Christian revival
Encyclopedia
Christian revival is a term that generally refers to a specific period of increased spiritual interest or renewal
in the life of a church
congregation or many churches, either regionally or globally. This should be distinguished from the use of the term "revival" to refer to a evangelistic meeting or series of meetings (see Revival meeting
).
While elements such as mass conversion
s of non-believers and beneficial effects on the moral climate of a given culture may be involved, revivals are seen by leaders as the restoration of the church itself to a vital and fervent relationship with God after a period of decline.
Historians have different numbering and dating systems. There were "Awakenings" around the years 1727, 1792, 1830, 1857, 1882 and 1904. More recent revivals include those of 1906 (Azusa Street Revival
), 1930s (Balokole
), 1970s (Jesus people) and 1909 Chile Revival (Revival in Chile) which spread in the Americas, Africa, and Asia among Protestants and Catholics.
work of early monks, from the Protestant Reformation
(and Catholic Reformation) and from the uncompromising stance of the Covenanter
s in 17th century Scotland and Ulster, that came to Virginia and Pennsylvania with Presbyterians and other non-conformists. Its character formed part of the mental framework that led to the American War of Independence and the Civil War.
had a chilling effect on spiritual movements, but this was countered by the Methodist revival of John Wesley
, Charles Wesley
and George Whitefield
in Britain and the Great Awakening
in America prior to the Revolution. A similar (but smaller scale) revival in Scotland took place at Cambuslang
, then a village and is known as the Cambuslang Work
.
A new fervor spread within the Anglican Church at the end of the century, when the Evangelical
party of John Newton
, William Wilberforce
and his Clapham
sect were inspired to combat social ills at home and slavery
abroad, and founded Bible
and missionary societies.
was a wave of religious enthusiasm among Protestants that swept the American colonies in the 1730s and 1740s, leaving a permanent impact on American religion. It resulted from powerful preaching that deeply affected listeners (already church members) with a deep sense of personal guilt and salvation by Christ. Pulling away from ritual and ceremony, the Great Awakening made religion intensely personal to the average person by creating a deep sense of spiritual guilt and redemption. Historian Sydney E. Ahlstrom
sees it as part of a "great international Protestant upheaval" that also created Pietism
in Germany, the Evangelical Revival
and Methodism
in England. It brought Christianity to the slaves and was an apocalyptic event in New England
that challenged established authority. It incited rancor and division between the old traditionalists who insisted on ritual and doctrine and the new revivalists. It had a major impact in reshaping the Congregational
, Presbyterian
, Dutch Reformed
, and German Reformed denominations, and strengthened the small Baptist
and Methodist
denominations. It had little impact on Anglicans
and Quakers
. Unlike the Second Great Awakening
that began about 1800 and which reached out to the unchurched
, the First Great Awakening
focused on people who were already church members. It changed their rituals, their piety, and their self awareness.
The new style of sermons and the way people practiced their faith breathed new life into religion in America
. People became passionately and emotionally involved in their religion, rather than passively listening to intellectual discourse in a detached manner. Ministers who used this new style of preaching were generally called "new lights"
, while the preachers of old were called "old lights"
. People began to study the Bible at home, which effectively decentralized the means of informing the public on religious matters and was akin to the individualistic trends present in Europe during the Protestant Reformation
.
Gobbett (1997) Discusses the usefulness of historian Elie Halévy
's thesis explaining why England did not undergo a social revolution in the period 1790–1832, a time that appeared ripe for violent social upheaval. Halévy suggested that a politically conservative Methodism forestalled revolution among the largely uneducated working class by redirecting its energies toward spiritual rather than temporal affairs. The thesis has engendered strong debate among historians, and several have adopted and modified Halévy's thesis. Some historians, such as Robert Wearmouth, suggest that evangelical revivalism directed working-class attention toward moral regeneration, not social radicalism. Others, including E. P. Thompson
, claim that Methodism, though a small movement, had a politically regressive effect on efforts for reform. Some historians question the Halévy thesis. Eric Hobsbawm
claims that Methodism was not a large enough movement to have been able to prevent revolution. Alan Gilbert suggests that Methodism's supposed antiradicalism has been misunderstood by historians, suggesting that it was seen as a socially deviant movement and the majority of Methodists were moderate radicals.
Early in the 19th century the Scottish minister Thomas Chalmers
had an important influence on the evangelical revival movement. Chalmers began life as a moderate in the Church of Scotland
and an opponent of evangelicalism. During the winter of 1803–04, he presented a series of lectures that outlined a reconciliation of the apparent incompatibility between the Genesis account of creation and the findings of the developing science of geology. However, by 1810 he had become an evangelical and would eventually lead the Disruption of 1843
that resulted in the formation of the Free Church of Scotland
.
The Plymouth Brethren
started with John Nelson Darby
at this time, a result of disillusionment with denominationalism and clerical hierarchy.
The established churches too, were influenced by the evangelical revival. In 1833 a group of Anglican clergymen led by John Henry Newman and John Keble
began the Oxford Movement
. However its objective was to renew the Church of England by reviving certain Roman Catholic doctrines and rituals, thus distancing themselves as far as possible from evangelical enthusiasm.
(1800–30s) was the second great religious revival in United States history and consisted of renewed personal salvation experienced in revival meetings. Major leaders included Asahel Nettleton
, James Brainerd Taylor, Charles Grandison Finney
, Lyman Beecher
, Barton Stone, Alexander Campbell, Peter Cartwright and James B. Finley.
Rev. Charles Finney (1792–1875) was a key leader of the evangelical revival movement in America. From 1821 onwards he conducted revival meetings across many north-eastern states and won many converts. For him, a revival was not a miracle but a change of mindset that was ultimately a matter for the individual's free will. His revival meetings created anxiety in a penitent's mind that one could only save his or her soul by submission to the will of God, as illustrated by Finney's quotations from the Bible. Finney also conducted revival meetings in England, first in 1849 and later to England and Scotland in 1858–59.
In New England
, the renewed interest in religion inspired a wave of social activism, including abolitionism
. In western New York, the spirit of revival encouraged the emergence of new Restorationist and other Christian denominations and movements such as the Holiness Movement
. Renewed interest in religion even led to new sects and beliefs such as the Mormons
.
In the West (now Upper South) especially—at Cane Ridge, Kentucky
and in Tennessee
—the revival strengthened the Methodists
and Baptists. The Churches of Christ and Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
arose from the Stone-Campbell Restoration Movement
. It also introduced into America a new form of religious expression—the Scottish camp meeting
.
(German: die Erweckung, Dutch: Het Reveil). Le Reveil was a revival of Protestant Christianity along conservative evangelical lines at a time when rationalism had taken a strong hold in the churches on the continent of Europe.
In German-speaking Europe Lutheran Johann Georg Hamann
(1730–1788) was a leading light in the new wave of evangelicalism, the Erweckung, which spread across the land, cross-fertilizing with British movements
The movement began in the Francophone world in connection with a circle of pastors and seminarians at French-speaking Protestant theological seminaries in Geneva
, Switzerland and Montauban
, France, influenced inter alia by the visit of Scottish Christian Robert Haldane
in 1816–1817. The circle included such figures as Merle D'Aubigne, César Malan
, Felix Neff
, and the Monod
brothers.
As these man travelled out, the movement spread to Lyon and Paris in France, to Berlin and Eberfeld in Germany and to the Netherlands. Several missionary societies were founded to support this work, such as the British-based Continental society
and the indigenous Geneva Evangelical Society.
As well as supporting existing Protestant denominations, in France and Germany the movement led to the creation of Free Evangelical Church groupings: the Union des Églises évangéliques libres and Bund Freier evangelischer Gemeinden in Deutschland.
In the Netherlands the movement was taken forward by Willem Bilderdijk
, with Isaäc da Costa
, Abraham Capadose
, Samuel Iperusz Wiselius, Willem de Clercq
and Groen van Prinsterer as his pupils. The movement was politically influential and actively involved in improving society, and — at the end of the 19th century — brought about anti-revolutionary and Christian historical parties.
At the same time in Britain figures such as William Wilberforce
and Thomas Chalmers
were active, although they are not considered to be part of the Le Reveil movement.
began from 1857 onwards in Canada and spread throughout the world including America and Australia. Significant names include Dwight L. Moody
, Ira D. Sankey
, William Booth
and Catherine Booth
(founders of the Salvation Army
), Charles Spurgeon
and James Caughey. Hudson Taylor
began the China Inland Mission
and Thomas John Barnardo
founded his famous orphanages.
Representative was Rev. James Caughey, an American sent by the Wesleyan Methodist Church to Canada from the 1840s through 1864. He brought in the converts by the score, most notably in the revivals in Canada West 1851-53. His technique combined restrained emotionalism with a clear call for personal commitment, coupled with followup action to organize support from converts. It was a time when the Holiness Movement caught fire, with the revitalized interest of men and women in Christian perfection. Caughey successfully bridged the gap between the style of earlier camp meetings and the needs of more sophisticated Methodist congregations in the emerging cities.
In England the Keswick Convention
movement began out of the British Holiness movement
, encouraging a lifestyle of holiness
, unity and prayer.
Subsequently the period 1880–1903 has been described as "a period of unusual evangelistic effort and success", and again sometimes more of a "resurgence" of the previous wave. Moody, Sankey and Spurgeon are again notable names. Others included Sam Jones
, J. Wilber Chapman
and Billy Sunday
in North America, Andrew Murray
in South Africa, William Irvine
in Ireland, and John McNeil in Australia. The Faith Mission
began in 1886.
Finney wrote of this revival, "This winter of 1857–58 will be remembered as the time when a great revival prevailed. It swept across the land with such power that at the time it was estimated that not less than 50,000 conversions occurred weekly."
. See also Ahoghill
. This meeting is generally regarded as the origin of the 1859 revival that swept through most of the towns and villages in the north of Ireland and in due course brought 100,000 converts into the churches. It was also ignited by a young preacher, Henry Grattan Guinness
, who drew thousands at a time to hear his preaching. So great was the interest in the American movement that in 1858 the Presbyterian General Assembly meeting in Derry
appointed two of their ministers, Dr. William Gibson and Rev. William McClure to visit North America. Upon their return the two deputies had many public opportunities to bear testimony to what they had witnessed of the remarkable outpouring of the Spirit across the Atlantic, and to fan the flames in their homeland yet further. Such was the strength of emotion generated by the preachers' oratory that many made spontaneous confessions seeking to be relieved of their burdens of sin. Others suffered complete nervous breakdown.
which had developed in the late 19th century. The Pentecostal revival movement began, out of a passion for more power and a greater outpouring of the Holy Spirit
. In 1902 the American evangelists Reuben Archer Torrey and Charles McCallon Alexander
conducted meetings in Melbourne, Australia, resulting in more than 8,000 converts. News of this revival travelled fast, igniting a passion for prayer and an expectation that God would work in similar ways elsewhere.
Torrey and Alexander were involved in the beginnings of the great Welsh revival
(1904).
In 1906 the modern Pentecostal Movement was born in Azusa Street
, in Los Angeles.
(1878–1951), a 26-year-old former collier and minister-in-training. The revival lasted less than a year, but in that period 100,000 converts were made. Begun as an effort to kindle nondenominational, nonsectarian spirituality, the Welsh revival of 1904–05 coincided with the rise of the labor movement, socialism, and a general disaffection with religion among the working class and youths. Placed in context, the short-lived revival appears as both a climax for Nonconformism and a flashpoint of change in Welsh religious life. The movement spread to Scotland and England, with estimates that a million people were converted in Britain. Missionaries subsequently carried the movement abroad; it was especially influential on the Pentecostal movement emerging in California
.
Unlike earlier religious revivals that pivoted on powerful preaching, the revival of 1904–05 relied primarily on music and on paranormal phenomena as exemplified by the visions of Evan Roberts. The intellectual emphasis of the earlier revivals had left a dearth of religious imagery that the visions supplied. They also challenged the denial of the spiritual and miraculous element of Scripture by opponents of the revival, who held liberal and critical theological positions. The structure and content of the visions not only repeated those of Scripture and earlier Christian mystical tradition but also illuminated the personal and social tensions that the revival addressed by juxtaposing Biblical images with scenes familiar to contemporary Welsh believers.
, from about 1700 to 1850, many non-conformist church
es produced lively popular hymn
s that expressed one's personal relationship with God.
Later hymns were written in a movement called "revivalist" (1850–1920). Songs such as "Washed in the blood of the Lamb" came from Moody and Sankey's Hymn Book. The churches which promoted these songs were generally followers of literal interpretations of the Bible, temperance-inclined and often Baptist
, Methodist, or Holiness
.
Renewal (religion)
Renewal is the collective term for Charismatic, pentecostal and neo-charismatic churches.- Neo-charismatic churches :The neo-charismatic denominations have more than a million members in China, some of them belonging to the local churches...
in the life of a church
Local church
A local church is a Christian congregation of members and clergy.Local church may also refer to:* Local churches , a Christian group based on the teachings of Watchman Nee and Witness Lee, and associated with the Living Stream Ministry publishing house.* Parish church, a local church united with...
congregation or many churches, either regionally or globally. This should be distinguished from the use of the term "revival" to refer to a evangelistic meeting or series of meetings (see Revival meeting
Revival meeting
A revival meeting is a series of Christian religious services held in order to inspire active members of a church body, to raise funds and to gain new converts...
).
While elements such as mass conversion
Religious conversion
Religious conversion is the adoption of a new religion that differs from the convert's previous religion. Changing from one denomination to another within the same religion is usually described as reaffiliation rather than conversion.People convert to a different religion for various reasons,...
s of non-believers and beneficial effects on the moral climate of a given culture may be involved, revivals are seen by leaders as the restoration of the church itself to a vital and fervent relationship with God after a period of decline.
Historians have different numbering and dating systems. There were "Awakenings" around the years 1727, 1792, 1830, 1857, 1882 and 1904. More recent revivals include those of 1906 (Azusa Street Revival
Azusa Street Revival
The Azusa Street Revival was a historic Pentecostal revival meeting that took place in Los Angeles, California and is the origin of the Pentecostal movement. It was led by William J. Seymour, an African American preacher. It began with a meeting on April 14, 1906, and continued until roughly 1915...
), 1930s (Balokole
Balokole
Balokole is an African fundamentalist Christian reform movement that started in the 1930s. The Balokole arose within the East African Revival Movement which sought to renew the Protestant churches in Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi...
), 1970s (Jesus people) and 1909 Chile Revival (Revival in Chile) which spread in the Americas, Africa, and Asia among Protestants and Catholics.
17th century
Many Christian revivals drew inspiration from the missionaryMissionary
A missionary is a member of a religious group sent into an area to do evangelism or ministries of service, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care and economic development. The word "mission" originates from 1598 when the Jesuits sent members abroad, derived from the Latin...
work of early monks, from the Protestant Reformation
Protestant Reformation
The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...
(and Catholic Reformation) and from the uncompromising stance of the Covenanter
Covenanter
The Covenanters were a Scottish Presbyterian movement that played an important part in the history of Scotland, and to a lesser extent in that of England and Ireland, during the 17th century...
s in 17th century Scotland and Ulster, that came to Virginia and Pennsylvania with Presbyterians and other non-conformists. Its character formed part of the mental framework that led to the American War of Independence and the Civil War.
18th century
The 18th century Age of EnlightenmentAge of Enlightenment
The Age of Enlightenment was an elite cultural movement of intellectuals in 18th century Europe that sought to mobilize the power of reason in order to reform society and advance knowledge. It promoted intellectual interchange and opposed intolerance and abuses in church and state...
had a chilling effect on spiritual movements, but this was countered by the Methodist revival of John Wesley
John Wesley
John Wesley was a Church of England cleric and Christian theologian. Wesley is largely credited, along with his brother Charles Wesley, as founding the Methodist movement which began when he took to open-air preaching in a similar manner to George Whitefield...
, Charles Wesley
Charles Wesley
Charles Wesley was an English leader of the Methodist movement, son of Anglican clergyman and poet Samuel Wesley, the younger brother of Anglican clergyman John Wesley and Anglican clergyman Samuel Wesley , and father of musician Samuel Wesley, and grandfather of musician Samuel Sebastian Wesley...
and George Whitefield
George Whitefield
George Whitefield , also known as George Whitfield, was an English Anglican priest who helped spread the Great Awakening in Britain, and especially in the British North American colonies. He was one of the founders of Methodism and of the evangelical movement generally...
in Britain and the Great Awakening
Great Awakening
The term Great Awakening is used to refer to a period of religious revival in American religious history. Historians and theologians identify three or four waves of increased religious enthusiasm occurring between the early 18th century and the late 19th century...
in America prior to the Revolution. A similar (but smaller scale) revival in Scotland took place at Cambuslang
Cambuslang
Cambuslang is a suburban town on the south-eastern outskirts of Glasgow, Scotland. It is within the local authority area of South Lanarkshire. Historically, it was a large rural Parish incorporating nearby hamlets of Newton, Flemington, and Halfway. It is known as "the largest village in...
, then a village and is known as the Cambuslang Work
Cambuslang Work
The Cambuslang Work, or ‘Wark’ in the Scots language, was a period of extraordinary religious activity, in Cambuslang, Scotland...
.
A new fervor spread within the Anglican Church at the end of the century, when the Evangelical
Evangelicalism
Evangelicalism is a Protestant Christian movement which began in Great Britain in the 1730s and gained popularity in the United States during the series of Great Awakenings of the 18th and 19th century.Its key commitments are:...
party of John Newton
John Newton
John Henry Newton was a British sailor and Anglican clergyman. Starting his career on the sea at a young age, he became involved with the slave trade for a few years. After experiencing a religious conversion, he became a minister, hymn-writer, and later a prominent supporter of the abolition of...
, William Wilberforce
William Wilberforce
William Wilberforce was a British politician, a philanthropist and a leader of the movement to abolish the slave trade. A native of Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, he began his political career in 1780, eventually becoming the independent Member of Parliament for Yorkshire...
and his Clapham
Clapham
Clapham is a district in south London, England, within the London Borough of Lambeth.Clapham covers the postcodes of SW4 and parts of SW9, SW8 and SW12. Clapham Common is shared with the London Borough of Wandsworth, although Lambeth has responsibility for running the common as a whole. According...
sect were inspired to combat social ills at home and slavery
Christianity and slavery
Christian views on slavery are varied both regionally and historically. Slavery in different forms has been imposed by Christians for over 18 centuries. In the early years of Christianity, slavery was a normal feature of the economy and society in the Roman Empire, and this remained well into the...
abroad, and founded Bible
Bible society
A Bible society is a non-profit organization devoted to translating, publishing, distributing the Bible at affordable costs and advocating its credibility and trustworthiness in contemporary cultural life...
and missionary societies.
American Colonies
In the American colonies the First Great AwakeningFirst Great Awakening
The First Awakening was a Christian revitalization movement that swept Protestant Europe and British America, and especially the American colonies in the 1730s and 1740s, leaving a permanent impact on American religion. It resulted from powerful preaching that gave listeners a sense of personal...
was a wave of religious enthusiasm among Protestants that swept the American colonies in the 1730s and 1740s, leaving a permanent impact on American religion. It resulted from powerful preaching that deeply affected listeners (already church members) with a deep sense of personal guilt and salvation by Christ. Pulling away from ritual and ceremony, the Great Awakening made religion intensely personal to the average person by creating a deep sense of spiritual guilt and redemption. Historian Sydney E. Ahlstrom
Sydney E. Ahlstrom
Sydney Eckman Ahlstrom was an American historian. He was a Yale University professor and a specialist in the religious history of the United States....
sees it as part of a "great international Protestant upheaval" that also created Pietism
Pietism
Pietism was a movement within Lutheranism, lasting from the late 17th century to the mid-18th century and later. It proved to be very influential throughout Protestantism and Anabaptism, inspiring not only Anglican priest John Wesley to begin the Methodist movement, but also Alexander Mack to...
in Germany, the Evangelical Revival
Evangelicalism
Evangelicalism is a Protestant Christian movement which began in Great Britain in the 1730s and gained popularity in the United States during the series of Great Awakenings of the 18th and 19th century.Its key commitments are:...
and Methodism
Methodism
Methodism is a movement of Protestant Christianity represented by a number of denominations and organizations, claiming a total of approximately seventy million adherents worldwide. The movement traces its roots to John Wesley's evangelistic revival movement within Anglicanism. His younger brother...
in England. It brought Christianity to the slaves and was an apocalyptic event in New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
that challenged established authority. It incited rancor and division between the old traditionalists who insisted on ritual and doctrine and the new revivalists. It had a major impact in reshaping the Congregational
Congregational church
Congregational churches are Protestant Christian churches practicing Congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its own affairs....
, Presbyterian
Presbyterianism
Presbyterianism refers to a number of Christian churches adhering to the Calvinist theological tradition within Protestantism, which are organized according to a characteristic Presbyterian polity. Presbyterian theology typically emphasizes the sovereignty of God, the authority of the Scriptures,...
, Dutch Reformed
Dutch Reformed Church
The Dutch Reformed Church was a Reformed Christian denomination in the Netherlands. It existed from the 1570s to 2004, the year it merged with the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Kingdom of the Netherlands to form the Protestant Church in the...
, and German Reformed denominations, and strengthened the small Baptist
Baptist
Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...
and Methodist
Methodism
Methodism is a movement of Protestant Christianity represented by a number of denominations and organizations, claiming a total of approximately seventy million adherents worldwide. The movement traces its roots to John Wesley's evangelistic revival movement within Anglicanism. His younger brother...
denominations. It had little impact on Anglicans
Anglicanism
Anglicanism is a tradition within Christianity comprising churches with historical connections to the Church of England or similar beliefs, worship and church structures. The word Anglican originates in ecclesia anglicana, a medieval Latin phrase dating to at least 1246 that means the English...
and Quakers
Religious Society of Friends
The Religious Society of Friends, or Friends Church, is a Christian movement which stresses the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers. Members are known as Friends, or popularly as Quakers. It is made of independent organisations, which have split from one another due to doctrinal differences...
. Unlike the Second Great Awakening
Second Great Awakening
The Second Great Awakening was a Christian revival movement during the early 19th century in the United States. The movement began around 1800, had begun to gain momentum by 1820, and was in decline by 1870. The Second Great Awakening expressed Arminian theology, by which every person could be...
that began about 1800 and which reached out to the unchurched
Unchurched
"Unchurched" means, in the broad sense, people who are not connected with a church. In research on religious participation, it refers more specifically to people who do not attend worship services...
, the First Great Awakening
First Great Awakening
The First Awakening was a Christian revitalization movement that swept Protestant Europe and British America, and especially the American colonies in the 1730s and 1740s, leaving a permanent impact on American religion. It resulted from powerful preaching that gave listeners a sense of personal...
focused on people who were already church members. It changed their rituals, their piety, and their self awareness.
The new style of sermons and the way people practiced their faith breathed new life into religion in America
Religion in the United States
Religion in the United States is characterized by both a wide diversity in religious beliefs and practices, and by a high adherence level. According to recent surveys, 83 percent of Americans claim to belong to a religious denomination, 40 percent claim to attend services nearly every week or...
. People became passionately and emotionally involved in their religion, rather than passively listening to intellectual discourse in a detached manner. Ministers who used this new style of preaching were generally called "new lights"
Old and New Light
The terms Old Lights and New Lights are used in Christian circles to distinguish between two groups who were initially the same, but have come to a disagreement. These terms have been applied in a wide variety of ways, and the meaning must be determined from context...
, while the preachers of old were called "old lights"
Old and New Light
The terms Old Lights and New Lights are used in Christian circles to distinguish between two groups who were initially the same, but have come to a disagreement. These terms have been applied in a wide variety of ways, and the meaning must be determined from context...
. People began to study the Bible at home, which effectively decentralized the means of informing the public on religious matters and was akin to the individualistic trends present in Europe during the Protestant Reformation
Protestant Reformation
The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...
.
Britain
During the 18th century England saw a series of Methodist revivalist campaigns that stressed the tenets of faith set forth by John Wesley and that were conducted in accordance with a careful strategy. In addition to stressing the evangelist combination of "Bible, cross, conversion, and activism," the revivalist movement of the 19th century made efforts toward a universal appeal – rich and poor, urban and rural, and men and women. Special efforts were made to attract children and to generate literature to spread the revivalist message.Gobbett (1997) Discusses the usefulness of historian Elie Halévy
Élie Halévy
Élie Halévy was a French philosopher and historian who wrote studies of the British utilitarians, a history of 19th-century England and the acclaimed book of essays, Era of Tyrannies.-Biography:...
's thesis explaining why England did not undergo a social revolution in the period 1790–1832, a time that appeared ripe for violent social upheaval. Halévy suggested that a politically conservative Methodism forestalled revolution among the largely uneducated working class by redirecting its energies toward spiritual rather than temporal affairs. The thesis has engendered strong debate among historians, and several have adopted and modified Halévy's thesis. Some historians, such as Robert Wearmouth, suggest that evangelical revivalism directed working-class attention toward moral regeneration, not social radicalism. Others, including E. P. Thompson
E. P. Thompson
Edward Palmer Thompson was a British historian, writer, socialist and peace campaigner. He is probably best known today for his historical work on the British radical movements in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, in particular The Making of the English Working Class...
, claim that Methodism, though a small movement, had a politically regressive effect on efforts for reform. Some historians question the Halévy thesis. Eric Hobsbawm
Eric Hobsbawm
Eric John Ernest Hobsbawm , CH, FBA, is a British Marxist historian, public intellectual, and author...
claims that Methodism was not a large enough movement to have been able to prevent revolution. Alan Gilbert suggests that Methodism's supposed antiradicalism has been misunderstood by historians, suggesting that it was seen as a socially deviant movement and the majority of Methodists were moderate radicals.
Early in the 19th century the Scottish minister Thomas Chalmers
Thomas Chalmers
Thomas Chalmers , Scottish mathematician, political economist, divine and a leader of the Free Church of Scotland, was born at Anstruther in Fife.-Overview:...
had an important influence on the evangelical revival movement. Chalmers began life as a moderate in the Church of Scotland
Church of Scotland
The Church of Scotland, known informally by its Scots language name, the Kirk, is a Presbyterian church, decisively shaped by the Scottish Reformation....
and an opponent of evangelicalism. During the winter of 1803–04, he presented a series of lectures that outlined a reconciliation of the apparent incompatibility between the Genesis account of creation and the findings of the developing science of geology. However, by 1810 he had become an evangelical and would eventually lead the Disruption of 1843
Disruption of 1843
The Disruption of 1843 was a schism within the established Church of Scotland, in which 450 ministers of the Church broke away, over the issue of the Church's relationship with the State, to form the Free Church of Scotland...
that resulted in the formation of the Free Church of Scotland
Free Church of Scotland (1843-1900)
The Free Church of Scotland is a Scottish denomination which was formed in 1843 by a large withdrawal from the established Church of Scotland in a schism known as the "Disruption of 1843"...
.
The Plymouth Brethren
Plymouth Brethren
The Plymouth Brethren is a conservative, Evangelical Christian movement, whose history can be traced to Dublin, Ireland, in the late 1820s. Although the group is notable for not taking any official "church name" to itself, and not having an official clergy or liturgy, the title "The Brethren," is...
started with John Nelson Darby
John Nelson Darby
John Nelson Darby was an Anglo-Irish evangelist, and an influential figure among the original Plymouth Brethren. He is considered to be the father of modern Dispensationalism. He produced a translation of the Bible based on the Hebrew and Greek texts called The Holy Scriptures: A New Translation...
at this time, a result of disillusionment with denominationalism and clerical hierarchy.
The established churches too, were influenced by the evangelical revival. In 1833 a group of Anglican clergymen led by John Henry Newman and John Keble
John Keble
John Keble was an English churchman and poet, one of the leaders of the Oxford Movement, and gave his name to Keble College, Oxford.-Early life:...
began the Oxford Movement
Oxford Movement
The Oxford Movement was a movement of High Church Anglicans, eventually developing into Anglo-Catholicism. The movement, whose members were often associated with the University of Oxford, argued for the reinstatement of lost Christian traditions of faith and their inclusion into Anglican liturgy...
. However its objective was to renew the Church of England by reviving certain Roman Catholic doctrines and rituals, thus distancing themselves as far as possible from evangelical enthusiasm.
Australia
Piggin (1988) explores the development and tenacity of the evangelical movement in Australia, and its impact on Australian society. Evangelicalism arrived from Britain as an already mature movement characterized by commonly shared attitudes toward doctrine, spiritual life, and sacred history. Any attempt to periodize the history of the movement in Australia should examine the role of revivalism and the oscillations between emphases on personal holiness and social concerns.Scandinavia
Historians have examined the revival movements in Scandinavia, with special attention to the growth of organizations, church history, missionary history, social class and religion, women in religious movements, religious geography, the lay movements as counter culture, ethnology, and social force. Some historians approach it as a cult process since the revivalist movements tend to rise and fall. Others study it as minority discontent with the status quo or, after the revivalists gain wide acceptance, as a majority that tends to impose its own standards. The Grundtvigian and Home Mission revival movements arose in Denmark after 1860 and reshaped religion in that country, and among immigrants to America.United States 1800–1850
In the U.S. the Second Great AwakeningSecond Great Awakening
The Second Great Awakening was a Christian revival movement during the early 19th century in the United States. The movement began around 1800, had begun to gain momentum by 1820, and was in decline by 1870. The Second Great Awakening expressed Arminian theology, by which every person could be...
(1800–30s) was the second great religious revival in United States history and consisted of renewed personal salvation experienced in revival meetings. Major leaders included Asahel Nettleton
Asahel Nettleton
Asahel Nettleton was an American theologian and pastor from Connecticut who was highly influential during the Second Great Awakening. The number of people converted to Christianity as a result of his ministry is estimated at 30,000. He attended Yale College from 1805 until his graduation in 1809...
, James Brainerd Taylor, Charles Grandison Finney
Charles Grandison Finney
Charles Grandison Finney was a leader in the Second Great Awakening. He has been called The Father of Modern Revivalism. Finney was best known as an innovative revivalist, an opponent of Old School Presbyterian theology, an advocate of Christian perfectionism, a pioneer in social reforms in favor...
, Lyman Beecher
Lyman Beecher
Lyman Beecher was a Presbyterian minister, American Temperance Society co-founder and leader, and the father of 13 children, many of whom were noted leaders, including Harriet Beecher Stowe, Henry Ward Beecher, Charles Beecher, Edward Beecher, Isabella Beecher Hooker, Catharine Beecher, and Thomas...
, Barton Stone, Alexander Campbell, Peter Cartwright and James B. Finley.
Rev. Charles Finney (1792–1875) was a key leader of the evangelical revival movement in America. From 1821 onwards he conducted revival meetings across many north-eastern states and won many converts. For him, a revival was not a miracle but a change of mindset that was ultimately a matter for the individual's free will. His revival meetings created anxiety in a penitent's mind that one could only save his or her soul by submission to the will of God, as illustrated by Finney's quotations from the Bible. Finney also conducted revival meetings in England, first in 1849 and later to England and Scotland in 1858–59.
In New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
, the renewed interest in religion inspired a wave of social activism, including abolitionism
Abolitionism
Abolitionism is a movement to end slavery.In western Europe and the Americas abolitionism was a movement to end the slave trade and set slaves free. At the behest of Dominican priest Bartolomé de las Casas who was shocked at the treatment of natives in the New World, Spain enacted the first...
. In western New York, the spirit of revival encouraged the emergence of new Restorationist and other Christian denominations and movements such as the Holiness Movement
Holiness movement
The holiness movement refers to a set of beliefs and practices emerging from the Methodist Christian church in the mid 19th century. The movement is distinguished by its emphasis on John Wesley's doctrine of "Christian perfection" - the belief that it is possible to live free of voluntary sin - and...
. Renewed interest in religion even led to new sects and beliefs such as the Mormons
Mormons
The Mormons are a religious and cultural group related to Mormonism, a religion started by Joseph Smith during the American Second Great Awakening. A vast majority of Mormons are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints while a minority are members of other independent churches....
.
In the West (now Upper South) especially—at Cane Ridge, Kentucky
Cane Ridge, Kentucky
Cane Ridge, Kentucky, USA was the site, in 1801, of a large camp meeting that drew thousands of people and had a lasting influence as one of the landmark events of the Second Great Awakening. Methodists, Baptists and Presbyterians all participated, and many of the "spiritual exercises", such as...
and in Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
—the revival strengthened the Methodists
Methodism
Methodism is a movement of Protestant Christianity represented by a number of denominations and organizations, claiming a total of approximately seventy million adherents worldwide. The movement traces its roots to John Wesley's evangelistic revival movement within Anglicanism. His younger brother...
and Baptists. The Churches of Christ and Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
The Christian Church is a Mainline Protestant denomination in North America. It is often referred to as The Christian Church, The Disciples of Christ, or more simply as The Disciples...
arose from the Stone-Campbell Restoration Movement
Restoration Movement
The Restoration Movement is a Christian movement that began on the American frontier during the Second Great Awakening of the early 19th century...
. It also introduced into America a new form of religious expression—the Scottish camp meeting
Camp meeting
The camp meeting is a form of Protestant Christian religious service originating in Britain and once common in some parts of the United States, wherein people would travel from a large area to a particular site to camp out, listen to itinerant preachers, and pray...
.
Europe: Le Réveil
A movement in Swiss, eastern French, German, and Dutch Protestant history known as le RéveilRéveil
Réveil was a 1814 revival movement within the Swiss Reformed Church of Western Switzerland and Southern France .The supporters were also called pejoratively momiers. The movement was initially under the influence of Barbara von Krüdener and later British Methodists and members of Free Church of...
(German: die Erweckung, Dutch: Het Reveil). Le Reveil was a revival of Protestant Christianity along conservative evangelical lines at a time when rationalism had taken a strong hold in the churches on the continent of Europe.
In German-speaking Europe Lutheran Johann Georg Hamann
Johann Georg Hamann
Johann Georg Hamann was a noted German philosopher, a main proponent of the Sturm und Drang movement, and associated by historian of ideas Isaiah Berlin with the Counter-Enlightenment.-Biography:...
(1730–1788) was a leading light in the new wave of evangelicalism, the Erweckung, which spread across the land, cross-fertilizing with British movements
The movement began in the Francophone world in connection with a circle of pastors and seminarians at French-speaking Protestant theological seminaries in Geneva
Geneva
Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...
, Switzerland and Montauban
Montauban
Montauban is a commune in the Tarn-et-Garonne department in the Midi-Pyrénées region in southern France. It is the capital of the department and lies north of Toulouse....
, France, influenced inter alia by the visit of Scottish Christian Robert Haldane
Robert Haldane
-Biography:Haldane was born in London, the son of James Haldane 2nd of Airthrey House, and his wife Katherine Duncan. His younger brother James Alexander Haldane was also a clergyman...
in 1816–1817. The circle included such figures as Merle D'Aubigne, César Malan
César Malan
Henri Abraham César Malan was a French-speaking Protestant Christian, minister of the gospel and hymn-writer.-Life:...
, Felix Neff
Felix Neff
Felix Neff , Swiss Protestant divine and philanthropist, was born at Geneva. Originally a sergeant of artillery, he decided in 1819 to devote himself entirely to evangelistic work. He was ordained to the ministry in 1822, and soon afterwards settled in the valley of Freissinières, where he labored...
, and the Monod
Monod
Monod is a surname, and may refer to:* Adolphe Monod , French Protestant churchman; brother of Frédéric Monod.* Frédéric Monod , French Protestant pastor.* Gabriel Monod* Jacques Monod* Jacques-Louis Monod...
brothers.
As these man travelled out, the movement spread to Lyon and Paris in France, to Berlin and Eberfeld in Germany and to the Netherlands. Several missionary societies were founded to support this work, such as the British-based Continental society
Continental society
The Continental Society for the Diffusion of Religious Knowledge over the Continent of Europe was an evangelical Christian missionary society founded in London in 1819 for the propagation of the evangelical faith on the continent of Europe and existing as a separate entity until 1840 .The...
and the indigenous Geneva Evangelical Society.
As well as supporting existing Protestant denominations, in France and Germany the movement led to the creation of Free Evangelical Church groupings: the Union des Églises évangéliques libres and Bund Freier evangelischer Gemeinden in Deutschland.
In the Netherlands the movement was taken forward by Willem Bilderdijk
Willem Bilderdijk
Willem Bilderdijk , Dutch poet, the son of an Amsterdam physician. When he was six years old an accident to his foot incapacitated him for ten years, and he developed habits of continuous and concentrated study...
, with Isaäc da Costa
Isaac da Costa
Isaac da Costa was a Dutch poet.Da Costa was born in Amsterdam in the Netherlands. His father, an aristocratic Sephardic Portuguese Jewish, Daniel da Costa, a relative of Uriel Acosta, was a prominent merchant in the city of Amsterdam; his mother, Rebecca Ricardo, was a near relative of the...
, Abraham Capadose
Abraham Capadose
The Revd Dr Abraham Capadose or Capadoce was a Dutch physician and Calvinist writer...
, Samuel Iperusz Wiselius, Willem de Clercq
Willem de Clercq
Willem de Clercq was secretary and later director of the Nederlandsche Handel-Maatschappij . He is also known as a poet and as a leader of the Réveil, the Protestant Revival in the Netherlands. He left behind a gigantic diary, with extensive reports of the events he witnessed...
and Groen van Prinsterer as his pupils. The movement was politically influential and actively involved in improving society, and — at the end of the 19th century — brought about anti-revolutionary and Christian historical parties.
At the same time in Britain figures such as William Wilberforce
William Wilberforce
William Wilberforce was a British politician, a philanthropist and a leader of the movement to abolish the slave trade. A native of Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, he began his political career in 1780, eventually becoming the independent Member of Parliament for Yorkshire...
and Thomas Chalmers
Thomas Chalmers
Thomas Chalmers , Scottish mathematician, political economist, divine and a leader of the Free Church of Scotland, was born at Anstruther in Fife.-Overview:...
were active, although they are not considered to be part of the Le Reveil movement.
1850–1900
In North America the Third Great AwakeningThird Great Awakening
The Third Great Awakening was a period of religious activism in American history from the late 1850s to the early 1900s. It affected pietistic Protestant denominations and had a strong sense of social activism. It gathered strength from the postmillennial theology that the Second Coming of Christ...
began from 1857 onwards in Canada and spread throughout the world including America and Australia. Significant names include Dwight L. Moody
Dwight L. Moody
Dwight Lyman Moody , also known as D.L. Moody, was an American evangelist and publisher who founded the Moody Church, Northfield School and Mount Hermon School in Massachusetts , the Moody Bible Institute and Moody Publishers.-Early life:Dwight Moody was born in Northfield, Massachusetts to a large...
, Ira D. Sankey
Ira D. Sankey
Ira D. Sankey , known as The Sweet Singer of Methodism, was an American gospel singer and composer, associated with evangelist Dwight L...
, William Booth
William Booth
William Booth was a British Methodist preacher who founded The Salvation Army and became its first General...
and Catherine Booth
Catherine Booth
Catherine Booth was the wife of the founder of The Salvation Army, William Booth. Because of her influence in the formation of The Salvation Army she was known as the 'Army Mother'....
(founders of the Salvation Army
Salvation Army
The Salvation Army is a Protestant Christian church known for its thrift stores and charity work. It is an international movement that currently works in over a hundred countries....
), Charles Spurgeon
Charles Spurgeon
Charles Haddon Spurgeon was a large British Particular Baptist preacher who remains highly influential among Christians of different denominations, among whom he is still known as the "Prince of Preachers"...
and James Caughey. Hudson Taylor
Hudson Taylor
James Hudson Taylor , was a British Protestant Christian missionary to China, and founder of the China Inland Mission . Taylor spent 51 years in China...
began the China Inland Mission
China Inland Mission
OMF International is an interdenominational Protestant Christian missionary society, founded in Britain by Hudson Taylor on 25 June 1865.-Overview:...
and Thomas John Barnardo
Thomas John Barnardo
Thomas John Barnardo was a philanthropist and founder and director of homes for poor children, born in Dublin. From the foundation of the first Barnardo's home in 1870 to the date of Barnardo’s death, nearly 100,000 children had been rescued, trained and given a better life.- Early life :Barnardo...
founded his famous orphanages.
Representative was Rev. James Caughey, an American sent by the Wesleyan Methodist Church to Canada from the 1840s through 1864. He brought in the converts by the score, most notably in the revivals in Canada West 1851-53. His technique combined restrained emotionalism with a clear call for personal commitment, coupled with followup action to organize support from converts. It was a time when the Holiness Movement caught fire, with the revitalized interest of men and women in Christian perfection. Caughey successfully bridged the gap between the style of earlier camp meetings and the needs of more sophisticated Methodist congregations in the emerging cities.
In England the Keswick Convention
Keswick Convention
The Keswick Convention is an annual gathering of evangelical Christians in Keswick, in the English county of Cumbria.- History :The Keswick Convention began in 1875 as a catalyst and focal point for the emerging Higher Life movement in the United Kingdom. It was founded by an Anglican, Canon T. D....
movement began out of the British Holiness movement
Higher Life movement
The Higher Life movement was a movement devoted to Christian holiness in England. Its name comes from a book by William Boardman, entitled The Higher Christian Life, which was published in 1858...
, encouraging a lifestyle of holiness
Sacred
Holiness, or sanctity, is in general the state of being holy or sacred...
, unity and prayer.
Subsequently the period 1880–1903 has been described as "a period of unusual evangelistic effort and success", and again sometimes more of a "resurgence" of the previous wave. Moody, Sankey and Spurgeon are again notable names. Others included Sam Jones
Samuel Porter Jones
Samuel Porter Jones was one of the most celebrated revivalists of his day, at the close of the 19th century. Famous for his wry wit and masterful story-telling, he is credited as a principal influence on Will Rogers....
, J. Wilber Chapman
John Wilbur Chapman
John Wilbur Chapman was a Presbyterian evangelist in the late 19th Century, generally traveling with gospel singer Charles Alexander. His parents were Alexander H. and Lorinda Chapman.-Faith & Education:Chapman grew up attending Quaker Day School and Methodist Sunday School...
and Billy Sunday
Billy Sunday
William Ashley "Billy" Sunday was an American athlete who, after being a popular outfielder in baseball's National League during the 1880s, became the most celebrated and influential American evangelist during the first two decades of the 20th century.Born into poverty in Iowa, Sunday spent some...
in North America, Andrew Murray
Andrew Murray (minister)
Andrew Murray was a South African writer, teacher, and Christian pastor. Murray considered missions to be "the chief end of the church."- Early life and education :...
in South Africa, William Irvine
William Irvine (Scottish evangelist)
William Irvine was an evangelist from the late nineteenth century, and continuing through the first half of the twentieth century.Mr. Irvine was born in Kilsyth, located in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, the third of eleven children of a miner...
in Ireland, and John McNeil in Australia. The Faith Mission
Faith mission
Faith mission is a term used most frequently among evangelical Christians to refer to a missionary organization with an approach to evangelism that encourages its missionaries to "trust in God to provide the necessary resources" These missionaries are said to "live by faith."Most faith...
began in 1886.
1857–1860 Revival in America
On 21 September 1857 Jeremiah Lanphier, a businessman, began a series of prayer meetings in New York. By the beginning of 1858 the congregation was crowded, often with a majority of businessmen. Newspapers reported that over 6,000 were attending various prayer meetings in New York, and 6,000 in Pittsburgh. Daily prayer meetings were held in Washington, D.C. at 5 different times to accommodate the crowds. Other cities followed the pattern. Soon, a common mid-day sign on business premises read, "We will re-open at the close of the prayer meeting". By May, 50,000 of New York's 800,000 people were new converts.Finney wrote of this revival, "This winter of 1857–58 will be remembered as the time when a great revival prevailed. It swept across the land with such power that at the time it was estimated that not less than 50,000 conversions occurred weekly."
Britain and Ireland
In 1857, four young Irishmen began a weekly prayer meeting in the village of Connor near BallymenaBallymena
Ballymena is a large town in County Antrim, Northern Ireland and the seat of Ballymena Borough Council. Ballymena had a population of 28,717 people in the 2001 Census....
. See also Ahoghill
Ahoghill
Ahoghill or Ahohill is a large village in County Antrim, Northern Ireland, four miles from Ballymena. It has a population of 3,055 people . It is within the Borough of Ballymena....
. This meeting is generally regarded as the origin of the 1859 revival that swept through most of the towns and villages in the north of Ireland and in due course brought 100,000 converts into the churches. It was also ignited by a young preacher, Henry Grattan Guinness
Henry Grattan Guinness
Henry Grattan Guinness D. D. was an Irish Protestant Christian preacher, evangelist and author. He was the great evangelist of the Evangelical awakening and preached during the Ulster Revival of 1859 which drew thousands to hear him...
, who drew thousands at a time to hear his preaching. So great was the interest in the American movement that in 1858 the Presbyterian General Assembly meeting in Derry
Derry
Derry or Londonderry is the second-biggest city in Northern Ireland and the fourth-biggest city on the island of Ireland. The name Derry is an anglicisation of the Irish name Doire or Doire Cholmcille meaning "oak-wood of Colmcille"...
appointed two of their ministers, Dr. William Gibson and Rev. William McClure to visit North America. Upon their return the two deputies had many public opportunities to bear testimony to what they had witnessed of the remarkable outpouring of the Spirit across the Atlantic, and to fan the flames in their homeland yet further. Such was the strength of emotion generated by the preachers' oratory that many made spontaneous confessions seeking to be relieved of their burdens of sin. Others suffered complete nervous breakdown.
20th century
The final Great Awakening (1904 onwards) had its roots in the Holiness movementHoliness movement
The holiness movement refers to a set of beliefs and practices emerging from the Methodist Christian church in the mid 19th century. The movement is distinguished by its emphasis on John Wesley's doctrine of "Christian perfection" - the belief that it is possible to live free of voluntary sin - and...
which had developed in the late 19th century. The Pentecostal revival movement began, out of a passion for more power and a greater outpouring of the Holy Spirit
Holy Spirit
Holy Spirit is a term introduced in English translations of the Hebrew Bible, but understood differently in the main Abrahamic religions.While the general concept of a "Spirit" that permeates the cosmos has been used in various religions Holy Spirit is a term introduced in English translations of...
. In 1902 the American evangelists Reuben Archer Torrey and Charles McCallon Alexander
Charles McCallon Alexander
Charles McCallon Alexander , a native of East Tennessee, was a popular 19th Century gospel singer who worked the evangelistic circuit for many years. Over the course of his ministry, he toured with R. A. Torrey and John Wilbur Chapman, most notably. In 1904, Alexander married Helen Cadbury,...
conducted meetings in Melbourne, Australia, resulting in more than 8,000 converts. News of this revival travelled fast, igniting a passion for prayer and an expectation that God would work in similar ways elsewhere.
Torrey and Alexander were involved in the beginnings of the great Welsh revival
1904-1905 Welsh Revival
The Welsh Revival was the largest Christian revival in Wales during the 20th century. While by no means the best known of revivals, it was one of the most dramatic in terms of its effect on the population, and it had repercussions that reached far beyond the Welsh border, triggering a series of...
(1904).
In 1906 the modern Pentecostal Movement was born in Azusa Street
Azusa Street Revival
The Azusa Street Revival was a historic Pentecostal revival meeting that took place in Los Angeles, California and is the origin of the Pentecostal movement. It was led by William J. Seymour, an African American preacher. It began with a meeting on April 14, 1906, and continued until roughly 1915...
, in Los Angeles.
Wales
The Welsh revival was not an isolated religious movement but very much a part of Britain's modernization. The revival began in the fall of 1904 under the leadership of Evan RobertsEvan Roberts (minister)
Evan John Roberts , was a leading figure of the 1904-1905 Welsh Revival who suffered many setbacks in his later life.His obituary in The Western Mail summed up his career thus:- Early life :...
(1878–1951), a 26-year-old former collier and minister-in-training. The revival lasted less than a year, but in that period 100,000 converts were made. Begun as an effort to kindle nondenominational, nonsectarian spirituality, the Welsh revival of 1904–05 coincided with the rise of the labor movement, socialism, and a general disaffection with religion among the working class and youths. Placed in context, the short-lived revival appears as both a climax for Nonconformism and a flashpoint of change in Welsh religious life. The movement spread to Scotland and England, with estimates that a million people were converted in Britain. Missionaries subsequently carried the movement abroad; it was especially influential on the Pentecostal movement emerging in California
Azusa Street Revival
The Azusa Street Revival was a historic Pentecostal revival meeting that took place in Los Angeles, California and is the origin of the Pentecostal movement. It was led by William J. Seymour, an African American preacher. It began with a meeting on April 14, 1906, and continued until roughly 1915...
.
Unlike earlier religious revivals that pivoted on powerful preaching, the revival of 1904–05 relied primarily on music and on paranormal phenomena as exemplified by the visions of Evan Roberts. The intellectual emphasis of the earlier revivals had left a dearth of religious imagery that the visions supplied. They also challenged the denial of the spiritual and miraculous element of Scripture by opponents of the revival, who held liberal and critical theological positions. The structure and content of the visions not only repeated those of Scripture and earlier Christian mystical tradition but also illuminated the personal and social tensions that the revival addressed by juxtaposing Biblical images with scenes familiar to contemporary Welsh believers.
Revival hymns
Following the Protestant ReformationProtestant Reformation
The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...
, from about 1700 to 1850, many non-conformist church
National church
National church is a concept of a Christian church associated with a specific ethnic group or nation state. The idea was notably discussed during the 19th century, during the emergence of modern nationalism....
es produced lively popular hymn
Hymn
A hymn is a type of song, usually religious, specifically written for the purpose of praise, adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification...
s that expressed one's personal relationship with God.
Later hymns were written in a movement called "revivalist" (1850–1920). Songs such as "Washed in the blood of the Lamb" came from Moody and Sankey's Hymn Book. The churches which promoted these songs were generally followers of literal interpretations of the Bible, temperance-inclined and often Baptist
Baptist
Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...
, Methodist, or Holiness
Holiness movement
The holiness movement refers to a set of beliefs and practices emerging from the Methodist Christian church in the mid 19th century. The movement is distinguished by its emphasis on John Wesley's doctrine of "Christian perfection" - the belief that it is possible to live free of voluntary sin - and...
.
See also
- First Great AwakeningFirst Great AwakeningThe First Awakening was a Christian revitalization movement that swept Protestant Europe and British America, and especially the American colonies in the 1730s and 1740s, leaving a permanent impact on American religion. It resulted from powerful preaching that gave listeners a sense of personal...
- Second Great AwakeningSecond Great AwakeningThe Second Great Awakening was a Christian revival movement during the early 19th century in the United States. The movement began around 1800, had begun to gain momentum by 1820, and was in decline by 1870. The Second Great Awakening expressed Arminian theology, by which every person could be...
- Third Great AwakeningThird Great AwakeningThe Third Great Awakening was a period of religious activism in American history from the late 1850s to the early 1900s. It affected pietistic Protestant denominations and had a strong sense of social activism. It gathered strength from the postmillennial theology that the Second Coming of Christ...
- 1904–1905 Welsh Revival
- Brownsville RevivalBrownsville RevivalThe Brownsville Revival was a widely-reported religious phenomenon that began within the Pentecostal movement on Father's Day June 18, 1995 at Brownsville Assembly of God in Pensacola, Florida...
- Duncan Campbell (revivalist)Duncan Campbell (revivalist)Duncan Campbell was a fiery Scottish preacher, whose main claim to fame is that he was a leader in the Lewis Awakening or Hebrides Revival, a mid-20th century religious revival in the Scottish Hebrides.-Early life:...
- Revival in NagalandRevival in NagalandThe Revival in Nagaland was a mass-conversion event.Christian mission began in Nagaland, a small state in northeast India, bordering Myanmar, in the late 19th century. Revivals took place in 1956, 1966 and 1972. The result is that Nagaland is a predominantly Christian state...
- Revival meetingRevival meetingA revival meeting is a series of Christian religious services held in order to inspire active members of a church body, to raise funds and to gain new converts...
- Welsh Methodist revivalWelsh Methodist revivalThe Welsh Methodist revival was an evangelical revival that revitalised Christianity in Wales during the 18th century. Methodist preachers such as Griffith Jones, William Williams and Howell Harris were such powerful speakers that they converted thousands of people back to the church...
- Jonathan Edwards (theologian)
- George WhitefieldGeorge WhitefieldGeorge Whitefield , also known as George Whitfield, was an English Anglican priest who helped spread the Great Awakening in Britain, and especially in the British North American colonies. He was one of the founders of Methodism and of the evangelical movement generally...
- Billy SundayBilly SundayWilliam Ashley "Billy" Sunday was an American athlete who, after being a popular outfielder in baseball's National League during the 1880s, became the most celebrated and influential American evangelist during the first two decades of the 20th century.Born into poverty in Iowa, Sunday spent some...
- Charles H. Spurgeon
- Dwight L. MoodyDwight L. MoodyDwight Lyman Moody , also known as D.L. Moody, was an American evangelist and publisher who founded the Moody Church, Northfield School and Mount Hermon School in Massachusetts , the Moody Bible Institute and Moody Publishers.-Early life:Dwight Moody was born in Northfield, Massachusetts to a large...
- Billy GrahamBilly GrahamWilliam Franklin "Billy" Graham, Jr. is an American evangelical Christian evangelist. As of April 25, 2010, when he met with Barack Obama, Graham has spent personal time with twelve United States Presidents dating back to Harry S. Truman, and is number seven on Gallup's list of admired people for...
- Asahel NettletonAsahel NettletonAsahel Nettleton was an American theologian and pastor from Connecticut who was highly influential during the Second Great Awakening. The number of people converted to Christianity as a result of his ministry is estimated at 30,000. He attended Yale College from 1805 until his graduation in 1809...
- James Brainerd Taylor
United States
- Ahlstrom, Sydney E. A Religious History of the American People (1972) the standard history
- Birdsall Richard D. "The Second Great Awakening and the New England Social Order." Church History 39 (1970): 345–64. in JSTOR
- Bruce, Dickson D., Jr. And They All Sang Hallelujah: Plain Folk Camp-Meeting Religion, 1800–1845 (1974).
- Bumsted, J. M. "What Must I Do to Be Saved?": The Great Awakening in Colonial America (1976)
- Butler, Jon. "Enthusiasm Described and Decried: The Great Awakening as Interpretative Fiction." Journal of American History 69 (1982): 305–25. in JSTOR, influential article
- Butler, Jon. Awash in a Sea of Faith: Christianizing the American People. (1990). excerpt and text search
- Carpenter, Joel A. Revive Us Again: The Reawakening of American Fundamentalism (1999), thorough history 1930-1990s excerpt and text search
- Carwardine, Richard J. "The Second Great Awakening in the Urban Centers: An Examination of Methodism and the 'New Measures,'" Journal of American History 59 (1972): 327–340. in JSTOR
- Coalter, Milton J. Gilbert Tennent, Son of Thunder: A Case Study of Continental Pietism's Impact on the First Great Awakening in the Middle Colonies 1986) excerpt and text search
- Cross, Whitney, R. The Burned-Over District: The Social and Intellectual History of Enthusiastic Religion in Western New York, 1800–1850 (1950).
- Dieter, Melvin Easterday. The Holiness Revival of the Nineteenth Century (1980).
- Dorsett, Lyle W. Billy Sunday and the Redemption of Urban America (1991).
- Dorsett, Lyle W. A Passion for Souls: The Life of D. L. Moody. (1997).
- Eslinger, Ellen. Citizens of Zion: The Social Origins of Camp Meeting Revivalism. (1999). 306pp.
- Evensen; Bruce J. God's Man for the Gilded Age: D.L. Moody and the Rise of Modern Mass Evangelism (2003) online edition
- Finke, Roger, and Rodney Stark. The Churching of America, 1776–1990: Winners and Losers in Our Religious Economy (1992).
- Gaustad, Edwin S. "The Theological Effects of the Great Awakening in New England," The Mississippi Valley Historical Review, Vol. 40, No. 4. (Mar., 1954), pp. 681–706. in JSTOR
- Hatch, Nathan O. The Democratization of American Christianity (1989). excerpt and text search
- Kidd, Thomas S. The Great Awakening: The Roots of Evangelical Christianity in Colonial America (2007) , 412pp exxcerpt and text search
- Kyle III, I. Francis. An Uncommon Christian: James Brainerd Taylor, Forgotten Evangelist in America's Second Great Awakening (2008). See Uncommon Christian Ministries
- Lambert, Frank. Pedlar in Divinity: George Whitefield and the Transatlantic Revivals (1994)
- Lloyd-Jones, Martyn. Revival (1987).
- McLoughlin William G. Modern Revivalism 1959.
- McLoughlin William G. Revivals, Awakenings, and Reform: An Essay on Religion and Social Change in America, 1607–1977 1978.
- McClymond, Michael, ed. Encyclopedia of Religious Revivals in America. (2007. Vol. 1, A–Z: xxxii, 515 pp. Vol. 2, Primary Documents: xx, 663 pp. isbn 0-313-32828-5/set.)
- Murray, Iain H., The Invitation System (1967)
- Murray, Iain H., Pentecost Today: The Biblical Basis for Understanding Revival (1998)
- Murray, Iain H., Revival and Revivalism: The Making and Marring of American Evangelicalism, 1750–1858 (1994)
- Ravenhill, Leonard. Revival God's Way (1986).
- Ravenhill, Leonard. Why Revival Tarries (1979).
- Shiels, Richard D. "The Second Great Awakening in Connecticut: Critique of the Traditional Interpretation." Church History 49#4 (1980): 401–15. online edition
- Sizer, Sandra. Gospel Hymns and Social Religion: The Rhetoric of Nineteenth-Century Revivalism. (1978).
- Stout, Harry. The Divine Dramatist: George Whitefield and the Rise of Modern Evangelicalism (1991).
- Thornbury, John F. God Sent Revival: The Story of Asahel Nettleton and the Second Great Awakening (1993)
- Weisberger, Bernard A. They Gathered at the River: The Story of the Great Revivalists and Their Impact upon Religion in America (1958).
- Wigger, John H. Taking Heaven by Storm: Methodism and the Rise of Popular Christianity in America (1998) excerpt and text search
Opponents
- Bratt, James D. "Religious Anti-revivalism in Antebellum America." Journal of the Early Republic (2004) 24(1): 65–106. ISSN 0275-1275 Fulltext: in Ebsco. Examines oppositional literature of the antirevivalists, namely, the doubters and critics. The article includes an appendix of selected revivalist critiques.
- Reeves, Russ Patrick. "Countering Revivalism and Revitalizing Protestantism: High Church, Confessional, and Romantic Critiques of Second Great Awakening Revivalism, 1835 to 1852." PhD dissertation U. of Iowa 2005. 290 pp. DAI 2005 66(4): 1393-A. DA3172430
Europe
- Carwardine, Richard. Transatlantic Revivalism: Popular Evangelicalism in Britain and America, 1790–1865 (2008)
- Coalter, Milton J. Gilbert Tennent, Son of Thunder: A Case Study of Continental Pietism's Impact on the First Great Awakening in the Middle Colonies 1986) excerpt and text search
- Kovács, Zoltán. "Methodism in Hungary," Methodist History, April 2009, Vol. 47 Issue 3, pp 62–178
- Lambert, Frank. Pedlar in Divinity: George Whitefield and the Transatlantic Revivals (1994)
- Latourette, Kenneth Scott. A History of Christianity, Volume 2: 1500 to 1975. (1975). ISBN 0-06-064953-4
- Luker, David. "Revivalism in Theory and Practice: The Case of Cornish Methodism," Journal of Ecclesiastical History, Oct 1986, Vol. 37 Issue 4, pp 603–619, Cornwall, England, 1780–1870
- MacCulloch, Diarmaid. Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years (2010)
- Schmidt, Leigh Eric. Holy Fairs: Scotland and the Making of American Revivalism (2001)
- Strom, Jonathan et al., eds. Pietism in Germany and North America, 1680–1820 (2009)
- Wolffe, John. The Expansion of Evangelicalism: The Age of Wilberforce, More, Chalmers and Finney (2007)
World
- Freston, Paul, ed.. Evangelical Christianity and Democracy in Latin America (2008) excerpt and text search
- Lee, Timothy Sanghoon. "Born-Again in Korea: The Rise and Character of Revivalism in (South) Korea, 1885–1988" (PhD dissertation U. of Chicago 1996, 292pp.) Dissertation Abstracts International, 1996, Vol. 57 Issue 5, p 2089
- Lumsdaine, David Halloran, ed. Evangelical Christianity and Democracy in Asia (2009) excerpt and text search
- Ranger, Terence O., ed. Evangelical Christianity and Democracy in Africa (2008) excerpt and text search
Primary sources
- Bratt, James D., ed. Antirevivalism in Antebellum America: A Collection of Religious Voices (2006) 278 pp. isbn 0-8135-3693-6
- Edwards, Jonathan. (C. Goen, editor) The Great-Awakening: A Faithful Narrative Collected contemporary comments and letters; 1972, Yale University Press, ISBN 0-300-01437-6.
- Heimert, Alan, and Perry Miller ed.; The Great Awakening: Documents Illustrating the Crisis and Its Consequences (1967)
- McClymond, Michael, ed. Encyclopedia of Religious Revivals in America. (2007. Vol. 1, A–Z: xxxii, 515 pp. Vol. 2, Primary Documents: xx, 663 pp. isbn 0-313-32828-5/set.)
- Rice, John Holt and Benjamin Holt Rice. Memoir of James Brainerd Taylor, Second Edition (American Tract Society, 1833). online edition
- Taylor, Fitch W. A New Tribute to the Memory of James Brainerd Taylor (1838). online edition
- Tyler, Bennet. Remains of the Late Rev. Asahel Nettleton, D.D. (1845). online edition