irrationality and lack of autonomy, they should not be allowed to take part in politics. Outram (1995) The Enlightenment, C.U.P. p.95

Dorinda suggests that although during the Enlightenment period there was little change in the way women were treated, the argument of Enlightenment thinkers paved the way for those who were to bring about significant change in this realm.

Enlightenment and government: new departure or business as usual?

The change in dominant thought form that the Enlightenment heralded meant that it was impossible for kings to rule in the manner they once had. The people they ruled demanded rights. It is impossible to find a king who ruled without some form of restriction (in England it was Parliament). Towards the end of the eighteenth century most governments had engaged programs of reform involving education and welfare. There had the unintended result of increasing social mobility. They were aimed, however, to produce a population cable of giving rational ascent to the measures of the monarch.

In the end, Enlightenment was able to raise major problems for monarchies, as well as being of major importance in reform Outram (1995) The Enlightenment, C.U.P. p.112

The end of the Enlightenment: conspiracy and revolution?

Dorinda asks if the French Revolution was a consequence of Enlightenment and suggests that Enlightenment was a consequence of revolution:

One could even say that Enlightenment began with Revolution, that which occurred in England in 1688, which created the conditions for the emergence of the philosophy with which John Locke discussed new thinking about the relationship between ruler and ruled. Outram (1995) The Enlightenment, C.U.P. p.120

what the Enlightenment contributed was not only a great number of new, non-traditional ways of defining and legitimating power, through ideas such as 'natural law', 'reason', and so on, it had also mobilised sections of society into 'public opinion', which Kant had earlier identified as requiring tight control if it were not to disrupt social and political order. Outram (1995) The Enlightenment, C.U.P. p.127

Notes to Self

Interesting that the fairly recent writers look at the Enlightenment ans see some connections with the way they are thinking. Reading this book made me think of some of the similarities between the cultural shift that is happening in the Enlightenment and the cultural shift that is happening in the (so called) Post-Modern era.

Riots in Barton in the Beans

The next time, therefore , that John Taylor visited Barton, a number of persons from Nailstone, a village a mile distant, assembled; and endeavoured to disturb the worship. Some tied bells around their bodies and danced about the place: others sung and swore: and all united in the most violent threats against the preacher and his abettors.

Taylor (1818) The New Connexion, p.8

Research Proposal Go-ahead.

My research proposal has been given the go-ahead by Manchester University (http://study.graham.doel.org/phdprop/). I will be looking at two church planting movements. One of them is historic and is a product of the Evangelical Revival and the other is contemporary. I hope that in looking in detail at these two periods of time it will help me as a Minister lead churches into mission in their area. My work is being supervised by Richard Kidd who is the Principal of Northern Baptist College and by Stuart Murray Williams, who started a mission agency called urban expression.

Preparing

Because life is complicated enough, I have decided to move all my academic notes, over to this site. I will post them all under this category. To celebrate, I have created a new theme for my site, if you are fortunate enough to read this in a feed reader, you will have no idea what my new theme is like, so why don't you pop over and have a look!

Meeting with Richard Kidd, potential research degree supervisor.

Richard described the difference between and MPhil and a Phd: An Mphil will describe something that is happening. The boundaries of the Mphil are looking at and describing what is happening and the ideas that are behind it. Other disciplines that interact with the study are brought in as appropriate. A Phd includes the same things as an Mphil but the area of study is potentially something quite significant that involves pushing the area of the research to the absolute limit. The Phd is proof that you are an expert in a particular area. Richard was also checking my motivation for study. I think he wanted to know if I am motivated enough to see the study through. My motivation spring from the last four years as a full time "professional" minister. After the first couple of years I began to feel like I had used up my resources and I needed to do some more reading, it struck me that the simplest way to get a guide for reading is to get a supervisor. There is a part of me that would like to become a partner in the training of future ministers. Having completed a research degree of some description would prepare me for any opportunities that might come my way in the future. The subject of mission and church planting fascinates me. I began my training as a church planter and am really interested in some of the creative church planting that is happening in the UK at the moment. I am involved in the Incarnate Network, which is a network of people church planting within a roughly Baptist sphere. We talked about my subject area in depth and Richard suggested that my initial proposal was enough for an Mphil but it asked no questions so would be merely a descriptive piece of work that probably could not be developed into a Phd. We talked about the things that might make it more of a significant work. We talked about significant figures influencing church planting and emerging church networks in the uk. Richard suggested that the most significant church planter in English Baptist history would be Spurgeon. I'm not keen to research Spurgeon though. There must be hundereds of people who could claim an intimate knowledge of Spurgeon. I would rather research some one less well known. We talked about the possibility of looking at Dan (Daniel) Taylor, who was a significant force behind the New Connexion of General Baptists who planted many churches mainly in the Midlands. Long Whatton, the church I did my training in was a New Connexion church plant. My former mentor, Frank Rinaldi, researched the New Connexion for his thesis which was called "The Tribe of Dan: From revival to denomination". The New Connexion formed with the Particular Baptists to become what is now The Baptist Union of Great Britain. Richard suggested a question that might inform and guide my research:

"How might revisiting a particular monent in church planting (New Connexion) inform and challenge the reality of church planting withing the Baptist Union of Great Britain 1980-2005"

There are some statisitcs about the late 20th and early 21st century of church planting in an article by Stuart Murray Williams on the Incarnate Network web site:http://incarnate-network.eu/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=15 Richard suggested that the building blocks would be:

• Looking at the historic moment.
  10,000 word proposition paper looking at everything that affected that period of church planting including:
  • sociological
  • politics
  • power
  • theological convictions
• Generalised study of church planting. Including the qualitative research.
• Nature of culture.
• Nature of church growth.
• Nature of power and organisation.

Questions I need to ask: What are the New Connections motivations? What is the social backdrop? Are there creative connections between the areas? Ask yourself what are the creative connections. What are you looking for? Put it down on a research proposal defining the two key areas of research and the associated themes. Task: Write a two paragraph history of the New Connexion

Diving in the Shallow End: Are politicians capable of more depth on-line? pp31-35 Ross Ferguson

Ross observes:

• Before the election on May 5th 2005 it was clear that 'e-election' was "little more than hyperbole" (Page 32)
• It is easy to be negative about what was achieved through the on-line campaigning that was carried out
• The positive aspect of the 2005 campaign is that MP's and other electoral representatives gained first hand experience of e-democracies potential to help them listen and learn. (Page 35)

Through a router darkly: How on-line campaigning was reported: Bill Thompson pp. 22-25

Looking at the other side of the coin, the limited use of the Internet during the 2005 General Election in Britain. He observes:

It will be up to the historians, psephologists and political scientists to disentangle the strands of influence and decide whether poster campaigns, e.mails or text messages are a more effective way of reaching the electorate. When the spin doctors, candidates and party press officers try to decide where and how to use the many channels that exist for communication between campaign and voter, they will have little detailed evidence from the coverage of the 2005 election.

The human touch of on-line campaigning:Milica Howell Pages 26-30.

Talking about the blog of a once homeless person (Jamie McCoy) which was set up to raise the profile of homelessness issues during the 2005 British general election Milicia observes:

• The blog was monitored by the mainstream media including the BBC, The Guardian, The FT, The Independent, The Times and CNN. Page 27.
• Although the report has a negative slant on the impact of the Internet on the overall campaign and they observe that it was not an 'e-election' per se. Blogs like Jamie's and the personal e.mails from some senior labour figures helped the election become more personal.

• A more gradual, less sensationalist and transient mode of humanising issues than offered by traditional media is offered through the Internet. Page 30

Logging on or switching off? The public and the Internet at the General election. Stephen Ward and Wainler Lusoli pp 13-21.

They observe:

• About half the population had Internet access at the last election. Over one quarter of those (28%) used the Internet for gaining information about the Election (Pages 13-14).
• Internet access makes no difference to older peoples voting habits, but younger people who use the Internet are more likely to turn out to vote if they had explored the election on-line (15% more likely). (Page 15)
• Humour about elections equated to half of all reported e.mail correspondence. (Page 17)
• Only 8% of on-line users participated in active discussion about the election (through on-line discussion, on-line petition and subscribing to election news). (Page 17)
• Internet information seeking is becoming part of the natural way of doing things. 44% of those people who sought information on-line reported a specific reason for doing so. (Page 18)
• Of the 47% of the voting British public who do not have access to the Internet 9% suggested that they would get access within the next three years. This suggests that by the next general election two thirds of the public will have access. (Page 19)

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