So I started reading Pentecostal Outpurings: Revival and the Reformed Tradition for an upcoming review. Before anyone starts wondering (or freaking out), look at the names of the editors. Also the publisher is Reformation Heritage Books, so "Pentecostal" is in terms of Acts 2 not Pentecostalism.
On skimming the book, the historical accounts in the British Isles and the United States bear absolutely no resemblance to our post Charles Finney notions of revival. I would describe what passes for a modern "revival" as an emotionally manipulative experience that promotes a genie-in-the-bottle "god" who grants our every wish and whim if we use the right incantation. There is no reverence. There is no repentance. It is marked by hoopla and a carnival-like atmosphere. There is a certain level of arrogance, too, where we almost demand the Holy Spirit act on our behalf and put His stamp of approval on human effort that misrepresents God. And don't forget the financial rewards that are reaped by the carnival promoters. Yes, I am probably cynical.
In the book's foreward, Dr. Steven Lawson gives a drastically different description. I know many are praying for revival in America again. May God answer those prayers and grant genuine biblical revival, not the cheap counterfeit.
Pentecostal Outpurings: Revival and the Reformed Tradition, Robert Davis Smart, Michael A.G. Haykin, Ian Hugh Clary, editors, Reformation Heritage Books, 2016, pg. vii.
On skimming the book, the historical accounts in the British Isles and the United States bear absolutely no resemblance to our post Charles Finney notions of revival. I would describe what passes for a modern "revival" as an emotionally manipulative experience that promotes a genie-in-the-bottle "god" who grants our every wish and whim if we use the right incantation. There is no reverence. There is no repentance. It is marked by hoopla and a carnival-like atmosphere. There is a certain level of arrogance, too, where we almost demand the Holy Spirit act on our behalf and put His stamp of approval on human effort that misrepresents God. And don't forget the financial rewards that are reaped by the carnival promoters. Yes, I am probably cynical.
In the book's foreward, Dr. Steven Lawson gives a drastically different description. I know many are praying for revival in America again. May God answer those prayers and grant genuine biblical revival, not the cheap counterfeit.
"Biblically and historically speaking, the term revival represents the powerful work of the Holy Spirit in which there is recovered a new awareness of the holiness of God among His people. This heightened knowledge brings in a new season of conviction of sin, which, in turn, leads to heartrending repentance. This lowly humility ushers in an awakened love for Christ. Believers pursue personal holiness. Love for other believers intensifies. The gospel spreads like wildfire. Sinners are brought to faith in Christ, and the church is enlarged and empowered." Steven Lawson
Pentecostal Outpurings: Revival and the Reformed Tradition, Robert Davis Smart, Michael A.G. Haykin, Ian Hugh Clary, editors, Reformation Heritage Books, 2016, pg. vii.
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