by Tim Barker
The growth of the church from its infancy through today, amazes me. I think the growth today is different from the 1800's, however, not just because of the size of the missionary effort in our day, but because the converts then and now, come from significantly different cultures. Concerns today, collectively, are different than what they used to be. It seems that there has been a general growing indifference towards religion for many years. In the 1800's there were many people prepared for the Gospel because they saw the corruption of Biblical teachings within the churches they attended. The Protestant movement was a key factor in the enlightment age, and within the U.S. there were "great awakenings," that inspired people towards religion. A number of Christians considered themselves as "restorationists," who believed that the gospel was inoperable due to a lack of authority, but a restoration of Christ's primitive church and gospel would occur. One such individual was Thomas Jefferson.
