MODERN REVIVALS, CONCLUDED.
We have given a number of reasons for refusing to favor or adopt
the modern revival system as a part of the Way of Salvation. We would
now add the testimony of others, not only of our own communion, but
also of other denominations.
Undoubtedly one of the greatest and most important of these
religious movements was that one which swept over Presbyterian and
Congregational Churches of New England, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and
Virginia, about the middle of the last century. It is generally known,
and spoken of as "_the great awakening_." Its leading spirits
were such staunch and loyal Calvinists as Jonathan Edwards, the
Tennents, Blair, and others. In the matter of doctrinal preaching and
instruction it was certainly very far in advance of the so-called
revivals of the present day. And yet in many of its direct results it
was anything but salutary. It was the principal cause of the division
of the Presbyterian Church into Old and New School.
Let us hear what some of the eminent theologians of these
Churches say of the results of "the great awakening:"
Dr. Sereno E. Dwight, the biographer of Jonathan Edwards, and one
of his descendants, says: "It is deserving perhaps of inquiry, whether
the subsequent slumbers of the American Church for nearly seventy
years may not be ascribed, in an important degree, to the fatal
reaction of these unhappy measures."
Jonathan Edwards, himself the most zealous and successful
promoter of the whole movement, in 1750, when its fruits could be
fairly tested, writes thus:--"Multitudes of fair and high professors,
in one place and another, have sadly backslidden; sinners are
desperately hardened; experimental religion is more than ever out of
credit with the far greater part, and the doctrines of Grace and those
principles in religion that do chiefly concern the power of godliness
are far more than ever discarded. Arminianism and Pelagianism have
made strange progress within a few years.... Many professors are gone
off to great lengths in enthusiasm and extravagance in their notions
and practices. Great contentions, separations, and confusions in our
religious state prevail in many parts of the land."
The above is from a letter to a friend in Scotland. We give also
a brief quotation from his farewell sermon to his church at
Nottingham:
"Another thing that vastly concerns your future prosperity is
that you should watch against the encroachments of error, and
particularly Arminianism and doctrines of like tendency.... These
doctrines at this day are much more prevalent than they were formerly.
The progress they have made in the land within this seven years
(_i.e._, since the revival), seems to have been vastly greater
than at any time in the like space before. And they are still
prevailing and creeping into almost all parts of the land, threatening
the utter ruin of the credit of those doctrines which are the peculiar
glory of the Gospel and the interests of vital piety."
Dr. Van Rensselaer, in commenting on these and other serious
words of the great Jonathan Edwards, says:
"And what was the final result? Arminianism led the way to
Socinianism, and near the beginning of the present century there was
but a single orthodox Congregational church in Boston. Harvard
University had lapsed into heresy, and about a third of the churches
of the Puritans denied the faith held by their fathers." And all this
he traces back to that "great awakening." He further says: "A work so
great and extensive was accompanied by incidents which made many good
men doubtful as to its effects on the Church. Special seasons of
religious interest are seasons of danger and temptation even under the
guidance of the most enlightened and prudent.... Good men differ much
in their estimate of the awakening, and the fruits of the work in many
places afforded reason of much apprehension.... In its earlier stages
the revival was unquestionably the occasion of the conversion of many
souls. It was like one of those mighty rains of summer which refresh
many a plant and tree, but which are accompanied, in many places, with
hail and storm and overflowing desolation, and which are followed by a
long, dreary drought. The Presbyterian Church welcomes fair revivals,
sent by the Holy Spirit, but is averse to man-made schemes for getting
up temporary excitements which have been so prevalent in our day."
During the years between 1830-1850, another revival agitation
swept over the American Church. It was during this time, especially,
that our English Lutheran churches caught the contagion, introduced
the "new measures," such as the "mourner's bench," protracted
meetings, the admission of members without catechetical instruction,
and many other novelties. In not a few places, so-called Lutherans
vied with the most fanatical sects in their wild extravagances. Those
who adhered to the time-honored method and spirit of conservative
Lutheranism, who preached the Word in all its simplicity, catechised
the young, taught that the Spirit and Grace of God can only be
expected to operate through Christ's own means, through Word and
Sacrament, were denounced as formalists, who knew nothing of vital
piety. Among the leading advocates of the new way was the Rev. Reuben
Weiser. This now departed brother, with many other serious and
thoughtful men, afterwards saw the error of his ways, and frankly and
publicly confessed his change of conviction in the _Lutheran
Observer_. He says:
"In 1842 Dr. J.W. Nevin, of the German Reformed Church, published
a pamphlet called 'The Anxious Bench.' It was, for that time, a bold
and vigorous arraignment of the whole modern revival system. He warned
the German churches against this style of religion, but his warning
was not much heeded at the time. I felt it my duty to reply to Dr.
Nevin in a pamphlet called "The Mourners' Bench." At that time I was
in the midst of the most extensive revival of my whole ministry. I was
honest and sincere in my views, for I had not seen many of the evils
that were almost certain to follow in the wake of revivals as they
were then conducted. Personally, I respected and esteemed Dr. Nevin
highly, but as he had opposed my cherished views, I felt it my duty to
write against him. I said some things long since regretted, and now,
after the lapse of nearly half a century, make this _amende
honorable_. And it must be a source of pleasure to Dr. Nevin, who is
still living, that the views which he so ably advocated in the face of
much bitter opposition, have been generally adopted by nearly all the
Churches."
Dr. Weiser proceeds: "Many of our churches that fostered this
system were in the end injured by it.... Under the revival system it
was very natural for the people to become dissatisfied with the
ordinary means of Grace. There was a constant longing for excitement,
and when the ebullition of feeling abated, many thought they had 'lost
their religion.' The next move was that as the preacher was so dead
and lifeless they must get another who had more fire, and thus the old
pastor was sent adrift."
Elsewhere Dr. Weiser has clearly expressed himself as having
become firmly convinced that the old churchly method of careful and
systematic instruction of the young, is the only sure and safe way of
building up the Church. He also quotes Dr. Morris as saying: "The
mourners' bench was introduced into Lutheran churches in imitation of
the Methodists, and disorders, such as shouting, clapping of hands,
groaning, and singing of choruses of doggerel verses to the most
frivolous tunes, whilst ministers or members, and sometimes women,
were engaged in speaking to the mourners. Feelings were aroused, as
usual, by portraying the horrors of hell, reciting affecting stories,
alluding to deaths in families, violent vociferation, and other means.
At prayer often all would pray as loud as the leader. These exercises
would continue night after night, until the physical energies were
exhausted."
Dr. H.E. Jacobs, in his preface to Rev. G.H. Trabert's tract on
Genuine versus Spurious Revivals, writes thus of the system: "This
system, if system it may be called, is in many of its elements simply
a reproduction of the Romish errors against which our fathers bore
testimony in the days of the Reformation. Wide as is the apparent
difference, we find in both the same corruption of the doctrine of
justification by faith alone without works, the same ignoring of the
depths of natural depravity, the same exaltation of human strength and
merit, the same figment of human preparation for God's Grace, the same
confounding of the fruits of faith with the conditions of faith, the
same aversion to the careful study of God's Word, the same
indifference to sound doctrine, and the same substitution of
subjective frames of mind and forms of experience for the great
objective facts of Christianity, as the grounds of God's favor.
"In both cases, all spiritual strength, which is inseparable from
complete dependence solely upon the Word and promise of God, and not
in any way upon human sensations and preparations, is either withheld,
destroyed, or greatly hindered; and uncertainty and vacillation,
despair, infidelity and ruin, often end the sad story of those who are
thus left without any firm support amidst the trials of life, and
under the strokes of God's judgments.
"The same Church which in the days of the Reformation raised her
voice against these errors, when she found the entire life of
Christianity endangered by them, can be silent in the present hour,
when the same errors appear all around her, only by betraying her
trust, and incurring the guilt of the faithless watchman who fails to
give alarm."
Let us hear also the testimony of our late lamented Dr. Krauth.
He says, as quoted by Rev. Trabert: "How often are the urging that we
are all one, the holding of union meetings, the effusive rapture of
all-forgiving, all-forgetting, all-embracing love, the preliminary to
the meanest sectarian tricks, dividing congregations, tearing families
to pieces, and luring away the unstable. The short millennium of such
love is followed by the fresh loosing of the Satan of malevolence out
of his prison, and the clashing in battle of the Gog and Magog of
sectarian rivalry. There is no surer preparation for bitter strife,
heart-burnings, and hatred, than these pseudo unionistic combinations.
One union revival has torn religious communities into hateful
divisions which have never been healed.... And none have suffered so
much, by these arts, as our Lutheran people, who, free from guile
themselves, did not suspect it in others. Well might we ask with the
'Apology:' 'Are they not ashamed to talk in such terms of love, and
preach love, and cry love, and do everything but practice love?'"
In conclusion we wish to present the testimony of some of the
most eminent divines of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Of all others
they will certainly not be accused of being prejudiced against modern
revivals. And of all modern revivals, those conducted by the
Evangelists, Moody and Sankey, are probably the least objectionable.
At the close of the celebrated "Hippodrome revival," in New York
City, conducted by Messrs Moody and Sankey, in the spring of 1876, the
Methodist Episcopal ministers, at a stated meeting, reviewed the
revival and its results. The New York _Herald_ gave the following
account of their meeting, which we copy from Rev. Trabert's tract:
"The Methodist ministers had under consideration the question of the
value of special evangelistic efforts in regular Church work, with
particular reference to the number of Hippodrome converts who may have
united with their churches. For two weeks a member of the Hippodrome
committee had distributed cards to the preachers with the names of
persons who declared themselves converts of Mr. Moody's meetings. Four
thousand had been reported as the fruits of the ten weeks special
effort. Ten thousand inquirers had been reported.
"Dr. Robert Crook took the ground that special evangelistic
agencies are not necessary, and that the work is more permanent and
successful when performed through the regular church channels. Rev. J.
Selleck, of Lexington avenue church, had sent about sixty of his
members as singers and ushers, and had not only received not a single
convert from that place into his church, but had been unable to gather
in the members he gave them, who were still running here and there
after sensations! Rev. J.F. Richmond had received a number of cards,
and could report two or three converts who would unite with his
church, but in connection with Hope Chapel he had not much success. He
had gone to five places indicated on the cards as residences of
converts, but could find none of them. This was his experience also
with many others whom he had sought out. Rev. John Jones had received
many cards, and had found out some direct frauds, and many others
nearly so. He did discover eight persons converted at Mr. Moody's
meetings, six of whom would unite with his church. Rev. C.G. Goss did
not think any one effort or kind of effort was going to convert the
world. We could not measure religious efforts by financial or
numerical measurements. As to the general question, he had the history
of ten city churches always known as revival churches. In 1869 they
had reported one hundred probationers each. In 1870 they reported a
net loss of five hundred, making, with the probationers reported, a
_loss_ of fifteen hundred in one year, in ten churches.
"Bedford street church was an example of a revival church: St.
Paul's the opposite. The former reported, in twenty years, twenty-five
hundred probationers. But the increase of her membership for that
period was only one hundred and twenty-eight. He could not account for
this. On the other hand, St. Paul's reported four hundred and
forty-eight probationers, for twenty-five years, and her increase in
membership has been two hundred and eighty-six. This was to him an
argument in favor of regular church work."