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.

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

Dr. Hormoz Shariat is from Iran. He was a Muslim who became a believer in Jesus. This transformation took place in the United States. Becoming a Christian radically changed the course of his life. Not only did he become a new creation in Christ, his new found faith also changed his career. This volume contains a number of different types of information. Some of what the author has written is personal, some of it is biblical, and some of it is historical. He provides the reader with a glimpse into what God is doing among Iranian Muslims.

The book is divided into three parts. Part I is “My Journey Out of Islam,” Part II is “Iran Will Be a Christian Nation,” and Part III is “Iran is Just the Beginning.” In addition to the main text, in the back of the book readers will find “Questions For Reflection.” These are designed to help the reader engage with the material that was covered in the chapters.

Part III deals with some of the things that are happening among Muslims in Iran in contemporary times. One thing that is happening is that the Lord is appearing to Muslims in dreams and visions (page 178). Dr. Shariat says that the miraculous is taking place so frequently that it is considered normal (page 178). In this section he also says that in the future Iran is going to become a missionary sending nation (page 187)

There are things in this book that may surprise some readers. One is the growth rate of the church in Iran. Citing Operation World, the author points out that Iran has the most rapid rate of evangelical growth in the world (page 133). This is taking place even though there are very few church buildings open in Iran (page 137). And the languages used in the churches that are open cannot be understood by Iranians (page 137). There are underground churches but there are not many of them and they are dangerous to attend (page 137). Another surprising thing is that though the media shows videos of Iranians shouting “Death of America,” the average Iranian loves Americans (page 175). Dr. Shariat shares some interesting examples of this (pages 176-177).

If you are interested in Global Christianity, missions, the gospel in the Muslim world or similar topics I think you will enjoy this book. It is interesting to hear the author’s testimony and what God is doing in Iran. Dr. Shariat’s ministry, Iran Alive, is playing an important part in the sharing of the gospel in Iran and the strengthening of the faith of the believers there. Many Muslims are coming to faith in Christ. This is truly amazing because they are becoming believers in a land where the stakes are very high for being a Christian. God cannot be thwarted, He can build His church even in hostile circumstances: and He is!

Reviewed by John Lathrop

Preview Iran’s Great Awakening: https://www.google.com/books/edition/Iran_s_Great_Awakening/1uAMEAAAQBAJ

People around the world are aware of the upcoming U.S. Presidential election and how contentious the campaigns have been. Historian William De Arteaga tells us about an essay he has published on his blog, Anglican Pentecostal.

Many conservative Evangelical Christians are in torment with the thought of a new Clinton presidency. Certainly, the idea of having a liberal Supreme Court that would further the Pan-sexuality and radical secularization trends of the recent decades is something all Christians should be concerned about. But God will still be on his throne on November 8 and thereafter, and prayer will remain the potent instrument of change it has always been. Here is a historical perspective from the election of 1800 and words of encouragement from Dr. William De Arteaga.

“The Clinton Presidency and the Possibility of Revival“

This is a three part series that Dr. Eddie Hyatt presented at a “Revive America” weekend at Christian Life Assembly of God in Picayune, Mississippi. In this series, he documents the radical Christian character of the first immigrants to this land and shows how the nation was formed out of prayer and a great Spiritual awakening.

For the rest of the series:

• Reclaiming America’s Godly Christian Heritage (Part 1): “It Began with a Vision“
• Reclaiming America’s Godly Christian Heritage (Part 3): “A Nation Birthed in Prayer“

“Meaningful Youth Ministry – Context Is King“
About the four sectors of meaningfulness in a teen’s life: Cultural, Personal, Religious/Theological, and Family.

It can be easy to stay within the confines of the Church. But, meaningful Youth Ministry is present where teenagers live. Meaningfulness is intentional, relevant, and relative to the setting that youth live in. Much of ministry is just showing up and being incarnate. Not expecting students to understand our Church world and setting, but, that we would understand their world and setting. To be wherever the students are. Will you be a part of their world?

“Is Youth Ministry Ready To Lead The Next Great Awakening?“
About the difference between Program-based and Presence-based Youth Ministry and which one could impact The Next Great Awakening.

We must prepare this generation to lead The Next Great Awakening in modern America.
The American Youth culture is in desperate need of a spiritual renewal. This should be one of the most exciting times for the Youth Leaders and the Youth of the Church in our country. At a time when the hearts of young people are failing, it is a great time for spiritual Youth Leadership. Here are 2 principles we must understand if we are going to prepare teens in the American Church to lead The Next Great Awakening.

Mark Shaw, Global Awakening: How 20th-Century Revivals Triggered a Christian Revolution (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2010), 221 pages, ISBN 9780830838776.

This book by Mark Shaw is a welcome contribution to the study of world Christianity. His innovative thesis is that global revivals are the primary delivery system of religious change in the modern world. Several forces contribute to the new face of world Christianity, including globalization, the modern missions movement, translation of the Scriptures, and the empowerment of indigenous peoples. Through theoretical analysis and case studies, Shaw maintains that these forces are not the product of American folk ritual or the Western religious right, but belong to worldwide “charismatic people movements that transform their world by translating Christian truth and transferring power” (p 16).

Shaw claims that the rise of new world Christianity is the product of indigenous movements working “from below” (p 29). These movements emerge from a combination of spiritual, cultural, historical, group, and global dynamics. Each chapter is devoted to a separate case study, examining the dynamics of global revivals in light of particular movements. Shaw begins with the Great Korean Revival of 1907. Through local leadership, the Korean revival transformed secular imports—an alien commerce, culture, and religion—into a new, indigenous expression of Christianity (chapter 2). In chapter 3, Shaw examines the Nigerian revival of 1930 in light of cultural dynamics. Inundated by the perils of influenza, war, plague, and economic depression, Nigerians transferred their trust from science and witchcraft to “new light” indigenous leadership (p 65). The Dornakal revival in India provides an example of the role of conversion in revival (chapter 4). East African revivals illustrate the spiritual dynamic of radical community, which freed historic churches in Uganda from British colonialism and brought renewal to existing Protestant groups (chapter 5). Chapter 6 examines the North American post-war evangelical revivals. Bolstered by the soaring Pentecostal movement, leaders such as Billy Graham, John Stott, and Samuel Escobar, challenged the forces of communism and religious fundamentalism. The “Lausanne Covenant” (1974) paved the way to an international evangelicalism.