The Modern Church
Timeline of the movements
Every movement in this section on one chart, with the lines of influence drawn in - trace any modern belief back through the people who passed it on.
Each dot is an event: a founding, a sermon, a book, a split. Each line is an influence - this drew on that. Choose any dot or any entry and press Trace this line, and everything it grew out of and everything that grew out of it lights up.
Two things become visible very quickly. The first is how short most of the lines are: a belief that feels ancient often runs back no further than a revival meeting in Kansas or a conference in an Irish country house. The second is how tangled they are. Holiness teaching flows into Pentecostalism; Pentecostalism into the healing revival; the healing revival into the Latter Rain and the prosperity gospel; all of them into the charismatic movement and the New Apostolic Reformation.
The chart compresses the years before 1800 so that the last two centuries, where most of the movements arise, have room. On a phone, scroll the chart sideways.
Tap a dot, or Trace this line on any entry, to light up everything it drew on and everything it led to. Tap a stream to hide or show it.
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December 1521
Radical Reformation
The Zwickau Prophets arrive in Wittenberg
Three men from Zwickau claim visions and direct speech from God, reject infant baptism and predict the overthrow of the ungodly.
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July 1524
Radical Reformation
Thomas Müntzer's Sermon to the Princes
Müntzer preaches the "inner word" and calls the Saxon princes to take the sword against the godless. He dies after Frankenhausen in 1525.
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1525
Radical Reformation
Luther's Against the Heavenly Prophets
Luther answers Karlstadt and the spiritualists: God gives the inward gift only through the outward Word and sacraments.
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21 January 1525
Radical Reformation
The first rebaptisms in Zürich
Conrad Grebel baptises George Blaurock, and Blaurock the others - the beginning of believer's baptism as the practice of a church.
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Easter 1525
Reformed, Puritan and Baptist
Zürich abolishes the Mass
Zwingli replaces the Mass with a memorial service: "this is my body" read as "this signifies my body".
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February 1527
Radical Reformation
The Schleitheim Confession
Michael Sattler's seven articles: believer's baptism, the ban, separation, refusal of the sword and the oath. Sattler is burned the same year.
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October 1529
Reformed, Puritan and Baptist
The Marburg Colloquy
Luther and Zwingli agree on fourteen articles and divide over Christ's bodily presence in the Supper.
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June 1530
Radical Reformation
The Augsburg Confession condemns the enthusiasts and Anabaptists
Articles V and IX reject those who think the Spirit comes without the external Word, and those who reject the baptism of children.
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1534-35
Radical Reformation
The Anabaptist kingdom of Münster
Apocalyptic Anabaptists seize Münster, abolish property, introduce polygamy and crown a king. The city falls in 1535.
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1536
Radical Reformation
Menno Simons gathers the peaceful Anabaptists
After Münster, a former priest rebuilds Anabaptism as a non-violent, separated church - the Mennonites.
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1609
Reformed, Puritan and Baptist
John Smyth baptises himself in Amsterdam
A former Church of England clergyman, concluding that no church has true baptism, baptises himself and his congregation.
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1612
Reformed, Puritan and Baptist
The first Baptist church in England
Thomas Helwys founds a church at Spitalfields and pleads for liberty of conscience. He dies in Newgate.
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1647
Reformed, Puritan and Baptist
The Westminster Confession and the regulative principle
God may not be worshipped in any way not prescribed in Scripture. Parliament abolishes Christmas the same year.
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1706
India
Lutheran mission at Tranquebar
Bartholomäus Ziegenbalg begins the first Protestant mission in India; the Tamil New Testament follows in 1715.
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24 May 1738
Revivalism and Holiness
Wesley's heart "strangely warmed"
The Anglican priest John Wesley's evangelical experience at Aldersgate; field preaching follows in 1739.
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1766
Revivalism and Holiness
A Plain Account of Christian Perfection
Wesley teaches that perfect love, received by faith in a moment, can free the believer from wilful sin.
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August 1801
Revivalism and Holiness
Cane Ridge camp meeting
Tens of thousands gather in Kentucky; falling, jerking and laughing are reported. The frontier camp meeting is born.
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1804
Restorationists and date-setters
"Let this body die"
Barton Stone and colleagues dissolve their presbytery to be "Christians only".
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1809
Restorationists and date-setters
The Declaration and Address
"Where the Scriptures speak, we speak; where the Scriptures are silent, we are silent." The Campbells' Restoration Movement begins.
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1826-30
Restored apostles and prophets
The Albury conferences on prophecy
Henry Drummond and Edward Irving's circle expect Christ's return and a latter-day outpouring of the Spirit.
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1827-30
Brethren and dispensationalism
Breaking bread without clergy in Dublin
Groves, Cronin, Bellett and others begin meeting as "brethren"; J.N. Darby leaves the Church of Ireland ministry and joins them.
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spring 1830
Restored apostles and prophets
Tongues and visions on the Clyde
Margaret MacDonald's visions and her brothers' tongues at Port Glasgow - claimed by some as a source of the secret rapture.
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1831-33
Brethren and dispensationalism
The Powerscourt prophecy conferences
Darby's views on the ruined Church, Israel and the coming of Christ are worked out in company.
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1831
Restored apostles and prophets
Tongues at Regent Square
Prophecy and tongues break out in Edward Irving's London church. He is removed in 1832 and deposed in 1833.
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1833
India
Groves in India
The Brethren pioneer urges Indian evangelists to work free of foreign funds.
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1835
Revivalism and Holiness
Finney's Lectures on Revivals of Religion
"A revival is not a miracle." The anxious bench and the new measures - the ancestor of the altar call.
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14 July 1835
Restored apostles and prophets
Twelve "apostles" separated at Albury
The Catholic Apostolic Church is governed by apostles called through prophecy. The last dies in 1901.
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1843
Revivalism and Holiness
Phoebe Palmer's The Way of Holiness
Altar theology: lay all on the altar and claim entire sanctification at once - the "shorter way".
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1842-43
Healing movements
"Jesus is Victor" at Möttlingen
The Lutheran pastor J.C. Blumhardt's prayer for the afflicted is followed by revival and healings.
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22 October 1844
Restorationists and date-setters
The Great Disappointment
William Miller's followers expect Christ on 22 October 1844. Adventism grows from those who reinterpret the date.
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1848
Brethren and dispensationalism
The Open and Exclusive split
Darby demands that all assemblies cut off Bethesda, Bristol. The Brethren divide.
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1860
India
Revival at Christianpettah
Aroolappen's congregations in Tirunelveli report prophecy and tongues, forty years before Topeka.
Drew on1833 · Groves in India -
Vineland, New Jersey, 1867
Revivalism and Holiness
The National Holiness Camp Meeting
The Holiness movement spreads the second blessing, increasingly called the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
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1875
Revivalism and Holiness
The Keswick Convention
A British "higher life" movement of victory over sin by faith, later a channel for the Welsh Revival's piety.
Led to1904 · The Welsh Revival -
1873-75
Revivalism and Holiness
Moody's campaigns and the inquiry room
D.L. Moody brings revivalism to mass urban audiences and preaches the any-moment return of Christ.
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1878
Brethren and dispensationalism
The Niagara Bible Conference
Darby's prophetic scheme, spread on his American visits, is taken up by American evangelicals.
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February 1879
Healing movements
Carrie Judd's healing
Healed after prayer by the Mix family, she writes The Prayer of Faith (1880).
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1881
Healing movements
A.B. Simpson and the Fourfold Gospel
Healed at Old Orchard, Simpson teaches healing in the atonement and founds what becomes the Christian and Missionary Alliance.
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1885
Healing movements
The trance evangelist
Maria Woodworth's meetings fill with people falling into trances. Her 1890 earthquake prophecy fails.
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1898-99
India
The Kerala Brethren
Syrian Christians form assemblies without clergy at Kumbanad and beyond.
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1900-01
Healing movements
Zion City and "Elijah the Restorer"
John Alexander Dowie founds a city without doctors and proclaims himself Elijah; he is deposed in 1906.
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1 January 1901
Pentecostalism
Tongues at Topeka
Agnes Ozman speaks in tongues at Charles Parham's school. Parham teaches tongues as the initial evidence of Spirit baptism.
Led to1906 · Azusa Street -
autumn 1904
Revivalism and Holiness
The Welsh Revival
Evan Roberts's meetings in Loughor spread across Wales; reports reach Los Angeles and India.
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1905
India
Revival at Mukti
Pandita Ramabai's mission sees repentance, then tongues; she warns against making tongues the sign.
Drew on1904 · The Welsh Revival -
April 1906
Pentecostalism
Azusa Street
William Seymour's mission draws people of every race and nation; missionaries go out across the world.
Led to1906 · Parham denounces Azusa1907 · Pentecost in an Anglican parish1907 · Missionary tongues fail in Calcutta1908 · John G. Lake in South Africa1910 · The Finished Work1923 · A.J. Tomlinson removed1923 · Angelus Temple1923 · The Ceylon Pentecostal Mission1924 · The Indian Pentecostal Church of God -
October 1906
Pentecostalism
Parham denounces Azusa
Parham objects to the worship and the mixing of races. In 1907 he is arrested in San Antonio.
Drew on1906 · Azusa Street -
September 1907
Pentecostalism
Pentecost in an Anglican parish
T.B. Barratt comes to Alexander Boddy's Sunderland parish; Smith Wigglesworth receives the experience.
Drew on1906 · Azusa Street -
1907
India
Missionary tongues fail in Calcutta
The Garrs cannot preach in Bengali; Pentecostals begin to rethink tongues.
Drew on1906 · Azusa Street -
1908
Healing movements
John G. Lake in South Africa
A Zion man co-founds the Apostolic Faith Mission. Much of his own life story is later questioned.
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1909
Brethren and dispensationalism
The Scofield Reference Bible
Oxford University Press publishes Scofield's notes; dispensationalism and the pre-tribulation rapture reach millions.
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1910
Pentecostalism
The Finished Work
William Durham rejects the Holiness second blessing and divides the Pentecostal movement.
Drew on1906 · Azusa Street -
1912
Revivalism and Holiness
War on the Saints
Evan Roberts and Jessie Penn-Lewis warn that many supernatural experiences in revival are deceiving spirits.
Drew on1904 · The Welsh Revival -
15 April 1914
Pentecostalism
The New Issue: rebaptism in Jesus' name
After the 1913 Arroyo Seco camp meeting, Frank Ewart begins rebaptising and teaching a Oneness doctrine of God.
Drew on1910 · The Finished Work -
April 1914
Pentecostalism
The Assemblies of God
Finished Work Pentecostals organise at Hot Springs, Arkansas.
Drew on1910 · The Finished Work -
1916
Pentecostalism
The Statement of Fundamental Truths
The Assemblies of God affirms the Trinity and tongues as initial evidence; Oneness ministers leave.
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1916
Word of Faith and prosperity
E.W. Kenyon's positive confession
"What I confess, I possess." Kenyon's books lay the foundation of the Word of Faith.
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1918
Pentecostalism
Do All Speak with Tongues?
F.F. Bosworth challenges the initial evidence doctrine and resigns from the Assemblies of God.
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1923
Pentecostalism
A.J. Tomlinson removed
The leader of the self-described restored Church of God is removed for financial mismanagement.
Drew on1906 · Azusa Street -
1 January 1923
Pentecostalism
Angelus Temple
Aimee Semple McPherson's 5,000-seat temple, radio station and Foursquare Gospel. Her 1926 disappearance becomes a national scandal.
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1923
Pentecostalism
The Vancouver investigation
A committee follows up Charles S. Price's claimed healings and reports few lasting cures.
Drew on1923 · Angelus Temple -
1923
India
The Ceylon Pentecostal Mission
Paul Ramankutty's church of celibate ministers and faith homes, now The Pentecostal Mission of Chennai.
Drew on1906 · Azusa Street -
1920s
India
The Indian Pentecostal Church of God
K.E. Abraham leads an indigenous Pentecostal church independent of foreign missions.
Drew on1906 · Azusa Street -
1933
India
Christian Mass Movements in India
J. Waskom Pickett's study of group conversions shapes McGavran's church growth theory.
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1941
India
Hebron, Hyderabad
Bakht Singh's indigenous assemblies spread across India.
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1946
Healing movements
Atomic Power with God through Fasting and Prayer
Franklin Hall's book on fasting is read by the healing evangelists and at North Battleford.
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7 May 1946
Healing movements
Branham's angel
William Branham claims an angelic commission and launches the post-war healing revival.
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1947
Healing movements
Oral Roberts's healing ministry
The most successful healing evangelist of the century begins his campaigns.
Drew on1946 · Branham's angel -
1947
Healing movements
Kathryn Kuhlman's miracle services
Quiet services with announced healings and people "slain in the Spirit" - later a bridge to the charismatic renewal.
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February 1948
Restored apostles and prophets
The Latter Rain at North Battleford
Gifts imparted by prophetic presbyteries, restored apostles and prophets, and the Manifest Sons of God.
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1948
Healing movements
The Voice of Healing
Gordon Lindsay's magazine promotes Branham and dozens of healing evangelists; F.F. Bosworth joins Branham.
Drew on1946 · Branham's angel -
1949
Restored apostles and prophets
The Assemblies of God condemns the Latter Rain
Pentecostals reject the "New Order" within a year.
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1951
Charismatic renewal and Third Wave
Full Gospel Business Men's Fellowship
Demos Shakarian's breakfasts carry Pentecostal testimony to laymen of every church.
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1952
Word of Faith and prosperity
The Power of Positive Thinking
Norman Vincent Peale blends Christianity with positive thinking.
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1950s
Charismatic renewal and Third Wave
"Mr Pentecost" at the World Council of Churches
David du Plessis takes Pentecostal testimony to the historic churches; his credentials are revoked in 1962.
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1954
Word of Faith and prosperity
The Blessing Pact and seed faith
Oral Roberts promises that God will return supporters' gifts - the doctrine of seed faith.
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1955
Healing movements
A.A. Allen's arrest
Arrested for drunk driving in Knoxville, Allen leaves the Assemblies of God and builds Miracle Valley.
Drew on1948 · The Voice of Healing -
1955
Church growth and megachurches
The Bridges of God
Donald McGavran, drawing on India's people movements, launches the Church Growth Movement.
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1955
Church growth and megachurches
A church in a drive-in theatre
Robert Schuller begins the ministry that becomes the Crystal Cathedral.
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1956
Healing movements
Jack Coe arrested in Miami
Charged after a boy with polio has his braces removed; Coe dies of polio later that year.
Drew on1948 · The Voice of Healing -
1958
Church growth and megachurches
Yoido Full Gospel Church
David Yonggi Cho's church becomes the largest congregation in the world.
Drew on1914 · The Assemblies of God -
3 April 1960
Charismatic renewal and Third Wave
Van Nuys: tongues in an Episcopal parish
Dennis Bennett's announcement launches the charismatic renewal in the mainline churches.
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1961
Charismatic renewal and Third Wave
The Lutheran renewal
Larry Christenson of San Pedro becomes the leading Lutheran charismatic.
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1962
India
Jesus Calls
D.G.S. Dhinakaran leaves the bank to preach; his ministry becomes the best known in India.
Drew on1948 · The Voice of Healing -
1964
Charismatic renewal and Third Wave
The Fountain Trust
Michael Harper promotes renewal in Britain; in 1995 he becomes Orthodox.
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1965
Revivalism and Holiness
The Four Spiritual Laws
Campus Crusade's tract, with its printed prayer to receive Christ, spreads the sinner's prayer worldwide.
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24 December 1965
Healing movements
Branham's death
Branham, who had predicted the end by 1977 and taught the serpent seed, dies after a car crash. His followers delay his burial.
Drew on1946 · Branham's angel -
1965
Church growth and megachurches
Fuller School of World Mission
McGavran, with C. Peter Wagner, teaches church growth - and the homogeneous unit principle.
Drew on1955 · The Bridges of God -
February 1967
Charismatic renewal and Third Wave
The Duquesne Weekend
The Catholic Charismatic Renewal begins at a Pittsburgh retreat.
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21 July 1969
India
"The second coming" in South India
Branham's follower Paulaseer Lawrie claims to be Christ returned; he later calls himself an avatar.
Drew on1946 · Branham's angel -
1970
Brethren and dispensationalism
The Aberdeen crisis
James Taylor Jr.'s conduct at Aberdeen splits the Exclusive Brethren.
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1970
Charismatic renewal and Third Wave
The Fort Lauderdale teachers
Covenant submission and personal shepherds - a system its founders later repented of.
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1973
Reformed, Puritan and Baptist
The Institutes of Biblical Law
R.J. Rushdoony argues that the civil laws of the Old Testament should govern modern nations - Christian Reconstructionism.
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1974
Healing movements
Healing: A Doctor in Search of a Miracle
William Nolen follows up Kuhlman's healings and finds no cures of organic disease.
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1974
Word of Faith and prosperity
Rhema Bible Training Center
Kenneth Hagin's school spreads positive confession, healing and prosperity teaching worldwide.
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1974
Charismatic renewal and Third Wave
The Malines Documents
Cardinal Suenens's theologians interpret baptism in the Spirit as the release of sacramental grace.
Drew on1967 · The Duquesne Weekend -
1975
Restored apostles and prophets
The seven spheres
Loren Cunningham and Bill Bright describe seven areas that shape society - later recast as the Seven Mountains Mandate.
Led to2008 · Dominion! -
June 1975
Charismatic renewal and Third Wave
The shepherding controversy
Pat Robertson publicly challenges the shepherding teachers.
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1975
Church growth and megachurches
The seeker-sensitive church
A suburban Chicago church designs its services around the unchurched; thousands copy the model.
Led to2007 · Reveal -
1980s
Restored apostles and prophets
"Kingdom Now" theology
Earl Paulk and others teach that the Church must establish the kingdom before Christ returns.
Led to2008 · Dominion! -
1982
Charismatic renewal and Third Wave
Wimber and the Vineyard
John Wimber leads the Vineyard and teaches "Signs, Wonders and Church Growth" at Fuller.
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1982
Church growth and megachurches
Self-Esteem: The New Reformation
Schuller redefines the gospel around self-esteem.
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1983
Charismatic renewal and Third Wave
The "Third Wave"
C. Peter Wagner names evangelicals who embrace signs and wonders without a second baptism.
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1986
Charismatic renewal and Third Wave
The shepherding network dissolves
Derek Prince has already withdrawn (1983); in 1989 another founder publicly repents.
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1987-88
Word of Faith and prosperity
The televangelist scandals
The PTL network collapses; Oral Roberts says God will "call him home" unless $8 million is raised.
Led to1988 · "I have sinned" -
1988
Restored apostles and prophets
The Kansas City Prophets join Wimber
Paul Cain, Bob Jones and others are welcomed into the Vineyard. Their London prophecy of 1990 fails.
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February 1988
Word of Faith and prosperity
"I have sinned"
Jimmy Swaggart's televised confession; he is defrocked by the Assemblies of God.
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1988
Word of Faith and prosperity
A Different Gospel
D.R. McConnell shows that Hagin copied Kenyon and traces Word of Faith to New Thought.
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20 January 1994
Charismatic renewal and Third Wave
The Toronto Blessing
Holy laughter and animal noises at the Toronto Airport Vineyard, expelled from the Vineyard in 1995.
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1995-2007
Brethren and dispensationalism
The Left Behind novels
Best-selling novels bring the pre-tribulation rapture to a mass audience.
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1999
Restored apostles and prophets
The International Coalition of Apostles
C. Peter Wagner names the New Apostolic Reformation and presides over a coalition of modern apostles.
Drew on1948 · The Latter Rain at North Battleford1988 · The Kansas City Prophets join Wimber1983 · The "Third Wave"Led to2008 · Dominion! -
2000
Word of Faith and prosperity
The Midas Touch
Hagin criticises the excesses of prosperity preaching.
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2007
Church growth and megachurches
Reveal
The leading seeker church admits that activity has not produced spiritual growth.
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2008
Restored apostles and prophets
Dominion!
Wagner endorses the Seven Mountains Mandate: the Church must take dominion over every sphere of society.
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2011
Restorationists and date-setters
The rapture predicted for 21 May 2011
Harold Camping's prediction fails; he later admits that setting a date was wrong.
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2019
Church growth and megachurches
Crystal Cathedral becomes Christ Cathedral
After bankruptcy, Schuller's cathedral is consecrated as a Catholic cathedral.