This introduction to revival and his personal testimony, from atheist to revivalist, is an excerpt from Ian Hall’s book, Times of Renewal: A History and Theology of Revival and Spiritual Awakenings (Encourage Publishing, 2024).

Revival is a major topic of interest in the Christian world today. Newspaper and magazine articles, both religious and secular, sporadically feature reports from every inhabited continent bringing news of a revitalization of the spiritual life of the church. For some three years in the mid-nineties, an obscure Toronto Charismatic Church became the surprising venue for hundreds of thousands of visitors from virtually every country around the world, because Revival, or at least “a refreshing”, was reported to be occurring there. As interest waned a northwest Florida Pentecostal Church claimed the spotlight for some two years. Then in 2008 a central Florida church briefly seized the Christian world’s attention. Most recently in February 2023, has come the news of a fresh awakening at several Christian Colleges and Universities in the USA and in other countries. In 1996 the American Assemblies of God renamed its “Signs and Wonders” Conference in Springfield, Missouri, “Revival Now”. What does it all mean?

The Significance of Revival. For some, Revival is an arcane topic of interest only to religious zealots longing for the good old days of the Nineteenth Century. When our world is about to self-destruct in sociological and economic chaos, the study of Revival seems as helpful as meditating during an earthquake would be. Nevertheless, from very different theological perspectives William G. McLoughlin (1922–1992) and Timothy L. Smith (1924–1997) rooted historical revitalizations of society in religious revivals.¹

The Definition of Revival. In North America in particular, revival is used in two different ways. Webster’s Dictionary defines revival as “an awakening, in a church or community, of interest in and care for matters relating to personal religion; (and) a service or a series of services for the purpose of effecting a religious awakening.”⁴ We may therefore speak of a revival in the older and more widely used sense of a spiritual awakening affecting a whole community. We may also speak of a revival in the peculiarly American sense of a type of evangelistic crusade that is intended hopefully to revitalize the believers and to awaken the surrounding community.

This American usage of revival is usually traced back to the teaching of Charles G. Finney (1792–1875), the renowned nineteenth century revivalist. He asserted that:

“A revival is the result of the right use of the appropriate means. The means which God has enjoined for the production of a revival, doubtless have a natural tendency to produce a revival. … A revival is as naturally a result of the appropriate means as a crop is of the use of its appropriate means.”⁵

By linking revival to “the right use of the appropriate means” Finney taught that revival is the result of something that we do. He did, however, acknowledge that, of themselves “means will not produce a revival, we all know, without the blessing of God.”⁶ Nevertheless amongst his followers, revival came to be used for the means themselves, not solely for the intended result of those means.

If these variant usages are not clearly distinguished, we may encounter such confusing comments as: “We had a revival, but nobody was revived,” or, “We had a revival in our church, and, in the middle of it, God sent us a revival.” If our terms are not clear, our language confuses rather than communicates our meaning. Dr. J. Edwin Orr (1912–1987), the renowned revival scholar, told of passing a church in southern California that advertised: “Revival – every night except Monday.” At the same time a neighboring church was advertising: “Revival – every night except Friday.” Orr wondered why one could not have revival on a Monday and the other could not have revival on a Friday. Could the Lord be too busy to be present every night? Or, were the believers too busy with other things to be revived every night?

Although the term Revival may suggest a scheduled Revival Crusade to the American mind, our use is in the sense of a quickening or renewing by the Holy Spirit of the spiritual life of the believers, individually and as the Body of  Christ in a given community, which prompts a return to New Testament Christianity. Thus, Orr defined an Evangelical Awakening, his preferred term for an authentic revival, as:

“An Evangelical Awakening is a movement of the Holy Spirit bringing about a revival of New Testament Christianity in the Church of Christ and its related community. Such an awakening may change in a significant way an individual only; or it may affect a larger group of believers; or it may move a congregation, or the churches of a city or a district, or the whole body of believers throughout a country or a continent; or indeed the larger body of believers throughout the world.”⁷

Orr’s definition most precisely describes what has happened in the historical revivals of Christianity, and corresponds with my personal experience of the work of God.

A Personal Journey in Revival. I became a Christian believer through a life-transforming spiritual encounter with God in the city of Kingston-upon-Hull in England on Wednesday, November 27, 1957. A young man, David King, had been witnessing to me, a young atheist, about his Christian faith. In an attempt to demonstrate the falsity of his belief in the existence of God, I agreed to pray a simple prayer: “God, be merciful to me a sinner.”⁸ Although at first nothing happened, which is precisely what I expected, on the third time of repeating that prayer I suddenly became conscious of an unseen presence, whose overwhelming holiness exposed the sinfulness of my heart. The intensity of that experience humbled me in repentance and awakened me to the reality of God.

Shortly afterwards David recommended to me a book by a Scots revivalist, Duncan Campbell (1898–1972),⁹ which gave me a clearer perspective on my own experience, and also aroused in me a lifelong interest in Revival. In the summer of 1959, I read in a Christian paper an advertisement for a preaching convention in the nearby city of Sheffield, at which the main speaker would be the same Duncan Campbell. Although the convention was only a week away, I resolved to go and the pastor of the host church offered to accommodate me in his home. To my delight I discovered that Campbell was also staying in the same home. To sit across the kitchen table from this venerable Man of God after church each night until the early hours of the morning and to hear him describe the revivals in the Hebrides Islands in 1949 and 1957 was like heaven to me.

Although I entered the Christian ministry the next year with the full expectation that God would surely send another revival, it was not until August 4, 1974, that that expectation was realized in my experience. For the previous five years I, together with my wife, Sheila, had been pastoring a struggling Elim Pentecostal Church in Ryde, Isle of Wight, with modest success. Unexpectedly in the morning service a very refined older lady in the congregation spontaneously began to sing in the Spirit. Quickly the singing spread until the whole congregation had joined in this “song without words.” That marked the beginning of a remarkable thirteen months of spiritual awakening, which by the time it ended, had transformed virtually every congregation on the island, resulting in, among others, the proliferating of interdenominational prayer groups in every parish on the island and the doubling of church attendance.¹⁰

News of what had occurred on the Isle of Wight began to spread and as a result Edwin Orr invited me to teach in the “Oxford Reading and Research Conference on Revival” at Regents Park College, Oxford in July, 1977, so beginning an association that lasted until Orr’s death almost ten years later. Orr’s encouragement prompted me to turn my interest in Revival into an intense study and careful analysis of the whole subject, resulting in a series of lectures delivered each year at North Central Bible College (now North Central University), Minneapolis, Minnesota, throughout the 1980s, and in many churches, conferences, seminars, and other Bible Colleges in the U.S.A. and Europe. This present volume on the History and Theology of Revival and Spiritual Awakenings is based upon those lectures, augmented by additional research and further experiences of Revival, which occurred during my pastoral ministry in the London borough of Ilford, and in my ministry as a missionary-evangelist in Germany and Romania.

Although I have tried to be as accurate and comprehensive as possible, so much new material has recently been brought to my attention by the many friends who have provided encouragement and advice that I am increasingly aware that “the half has not been told.” My appreciation for all who have contributed news and views on this topic cannot be adequately expressed, especially to my wife, Sheila, and to our son, Jonathan. All errors and omissions are solely my own.

As the church enters its third millennium, there is apparent not only an increasing sense of apprehension and anticipation, but also a great hunger for personal and corporate revival in the Body of Christ worldwide. I pray that this volume in some small way will help inspire faith and expectancy for a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit in our day.

PR

This is an excerpt from Ian Hall, Times of Renewal: A History and Theology of Revival and Spiritual Awakenings (Encourage Publishing, 2024). Used with permission.

PneumaReview.com interview with Dr. Ian Hall about Times of Renewal

For the Table of Contents from Ian Hall, Times of Renewal, see this link.

Notes

1 W.G. McLoughlin: Revivals, Awakenings, and Reform: An Essay on Religion and Social Change in America, 1607 – 1977 (Chicago, IL: University of Chicago, 1978); T.L. Smith: Revivalism and Social Reform in Mid-Nineteenth Century America (New York, NY: Harper, 1957).

2 Matthew 28:19, 20; Mark 16:15.

3 K.S. Latourette: A History of the Expansion of Christianity (Exeter, U.K.: Paternoster, 1971 edn.) 7 volumes.

4 New Webster’s Dictionary of the English Language (New York, NY: Delair Publishing, 1981), 822.

5 C.G. Finney: Revivals of Religion (London, U.K.: Morgan and Scott, 1913, second edition), 5 (emphasis original).

6 Ibid.

7 J.E. Orr: The Eager Feet: Evangelical Awakenings, 1790 – 1830 (Chicago, IL: Moody, 1975), vii.

8 Luke 18:13.

9 D. Campbell: The Price and Power of Revival (London, UK: Parry Jackman, 1957).

10 Minutes of the Ryde Ministerial Fraternal, July 17, 1975.

This book is part of Paul Hattaway’s “China Chronicles” series. The series is devoted to preserving the history of Christianity in China, each volume focuses on one particular province in the country. The author plans to have these books made available in Chinese as well, so that believers in China can be made aware of their Christian history and be ‘strengthened, edified, and challenged” by what they read (page xiii). In addition, the author desires to have “a record of God’s mighty acts in China” (page xiii).

Hainan means “South of the Sea,” it is the largest island of China (except for Taiwan) and has a population of over 10 million people (page 1). That being said, it is among the smallest and least populated provinces in China (page 19). Hainan actually is made up of over 200 islands, but most people only know about the main island (page 2). The weather for the majority of the year is both warm and humid (page 2). Powerful typhoons are common for a number of months during the year, and there are potential hazards for people that can be found on the land, these include quicksand and bubbling sulfur springs (page 2). The nickname for Hainan used to be “The gateway to hell,” but later it came to known as “Isle of Palms” (page 3).

Hainan Province, China.
Image: Wikimedia Commons

The original inhabitants of Hainan were the Li people, who “arrived from the mainland at least 2,000 to 2,500 years ago” (page 5). About 80% of the population of Hainan are Han Chinese, though the group is made up of people from different linguistic groups (page 6). The Hainanese, who have their own unique language, are the major group of the Han (pages 7). Also, “more than 30,000 people from Vietnam and Indonesia have been repatriated to Hainan since the 1950s” (page 8). Currently two industries that are major sources of income for Hainan are agriculture and tourism/hospitality (page 14).

The religious beliefs found among the people are diverse, the goddesses Mazu and Guanyin are honored, and their statues can be found along the coast (page 19). They have been worshipped for hundreds of years and are believed to protect fishermen (page 19). In addition to them, many other gods and goddesses are revered in Hainan (page 19). Animism and the influence of shamans can be found in certain areas, and ancestor worship is part of the religious tradition in Hainan (page 19).

Sanya Nanshan Dongtian Park in 2015.
Image: Wikimedia Commons

The Christian message entered into and made an impact in the above-mentioned idolatrous context. Catholics were the first to expose the residents of Hainan to the Christian faith, they did this about 250 years before Evangelical missionaries arrived (page 22). The very first Catholic missionary was Baltasar Gago in the 16^th century, he was accompanied by two Franciscans, whose names we do not know (page 22). Matteo Ricci, an Italian missionary, also had an impact on the island though he never visited it himself, his influence reached Hainan through a family contact he made in Beijing (pages 22, 23). Other Catholics who ministered in Hainan include Pierre Marquez and Benoit de Mattos (pages 23-25). A second wave of Catholic missions was begun in 1849 by French missionaries (page 26).

Lingshui, Hainan in 2013.
Image: Wikimedia Commons

The chapters that follow focus on Christianity in Hainan during a particular time period, or on a particular topic. There are chapters on: the 1890s (pages 46-51), 1900s and 1910s (pages 52-64), 1920s (pages 65-77), 1930s (pages 78-87), 1940s and 1950s (pages 102-114), 1960s and 1970s (pages 115-123), 1980s (pages 130-136), 1990s (pages 137-152), 2000s (pages 197-212), and 2010s and 2020s (pages 213-219). In addition to these there are chapters given to people groups. The Kim Mun people have a chapter devoted to them (pages 88-101), as do the the Indonesians (pages 124-129) and the Li people (pages 181-196). Other chapters in the book are: “When Heaven Came to Hainan” (pages 153-163), “Stories from the Frontlines” (pages 164-180), and “The Future of the Church in Hainan” (pages 220-222).

Below is some significant information from a number of the chapters in the book.

• 1890s: Hattaway says that Presbyterian missionaries regularly served in Hainan, in fact, they were the only missionary society that had workers on the island for decades (page 46). The missionary force during this time period included a steady stream of women (page 47).
• 1900s and 1910s: One interesting piece of information about this time period is that when churches in other provinces in China endured terrible persecution from the Boxer rebels, the small number of Christians in Hainan were, for the most part, untouched (page 53). Citing Brown, Hattaway tells us that between the years of 1909 and 1917 Evangelical church members grew from 375 to 1,642 (page 54). In 1915 the Presbyterians expanded their work into different areas of the province (page 56). They taught the new believers to be generous in giving both their time and money to God (and others), they also taught them to be self-supporting and not rely on foreign funds (pages 56. 57). A prominent missionary during this time period was Frank Gilman who served in Hainan for 32 years (page 60). He, along with his first wife, Marion, were very involved in planting mission stations in various places in Hainan (page 60).
• 1920s: During this decade medical missions remained the main way that people were made aware of the teachings of Christ, the Presbyterians continued to run the sole hospital on the island (page 66).
• 1930s: A key missionary couple served in this decade, Henry and Louise Bucher (pages 83-87). They served in Hainan (page 83) and also in Thailand (page 86).
• Kim Mun People: Hattaway tells us that after more than a century since the first members of this people group (who can be found in China, Vietnam, and Laos) became believers in Jesus they still do not have even one page of the Bible translated into their language, though they do have some audio and video gospel materials (page 101).
• 1940s and 1950s: This chapter tells us that persecution caused the church in Hainan to depend on the power of the Holy Spirit rather than on foreign help (page 103).

Rice fields near Xinlong, Hainan in 2015.
Image: Anna Frodesiak / Wikimedia Commons

• The Indonesians: The author tells us that there are about 6000 Indonesians in Hainan, who live in the county of Qionghai (page 124), “approximately half of the Indonesians who settled in Hainan were Christians” (page 125). Today, most of the Indonesians in Hainan are committed Christians (page 129).
• 1980s: The author labels these years as “a decade of harvest” (page 130). The churches throughout Hainan were overflowing by 1987 (page 131).
• 1990s: When the 1990s began less than 1% of the population of Hainan claimed to be followers of Jesus Christ (page 137). During the 1990s the church experienced remarkable growth. Part of this was due to the implementation of a house church ministry strategy of a Baptist missionary and his family (pages 141-144). Hattaway, citing an unpublished missionary report, informs us that in one network between April 1993 and April 1998 the number of believers grew from less than 100 to 55,000 (page 144). And the number of churches during this time grew from 3 to about 550 (page 144). The intentional focus on evangelism and discipleship in the house churches contributed to their tremendous growth rate (page 147). At the peak of the revival at this time the number of Christians in Hainan doubled every 7 months (page 147)!
• Stories from the Frontlines: This chapter informs us that the revival in Hainan over the last 30 years has witnessed miracles, signs, and wonders which have helped spread the gospel (page 177).
• 2010s and 2020s: The text dealing with these decades tells us that the revival in the house churches in Hainan eventually spilled over into the Three-Self Registered Churches (page 216).
• The Future of the Church in Hainan: The closing chapter of the book informs readers that the church in Hainan is currently experiencing the worst persecution in its history (except for the persecution that occurred during the Cultural Revolution), nonetheless there is hope that the church will endure, indeed flourish, in the midst of this hostility because of its foundations and strong history (page 222).

This current volume, like the others in the “China Chronicles” series, contains photos throughout the text, it also has an appendix at the back of the book that contains tables and maps.

Hainan: Pearl of the South China Sea continues in the tradition of the earlier titles in the “China Chronicles” series, it shares a part of Christian history that has largely been hidden from view. This book helps pull back the curtain so we can see what God has been doing in a country that in recent decades has a reputation for hostility to the message of Jesus Christ. God is at work in the world, and Hainan is one of the places where He is working, and we can have confidence that He will continue the work that He has begun (Phil. 1:6).

Reviewed by John Lathrop

Table of Contents

Introduction The Dynamics of Revival

Chapter 1 Understanding Revival

Chapter 2 Biblical Revivals – Old Testament

Chapter 3 Biblical Revivals – New Testament

Chapter 4 Historical Revivals – Early Church

Chapter 5 Historical Revivals – Imperial Church

Chapter 6 Historical Revivals – The Late Imperial Church

Chapter 7 Historical Revivals – Early Medieval Period

Chapter 8 Historical Revivals – Medieval Period

Chapter 9 Historical Revivals – The Renaissance Period

Chapter 10 Evangelical Awakenings – The Reformation Period

Chapter 11 Evangelical Awakenings – Puritan Awakenings

Chapter 12 Evangelical Awakenings – The Great Awakening

Chapter 13 Evangelical Awakenings – The Second Great Awakening

Chapter 14 Evangelical Awakenings – Adventist Awakenings

Chapter 15 Evangelical Awakenings – Mid 19th Century Awakening

Chapter 16 Evangelical Awakenings – The Gospel Mission Awakening

Chapter 17 Evangelical Awakenings – Early 20th Century

Chapter 18 Evangelical Awakenings – Post World War II

Chapter 19 Evangelical Awakenings – Charismatic Renewal

Chapter 20 Evangelical Awakenings – Late 20th and Early 21st Century Stirrings

Chapter 21 Theology of Revival

Conclusion Prospects of Revival

Bibliography

This is an excerpt from Ian Hall, Times of Renewal: A History and Theology of Revival and Spiritual Awakenings (Encourage Publishing, 2024). Used with permission.

Read the PneumaReview.com interview with Dr. Ian Hall about Times of Renewal

Karen L. Willoughby, “Space Force hymn writer inspired by ‘awe and wonder of God’” Baptist Press (July 3, 2024).

PneumaReview.com author Jim Linzey writes: “the Baptist Press has published this article, mentioning the New Tyndale Version (NTV) and the hymn I wrote. The Baptist Press has the largest readership in the world among Protestant publications.”

Image: Sarah Burvenich

Eugene Bach, “Pastor Dennis Balcombe Shares the Essential Element Needed for Revival” Back to Jerusalem (July 28, 2024).

Both Eugene Bach and Dennis Balcombe are PneumaReview.com authors. Search here for more on Revival.

PR

Emily Gardiner Neal in 1975.
Source: Wheaton Archives & Special Collections

Emily Gardiner Neal was born in 1911 to a well-to-do family and reared in New York City. She was educated at a private high school for girls in New York City and the David Mannes College of Music, also in New York. She intended to become a concert violinist. Emily’s parents were openly atheistic, and what Emily knew of Christianity was from hearsay. In 1930, Emily married a Naval Academy graduate, Alvin Neal. He too was an atheist. Emily later related that during their courtship they spent many hours talking about the possibility of God’ existence – a sign of their religious longings.

After his required time in the peace-time Navy of the 1930’s, Alvin became a businessman and moved his family to Argentina and later the Netherlands West Indies. But before the beginning of World War II, the family returned to the United States and settled in Pittsburgh. At the outbreak of the War, Alvin reentered the Navy and served as an officer aboard the aircraft Carrier USS Ranger.

How she became a Christian and an anointed minister of healing prayer is an amazing story of God’s providential choreography. In 1954, her neighbor asked her to drive her to an Episcopal church for a healing service, as her own car was in repair. Emily did the favor and stayed for the service. What she saw utterly amazed her, there seemed to be several instant healings, including a large goiter disappearing. Despite what she had seen, Emily suspected some sort of fraud in the healing service and determined to carefully examine the issue of spiritual healing with all of the reporting and critical skills she had developed. Her objective was to expose as fraudulent the healing claims being made by Christian healing ministers of the era.

The diagnosis had been based on an extensive series of X rays, bronchoscopy, and sputum tests – all positive. As a result, the patient scheduled for resection of five ribs and removal of the affected lung.

Shortly before the operation was to be performed, the patient attended a healing service and claimed a cure. When returned to the hospital for final examination prior to surgery, a repetition of the previously conducted tests revealed no evidence of lung cancer. He was dismissed from the hospital, and is today in robust health. The medical explanation was, again, mistaken diagnosis.[5]

On one occasion Alvin accompanied Emily to an interview of a patient cured of cancer. Emily related what happened in the car after the interview: “I heard Alvin clear his throat and say: ‘You know, there may be something to this work you’re doing, after all. Did You notice the radiance – the strange luminosity of that man’s face? I don’t know how to explain what I felt in him. All I’m sure of is that that man been touched by something I don’t know anything about.’”[6]

Alvin came to fully support her healing ministry.

Mrs. Neal’s book, A Reporter Finds God should be considered among the top dozen works in the literature of Christian healing. Her concern for the skeptically minded of her day was manifested in her careful attention to the data of documented healings and her methodical procedures. Her story of leaving skepticism behind would be an eye opener to today’s generation of skeptics.[7] (Hint: it would make an excellent gift to a skeptical/agnostic relative or friend – readily available at used book sites).

A Reporter Finds God was immensely successful, it was reprinted at least 15 times by 1965. After its launch Emily decided to learn more about Christianity, not just the healing ministry. She entered seminary and completed a degree in theology. Mrs. Neal then attended the Pittsburgh Pastoral Institute and was permitted to take courses open only to clergy, such as pastoral counseling. In fact, she became an effective and active Christian counselor for the rest of her life.

Shortly afterward, Mrs. Neal was invited to her first healing mission in Wisconsin. There she was asked to participate in the laying on of hands. It was the first time for her. Her respect for the Church’s authority prompted her to phone Bishop Pardue, her bishop in Philadelphia, to ask what to do – he gave her permission to do so, and this began her personal healing ministry.

In 1957 the editor of Prentice Hall asked her to write her second book, and the result was God Can Heal You Now, which came out in 1958.[9] Mrs. Neal’s orthodoxy and healing anointing was widely recognized and requests to speak and to lead healing missions poured in. This served to distance her from her career as a successful magazine writer. She tried to resist the pull away from being a reporter which she enjoyed doing and had done so well. But the love of the Lord drew her to His work. The Lord Is Our Healer [10] was published in 1961 and her recognition as an outstanding author and speaker of the healing ministry continued to grow.

Along with three bishops, three priests, and two physicians she served on the Joint Commission on the Ministry of Healing appointed at the 1961 General Convention of the Episcopal Church to study the Church’s ministry of healing. The Commission’s report, which strongly affirmed the reality and need of the Church’s healing mission, was submitted to the General Convention of 1964, was unanimously approved by both the House of Bishops and the House of Deputies. This proved to be a boost to the prestige and acceptability of the healing ministry among Episcopal clergymen. Of course, the report was no guarantee that the liberal-Sadducaical clergymen, of which there were many in the Episcopal Church, would accept or act upon the report. As it turned out, the Episcopal Church continued to be a denomination where many of its churches had no healing ministry at all and mostly continued their journey to destructive liberal theologies.

In 1966, she was asked by The Rev. Dr. John Baiz to lead weekly healing services and counsel at Calvary Church in Pittsburgh. This she did for ten years, along with traveling widely on missions throughout the United States and abroad and continuing to write books about healing prayer. Mrs. Neal’s theology has many parallels with the that of Mrs. Agnes Sanford, and much influenced by her work. For instance, Emily practiced inner healing prayer in her counseling ministry. Mrs. Neal also followed Mrs. Sanford in appreciating the value of sacramental confession in healing. Also, like Mrs. Sanford, Mrs. Neal welcomed the charismatic renewal and its boost to the healing ministry, but like her mentor expressed reservations about its sometimes over-exuberant manifestations.[11]

The works of these two women overlapped and might be classed among the first generation of orthodox Christian works on healing that were readily available to the public. True, the whole generation Anglican/Episcopal clergymen and women such as Pearcy Dearmer and Ethel Banks had done great work, as did the multiple Pentecostal healers from the 1900s on. But they published in the era before WWII, when most American cities did not have even a single bookstore, and books had to be ordered by mail, thus their works were limited in circulation. But in the post-War era, bookstores and the paperback industry exploded and the book of Mrs. Neal and Mrs. Sanford were able to reach mass audiences.[12]

Mrs. Neal moved in 1976 to Cincinnati, where she lived on the grounds of the Convent of the Transfiguration, an Episcopal community of nuns. She was ordained a deacon in January 1978. In Cincinnati, she served on the staff of St. Thomas Episcopal Church as Deacon, leading weekly healing services and counseling. At the Convent she also functioned as deacon and led a monthly healing service and counseled weekly. In 1987, the Episcopal Healing Ministry Foundation was formed. This allowed Mrs. Neal and several of her Episcopal friends to specifically carry out the work of training and equipping Episcopalians in the healing ministry. She served as its president until her death on September 23, 1989.

PR

This chapter is an excerpt from William De Arteaga, Anglican Healing Awakenings: Saints, Heroes, and Villains (Christos Publishing, 2024). Used with permission.

Notes

[1] Emily Gardiner Neal, A Reporter Finds God Through Spiritual Healing (New York Morehouse-Barlow,1956). To date there has been no book length biography of Mrs. Gardiner Neal. I have depended for biographical information on two sources, Anne Cassel’s brief article in Sharing, “Emily Gardiner Neal’s Story,” (Dec. 1989) 18-22, and the biographical fact sheet found at the archives of Wheaton College, “Emily Gardiner Neal.” https://archives.wheaton.edu/repositories/5/resources/1019 Sourced 1/10/2024.

[2] Mrs. Neal’s numerous books are readily available on Amazon and on online used book sites such as abebooks.com. A very useful anthology of her Christian writings is Emily Gardiner Neal, Anne Cassel, ed. The Reluctant Healer: One Woman’s Journey of Faith (Colorado Springs: Shaw, 1992).

[3] William James, Varieties of Religious Experiences (New York: Modern Library, 1902).

[4] See my discussion of this in my work, Agnes Sanford and Her Companions, Chapter 23.

[5] Neal, A Reporter, 37.

[6] Emily Gardiner Neal, In the Midst of Life (New York: Hawthorn, 1963). 23.

[7] See for instance “Forward to a skeptic,” in: Emily Gadiner Neal, Where There is Smoke; The Mystery of Christian Healing (NY: Morehouse-Barlow, 1967) 5-14.

[8] I have written extensively on the pivotal importance of Mrs. Sanford and her writings. See The Pneuma Review articles which summarize my work on her. “Agnes Sanford, Apostle of Healing,” The Pneuma Review, Posted June 15, 2016. http://pneumareview.com/agnes-sanford-apostle-of-healing-and-first-theologian-of-the-charismatic-renewal/

[9] Emily Gardiner Neal, God Can Heal You Now (Englewood-Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, 1958).

[10] Emily Gardiner Neal, The Lord is Our Healer (Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, 1961).

[11] Neal, Our Healer, 39.

[12] WWII changed that through the massive publication of quality books as cheap paperbacks for the GI’s and created a large reading public. Applebaum, Yoni. “Publishers Gave Away 122,951,031 Books During World War II” The Atlantic, September 10, 2014. https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/09/publishers-gave-away-122951031-books-during-world-war-ii/379893/

In Battling the Demonic, prolific writer and chronicler of the moves of the Holy Spirit in the Western world, the Rev’d William L. De Arteaga PhD, has collected a series of essays on a selection of developments in theory and practise surrounding demonology in, roughly, the last century – and also an interpretative effort to discern some larger moves of society, culture and the spirits that influence our time.

De Arteaga introduces the reader to the subject with an essay that reads as a recollection of a yearning, almost a lament, of unfulfilled longing in his youth for something eternal and true. He quickly paints the theological landscape of 20^th century North America with broad brush strokes and explains how arguments raged among dominant voices in theology about whether the Scriptural miracle accounts were indeed factual, but that the proponents of the trustworthiness of Scripture, were almost exclusively cessationist. While this is in many ways an especially North American phenomenon, this is the context of these essays and it understandably resurfaces in many of the essays – alongside the humanistic and naturalistic assumptions of liberal theologians.

De Arteaga continues to insightfully note that there is something true and under-developed in our thought on spiritual inheritance; and the relation of the earthly saints (us) with the saints in the Lord’s Glory. The enemy sometimes uses this to sow delusions, but we would do well to seek the Lord’s wisdom to discover this inheritance. It seems to this reviewer, that some of the recent works on Impartation by Randy Clark (D.Min.), about the sharing and passing on of spiritual gifts such as by the laying on of hands, may be fruitfully expanded into the Communion of Saints. De Arteaga will return to the interplay between time and eternity, and the thin veil of death, in the latter essays in this collection.

De Arteaga offers a concise and helpful overview of the omissions of Christian churches over the last century regarding demonological awareness. This overview could have been strengthened by noting the occasional abuses and excesses that have driven many to prefer getting stuck in the proverbial omission ditch on the one side of the Way of Christ as the safer option instead of risking falling into the excess ditch on the other side.

This reviewer particularly appreciates De Arteaga’s honest wrestling with the place of deliverance ministry in the public space or without “proper” preparations (or authorization in some ecclesial contexts). De Arteaga tempers his desire for orderly ministry with the witness of Scripture where encounters with unclean spirits are rarely if ever taking place with any forewarning.

Looking to stock the Christian’s pro-active arsenal, De Arteaga examines St Paul’s encounter with Elymas Bar-Jesus in Acts 13 and explores how similar actions, what he calls “command disablement,” might be beneficial in encountering those under demonic influence. He notes this is a largely unexplored territory of Christian ministry. In addition to De Arteaga’ examples, it is worth remembering how Jesus, when encountering people with evil spirits in Luke 4:41, “would not allow them to speak”. This reviewer also calls to mind a testimony of “command disablement” in self-defence recorded by Rabi R. Maharaj in his autobiography, Death of a Guru (Harvest House, 1977), which led to exorcism and salvation of a young man called Raymond. De Arteaga concludes this section of the book with a selection of hypothetical scenarios. He hopes to prompt the reader to imagine, with the Holy Spirit, how to exercise the authority of the believer, seated with Christ at the Father’s right hand. This is a topic that will recur in a later chapter as well, as De Arteaga purposefully seeks to imagine what is possible with Christ.

The second part of the book deals with a number of historical case studies. The chapters do not form a linear read, which is understandable for an anthology. The first reads as a socio-political commentary, highlighting themes in history that De Arteaga interprets as demonically influenced.

The main locus where De Arteaga analyses demonic influences in Western culture is in Marxist and associated ideologies. Considering that De Arteaga has previously written a on political influences in his America in Danger, Left and Right, this reviewer wishes that De Arteaga had included some analyses from other ends of the spectrum of public life, to reduce the risk of the reader disregarding this important work as partisan.

De Arteaga continues with a series of illustrative treatises of spiritual engagement and the response of Western society – from missionary experiences of oppressive demonic forces to the deceptions of various occult practices. The theme that emerges is of overt enemy actions overseas, and covert in the West.

If memory serves, it was C.S. Lewis who in his Screwtape Letters imagined that the enemy actively promotes the modern materialist lie that personal evil spirits do not exist, as it allows the enemy much latitude to operate undetected. This reviewer would like to add a complementary lie, which is more commonly found in the global South: that personal spiritual beings are powerful, worthy of fear and/or reverence, usually (though not always) malicious and while they might be appeased or bargained with, they certainly cannot be opposed by normal people. This is a belief that can also be found in the West among occultists, and in some cultural/ethnic subgroups and opens the door to much more overt oppression and intimidation by the forces of darkness. This difference in strategy by the enemy, and in cultural expectations, can explain the appearance of more active demonic activity outside of the West; which this reviewer believes to be a false appearance.

This is a very worthwhile call, and this reviewer recalls that the Greek word for the Latin “Discernment” is “Diagnosis”. De Arteaga does not shy away from complex or hot-button issues like schizophrenia, transgender desires and even childhood psychopathy. He repeatedly asks questions about the source of these phenomena, prompting the reader to examine the fruit from every available angle – be it medical, philosophical or theological. De Arteaga clearly holds the medical profession in considerable regard, while noting that they are often called to answer challenges beyond their scope.

The final essay in the third section covers proactive prevention of, and reversal of, demonic afflictions or influence of our little ones. This topic, with its generation-spanning reach, leads into the fourth and final part of the book, which is the most difficult to digest, at least for this reviewer.

The first essay considers the possibility of more than two outcomes (heaven or hell) as we leave this earthly life – and De Arteaga rightly pokes a hole in the common equation of Hades/Sheol/the dwelling of the dead with Hell/the Second Death of Revelation 20-21. This is an elusive subject considering the scarcity of Scriptural witness, which De Arteaga notes with many Scriptural commentators, and then continues to explore possibilities from history and Scripture as they open up venues for ministry. Remaining essays continue to provoke to thought, and re-examination of our inherited worldview to ask just how much of it is less-than-fully supported by Scripture.

Reflecting on the final essays, the immediate state of the departed is not consistently attested to in Scripture – and where God leaves a gap, or ambiguity, in His revelation, we do well to tread with both humility and curiosity. This reviewer is not even sure how to use our temporal language of “after” death and “before” Christ’s return, since there is nothing in Scripture to say we will experience the passing of time in the way we currently do, when we have shuffled off this mortal coil. However, Christ’s words when speaking of the departed, about how God is a God not of the dead but of the living; coupled with the promise that God will answer prayers before we utter them, leaves plenty of scope for imagining our ministering the Reconciliation of Christ to generations both past and future, in order to see His glory manifest yesterday, today and forever.

In conclusion, I commend this book to any student of Jesus’ continuing ministry on earth, who is willing to challenge both their own inherited certainties and the pseudo-canons that we all have inherited through our secular and ecclesial cultures alike. It is unlikely that any reader will unflinchingly embrace every aspect of this collection of essays. Yet, let us embrace that paramount call of this book: the cultivation of discernment – both discerning the spirits we find speaking to us, and discerning the ones we see around us. Armed with that intention, we can read this book and hear what the Holy Spirit is saying herein to the churches.

Reviewed by S. Anders Litzell

I cannot recall exactly how I learned of this book that was published almost fifty years ago. The book is out of print and only available from used book dealers [Editor’s note: The same is true for the 1993 edition from Servant Books]. I may have discovered it via a footnote in a more recent book or academic paper, or a mention in a social media post. However I learned about it, I’m glad I did.

Bruce Yocum, the author, was one of the founding members of an ecumenical Charismatic Renewal community called “The Word of God” in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in 1967, which places him in the rise of the Charismatic movement in the mainline Protestant and Roman Catholic churches. Yocum was also a leader in “Servants of the Word,” an international brotherhood of celibate laymen.

The book has two major sections, consisting of four chapters each. The first section discusses the role of the prophet in the church, and the second examines how to grow in the prophetic gifts.

In a statement that seems to prefigure Roger Stronstad’s The Prophethood of All Believers, Yocum writes in the introduction, “It is not only very special people who get to hear God speak. Every Christian can know God in a direct and personal way and can hear the Lord speaking to him.”

Chapter three, “The Prophet’s Role,” investigates what part the person with a prophetic gift plays in the church today. “A true Christian prophet has a role demanding the same vigilance and the same sustained exercise of responsibility. His role can be described under five headings: to receive and proclaim the word; to actively seek out God’s will and God’s word; to ‘stir up’ his gift; to ‘watch over’ the word given and see it acted upon and fulfilled; and to intercede before God on behalf of the church.” While a prophet can “stir up” the gift within, this “does not mean that a prophet can prophesy whatever he wishes and whenever he wishes. Prophecy will always depend upon the action of the Holy Spirit.” Yocum’s teaching here is in stark contrast to much of what we see in purported prophetic ministries today, especially those whose primary arena of influence is not in service to the local church, but on YouTube and other media platforms, where the constant expectation to have a “fresh word” for every new year or every new event in the news cycle drives people to speak out of their own imaginations, rather than from the Spirit.

The fourth chapter delves into how prophecy is governed and administered in the Christian community. Both prophets (by their way of life) and prophecies (by their alignment with special revelation recorded in Scripture) are to be discerned by the elders and the broader community, as there is always the possibility that someone could use the claim of having a prophetic gift to invest his or her own ideas with the authority of God. When God wants to speak a word that requires a definite response from His people, He will usually give the message to multiple people in the community, and not just to a single prophet. This helps protect the community from a “rogue prophet” who is using the guise of prophecy to manipulate. In the Christian community, “the elders have the authority to declare on behalf of the community that a particular prophecy is a word from the Lord. In other words, it is the heads who have the responsibility to discern and the authority to govern prophecy. They, and not the prophets, have the final word.” Contrary to some popular teachings today, the prophet is not the supreme authority in church leadership.

In the second section of the book, chapter five gives instructions about beginning to exercise the prophetic gift. Yocum makes it clear that even when someone receives the gift of prophecy, he or she should not expect to have prophetic revelations on a daily basis. Additionally, when one prophecies, the prophet does not need to speak in elevated language for the prophecy to have the effect God intends. “I have not yet heard a prophecy fail to communicate the Lord’s message because it was cast in simple everyday language. I have, however, heard people trying so hard to use beautiful language that they failed to express God’s word.” Even though the charismata are given as gifts by God, we have to learn how to administer them properly on His behalf.

The sixth chapter lays out various forms prophecy can take. Prophetic exhortation or encouragement, inspired prayer (where the Spirit is prompting and guiding the direction of the prayer topics and wording), prophecy in song, revelation (Yocum’s description of this form parallels what some commonly call a “word of knowledge”), personal prophecy, visions, prophetic actions, and tongues accompanied by interpretation are all possibilities.

The eighth chapter focuses on growing in prophetic service. The more people seek to serve one another out of holy love, the more their desire to see the Spirit’s gifts in operation will be properly motivated (to serve others and meet needs rather than draw attention to one’s self). If our focus is on being something in the church, rather than serving others in love (even possibly in obscurity), then something has gone wrong. A good test of our motives is how we react when another individual begins to be used more in the gifts than we are. “If we become unhappy or jealous, we show that our true desire is to earn ourselves a reputation or attract other people’s attention.” I once heard it said that if I am not willing to minister hidden behind a curtain, where no one knows who I am or what function I am performing, then I have no business ministering on the platform. “A servant is not supposed to do what he likes to do, but what his master gives him to do. The good servant is one who takes care to do just what his master instructs him—neither more nor less.”

Overall, I found Prophecy to be a very well-written treatment of this spiritual gift’s place in the church, with a healthy balance between being open to hearing God speak today, and weighing everything by the standard of the scriptural witness, while making sure our own motivations stay pure. As Yocum says in the afterword, “Certainly we do not have to have the gift of prophecy operating in the church. But if God offers the gift, if the gift will increase our effectiveness in serving God and our neighbor, then it is wrong to decline it. “

If you can find an affordable used copy of this book, or a library that still has a volume available, I highly encourage reading it.

Reviewed by Brian Roden

Most books on contemporary theology trace key themes in theology or focus on the contributions of influential theologians. While these approaches are helpful, it can be easy to miss how contemporary developments in theology have influenced each of the traditional topics in systematic theology. We can be grateful that Mapping Modern Theologyhelps us to see how this is the case.

Mapping Modern Theology is not technically a book on “contemporary theology” broadly speaking, however. Rather, the authors focus specifically on how theologians in the last couple hundred years have responded to modernity. The book begins with an essay by Bruce McCormack which introduces the concept of “modernity” within a theological context. He suggests that “modern” theology emerges when “church-based theologians ceased trying to defend and protect the received orthodoxies of the past against erosion and took up the more fundamental challenge of asking how the theological values resident in those orthodoxies might be given an altogether new expression, dressed out in new categories of reflection” and that philosophically  there was a “shift from a cosmologically based to an anthropologically based metaphysics of divine being” (p. 3).

Kelly M. Kapic is professor of theological studies at Covenant College in Lookout Mountain, Georgia.

The remainder of the essays by various evangelical (broadly defined) authors each focus on a different topic in systematic theology (e.g., creation, Christology, Holy Spirit, the Church), primarily from a Reformed Christian perspective. The chapters will be helpful for both non-specialists (although those who have never studied theology would be easily lost) and specialists. For example, the chapter on the Trinity (a topic in which I am well-versed) helped me to better grasp the impact of the “historical” approach to the Trinity in contemporary theology.

This book serves as a good reminder of the impact our philosophical assumptions can have on our theology, even when we are not conscious of them (or even deny them). The book will also serve well anyone who wants to know how the various topics in systematic theology have been influenced by modernity.

Bruce L. McCormack is Charles Hodge Professor of Systematic Theology at Princeton Theological Seminary.

Mapping Modern Theology could serve as a helpful textbook to a course on systematic theology or contemporary theology. At the same time, the strength of the book could also be its weakness, as far as being used as a primary rather than supplemental textbook. That is, in the systematic approach of the book, one could miss the big picture changes happening in theology today and might not get a good sense of who the most influential theologians have been in contemporary theology. This would not be an issue if the course lectures took a different approach than the book. Another concern (which is true for many books) is that readers might get the impression that theology is only about debates where theologians disagree on things, and readers might therefore miss the depth of the historical consensus of the Church on doctrine. While being aware of these concerns, readers will benefit greatly from the contributions in Mapping Modern Theology.

Reviewed by Andrew K. Gabriel

This review first appeared on Andrew Gabriel’s blog, www.andrewgabriel.wordpress.com and is reprinted here with his permission. Later included in the Summer 2024 issue of The Pneuma Review.

Doug Strong and Jess Bielman offer this short volume intent on reimagining and reoffering an ancient medieval metaphor (the “workshop”) for contemporary practices of theological education that are integrative of the life of the academy and the church together. The volume proposes to take readers on a journey of recovery. Chapter 1 introduces the ancient construct of “apprenticeship” as a means of education in theology and ministry that is intentionally hands-on and oriented around a relationship of discipleship rather than simply courses taken independently with hopes that the student will gain integrative mastery on their own. Foundationally this is a call to mentorship that is facilitated via Spirit-empowered transformational experiences in community, discipline, and vocational holiness and wholeness.

Despite the noted issues with this volume, it still offers a refreshing rethinking of the moves within theological education that have tended to turn it into business and a cognitive intellectualist project rather than the personalizing and transforming Spirit empowering encounter it is meant to be for the sake of the individual, the Church, and the world. This book might function well for a group of professors, administrators, pastors, and students to read together over several weeks of discussions centered around the journey into the “workshop” re-storying proposed. As such it might just offer the “academy opportunity to make it a place of spiritual and intellectual flourishing for the sake of the church’s health” (144). May it be so.

Reviewed by Rick Wadholm Jr.

Publisher’s page: https://wipfandstock.com/9781532689093/workshop-of-the-holy-spirit/

Preview Workshop of the Holy Spirit: https://books.google.com/books?id=SyKcEAAAQBAJ

Bruce McCormack, the Frederick and Margaret L. Weyerhaeuser Professor of Theology at Princeton, is the most interesting and helpful Barthian working today. He has made his mark working to correct a certain North American distortion of Karl Barth’s thought. His contributions now include a number of edited works, including this one, which gathers the essays presented at the 2005 Edinburgh Dogmatics Conference.

As always with an edited work, the articles collected here are of uneven quality. They are also of varying atmosphere. Most of the essays breathe the air of British evangelicalism (which theologically has a lot of variation within it), while others are academic versions of something one might find in Christianity Today. Now and again, the staler air of the World Council of Churches wafts through the volume. The contributors vary from biblical scholars, to historical theologians, to systematic theologians. McCormack classifies some of the contributors as holding to a form of “classical theism”, and others as being more “‘progressive’ … in their willingness to pose questions to concepts of divine timelessness, impassibility, and so forth” (pp. 9-10). The decision to include biblical scholars was perhaps a move toward a broader outlook, but as everyone’s topic appears to have been assigned, the gain of including biblical scholars in the program has been minimized. The program as a whole has a systematic-theological stamp through and through. Topics like “divine simplicity” and “divine aseity” are not on the radar screen of biblical scholars, and for a good reason: they’re not on the radar screen of the Bible.

McCormack’s own contribution consists of a suit against Open Theism. Although McCormack’s admirers have already applauded this essay (on the internet), it ultimately fails to convince. He tries to show that Barth’s dissolution of metaphysics (as if that were conceptually possible!) presents a better solution to the problems that Open Theism has adduced. (McCormack prefers to think that God’s election “stands at the root of God’s being” [p. 210], but I think that is as nonsensical as it sounds. I much preferred Paul Helm’s case against the McCormack-Barth dissolution of metaphysics, found earlier in the same volume.) Much depends on one’s starting point. McCormack really only shows that Open Theism is incompatible with Reformed presuppositions, but he in no way shows that it is a poor fit for Christian theology in general. (Throughout many of these essays, this reader was constantly reminded that, for the Reformed tradition, the word “Protestant” basically means “Reformed”.)

This volume packs a lot of food for thought, and should be rewarding reading for those interested in a somewhat safe entry into the speculative side of modern theology. Those interested in biblical theology, however, will find considerably less of a reward.

Reviewed by John C. Poirier

Read an excerpt from Westminster Theological Seminary: www.wtsbooks.com/common/pdf_links/Excerpt_McCormack_Engaging.pdf [available as of June 6, 2014]

Originally published on the Pneuma Foundation (parent organization of PneumaReview.com) website. Later included in the Summer 2024 issue.