One of the fallacies found within human nature is the idea that returning to the begining or the Garden is going to bring us to the most pure form of truth possible. I think America was built on this ideal. The first settlers were looking for religious purity, by trying to reclaim the practices of the early church in the footsteps of the Reformation. The founding Fathers also looked into antiquity for a model of government - Greece, for purity. The Fundamentalist movement of the late 19th century was trying to do what the Puritans failed to do. Even the Catholic Church teaches that the source of Apostolic truth diminishes over time.
Frankly, I think this is a real problem because it restricts growth; Christianity is supposed to be a living and growing religion. When people try to recapture the past, they end up re-enacting an inaccurate version - an idealized version of the past, which appears wooden and legalistic. Even if it were possible to recapture the past in an accurate manner, it would no longer be relevant. Unfortunately, instead of embracing change, we as Christians end up loving the ideals of the past and chasing rainbows, rather than focusing on loving people today.
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