A history of American revivals

Preface

The present volume makes no pretensions to literary excellence, nor does it lay claim to being an exhaustive or critical treatment of the subject. Its purpose is to furnish within modest limits a simple and straightforward account of the great revivals and revival movements characteristic of our national religious history. For obvious reasons every revival and every individual associated with revival history could not receive mention. It is to be regretted, moreover, that the data at hand have not warranted a fuller treatment of some phases of this subject. Aside from these limitations the effort has been made to give as complete a narrative of our revival history as possible.

Frank G. Beardsley.

Chapter I. Introductory

The Genesis of Revivals.

The history of revivals is the history of the church. The great epochal movements which have characterized the development of religion may without impropriety be designated as revivals. In accordance with customary usage the term is generally applied to special religious services protracted for a term of days or weeks, when unusual efforts are put forth to reach the unconverted for the purpose of bringing them to repentance and winning them to lives of faith and obedience. Revivals in this sense of the word are of comparatively recent origin and date their beginnings a little more than a century and a half ago. It has been suggested, however, that the annual feasts of ancient Judaism corresponded in some respects to our modern revivals and were a means of promoting vital religion.

According to the generic significance of the word, it means to re-animate, to awaken new life, and hence it presupposes a state of declension. But since an awakened church is always a converting agency, any religious awakening is a revival, whether the term be applied to the work of converting the unregenerate or to the task of bringing new life to a dead and decaying church. With this understanding of the term ample justification may be found for the statement that revivals are as old as human history. It will be interesting, therefore, if not profitable, before proceeding to a delineation of American revivals, to consider briefly and somewhat cursorily the great revivals which have characterized the growth and development of religion.

For our earliest information upon this subject we must have recourse to the sacred scriptures. The Bible is a manual of revivals in so far as it is a record of the successive efforts which were made by patriarchs and kings, by prophets and apostles, for the redemption and religious betterment of a sinning world. The earliest awakening of which it speaks is that tersely described as occurring in the days of Enosh when men began to call on the name of the Lord. Of the character and extent of this revival we can only conjecture, but it was an event of deepest significance, since it marks the beginnings of revival history.

THE GENESIS OF REVIVALS. 3

Passing on to the history of Israel we discover that the (^Exodus, in its purpose and aims, as a mighty spiritual quickening, was essentially a revival. It marks an epoch in the development of the chosen people, whence they were to emerge from the Egyptian bondage, not only as the conquerors of Canaan, but as the pioneers of a world-wide religion. It was no easy undertaking, however, to discipline this army of slaves and fit them for the responsibilities of self-government under the theocracy. Backslidings were frequent and periodic. God's providences were soon forgotten and it often became necessary to admonish and rebuke Israel for her rebellion and her sins. The periods of deeper religious life which followed were in reality revivals. As we study further the development of this people we learn that such awakenings were characteristic of their national life. Interesting accounts are given of spiritual quickenings in the times of Joshua, Samuel, David, Elijah, Hezekiah, Josiah and Ezekiel. It is difficult to conceive how the Jewish nation could have been saved from utter apostasy and ruin had it not have been for these gracious visitations. Even these did not save the chosen people from the calamity which befell them in consequence of the Assyrian invasion. After the captivity there were extensive revivals under Ezra and Nehemiah. The awakening under

Ezra resembled more closely our modern revivals than any of the recorded awakenings which took place during the pre-Christian dispensation. It was a protracted meeting in which unusual interest was displayed. Ezra preached from a pulpit of wood, while the people gave heed to readings and expositions of the law. The effects of this revival were lasting and beneficial.

With the inauguration of Christianity we find that Pentecost is the emphatic date in the commencement of the new era. The ministry of Jesus together with the influence of his character upon the minds of his disciples had been a work preparatory to the inception of that movement which had for its object the evangelization of the world. But the disciples were not yet fully prepared for that work. They needed the enduement with power. The gift of power accompanied the advent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. That they were then ready for their great work is evident from the fact that after they had received the enduement of power, under the preaching of a single searching sermon by the Apostle Peter, three thousand souls were converted to the Christian faith.

J By this great and notable event the Apostolic age was ushered in as a great missionary and evangelistic era. The book of Acts is a manual of the revivals of that age and is replete with accounts of

THE GENESIS OF REVIVALS. '5

awakenings and ingatherings under the labors of Peter and Paul and other members of the apostolic

band.

Dr. Kirk, in speaking of the influence of Pentecost, says : "The impulse of this revival continued to be felt through four centuries, swelling like a wave of the sea, steadily onward, until the battle of the Milvian Bridge put the scepter in the hands of Constantine, and destroyed thus the power of Pagan •persecution; and then the decree of Milan pronounced the religion of the cross the religion of the empire." *

The Christianization of the Roman Empire did not eliminate certain elements of paganism, the reflex influence of which proved disastrous to the new faith. As a consequence a night of spiritual darkness settled down upon Christendom, in which the church slumbered on in contented indifference to the pagan ideas and corrupt practices which were destroying her spiritual power. Voices of protest were raised now and then, but no sweeping results were attained until there came a mighty awakening through the Protestant Reformation.

The Reformation was not an event unheralded or unprepared for. The Crusades, resulting in the commercial expansion of Europe and the revival of

* Kirk's Revival Lectures, p. 115.

learning, the preaching of Wydif, Huss, and Savonarola, and the invention of printing, were potent factors in preparing the way for that tremendous movement which convulsed all Europe and shook to its foundations the papal throne. To Martin Luther belongs the credit for having precipitated the crisis which was bound to come. The hour was struck when he nailed his theses upon the portal of the church at Wittenberg, and that incident, insignificant as it was, became one of the supreme events in the world's history. Zwingli, Calvin, Knox, and a host of lesser lights helped to complete the work which he had* begun and which resulted in the spiritual quickening of Christendom.

In England the cleavage with Rome was chiefly along political and ecclesiastical lines. Henry VIII. through whom it was effected had been an ardent Romanist, but when the pope refused to grant him a divorce from Catherine of Arragon, he took matters into his own hands and proclaimed himself the head of the English Church. This never could have been done, had there not have been a strong undercurrent of Protestantism in the popular sentiment of the day. The efforts of Wyclif and his successors, the humble Lollards, together with the work of the Oxford Reformers, were not in vain. The fruit of their labors was now manifest in the submission and support of the people to the reforms

THE GENESIS OF REVIVALS. 7

of Henry. These reforms were not violent. A change in the headship of the church was all that was at first contemplated. Other changes were inevitable, but the Protestantism of England partook more of the character of an evolutionary process rather than the more violent form of revolution.

In consequence of the persecutions of Mary, many of the clergy fled to the continent, where they came into contact with a type of Protestantism much more radical than that of England. Especially was this true at Geneva where the stern genius of Calvin presided in ascetic simplicity. On their return to England after the accession. of Elizabeth, they carried with them a desire for further reform. As a consequence the Puritan revival was inaugurated, which subsequently peopled New England with colonists and thus prepared the way for the introduction of that more vital form of religion which has characterized the history of American Christianity.

CHAPTER 11.

RELIGIOUS DECLENSION AND ATTEMPTS AT REEORM.

The Pilgrims and Puritans, who founded the New England settlements, were men of sturdy faith and character. They would have gained pre-eminence in any age* The Old World was impoverished by their departure, but it required men of such faith and such character to lay the foundations of a great republic on the bleak and rugged shores of New England. They were possessed of profound convictions, — convictions which if necessary would have caused them to have suffered martyrdom for the principles which they avowed, — convictions moreover which enabled them to lay aside their ancestral traditions and the comforts of the mother country to engage in the hardships of a pioneer enterprise. They were men of fervid piety and intense moral earnestness. But with the passing away of the first generation of these men, the spirit of self-sacrifice and devotion to sublime moral

RELIGIOUS DECLENSION. 9

ideals was not transmitted unimpaired to their immediate posterity. In fact, as time elapsed a decline in religion and morality became very apparent.

To the causes which were operative in producing this state of declension, the church life of the period contributed somewhat. Public worship consisted of morning and afternoon preaching services on the Lord's day, and in many places a mid-week lecture was conducted on Wednesday or Thursday, which, however, was not a gathering for social worship, such as is our modern prayer-meeting, but was similar in character to the services of the Sabbalh day. These services were cheerless and unattractive. Instruments of music were unknown. The singing was confined to the chanting of Psalms metrically arranged, and the number of tunes made use of for this purpose was seldom to exceed five or six. The sermons, often highly metaphysical in character, not infrequently required two and three hours for their delivery. The type of religious experience inculcated was harsh and unsymmetrical. There was nothing to lead men to an appreciation of the beauty of religion or to set forth the desirability of communion with God. The idea of loving service received little or no emphasis, while the religious life of the individual conformed to the stern precepts of duty and fear as the ultimate lo AMERICAN REVIVALS.

standards of conduct. The doctrines taught by the church were ultra-Calvinistic in character and led to a practical denial of human freedom. Not yet had the divines of New England learned to blend harmoniously the doctrines of divine sovereignty and man's free agency. With an insistence upon man's absolute inability to do anything towards securing salvation, there is small cause for wonder that conversions were few, and that men were coming to look upon themselves as in no wise responsible for their impenitence and rebellion towards God.

More potent still in its deteriorating influence upon the religious life of the people was the union of church and state. Church membership was requisite to citizenship, churches were supported by taxation, and church attendance was made compulsory by law. Well meaning as were such provisions, it was a fatal mistake. State churches are seldom conducive to vital religion, but this was a fact which New England was to learn from long and bitter experience. Men cannot be made pious by law, and the attempt to do so has often led to serious if not amusing difficulties. There were times in the history of New England when men who were not in a state of grace were sorely needed in public affairs, and the story is told of one saint, who had been excommunicated, who "was actually arrested and commanded for the love of God to

RELIGIOUS DECLENSION. ii

repent, because he was the only man competent to lead their forces against the Indians."

Non-church members suffered keenly from ecclesiastical disabilities. According to the principles of the Puritans, only the regenerate were eligible to church membership. The baptized children of such were in covenant relations with the church and were entitled to its watch-care, but they were not admitted to the full privileges of church membership until they had made a public profession of regenerate faith. Until such a profession was made their children could neither be baptized nor enjoy the watch-care of the church. Moreover only those who were in full membership had any voice in the affairs of the church. Truly, a strange anomaly was this! Multitudes there were in New England who by taxation were compelled to contribute to the support of the church, and by law were forced to attend its services, but who could have no voice either in public affairs or in the choice of a religious teacher, and whose children were debarred from all of the privileges of the church.

To relieve the disabilities of such the famous Half- Way Covenant was adopted by a ''Synod of elders and messengers, from all the churches in the Massachusetts Colony," which convened at Boston in 1662, by order of the General Court of Massachusetts, to discuss among other questions "who are the subjects of baptism?" For some time there had been a growing liberaUsm upon the subject. When the Cambridge Platform (an elaborate declaration of the principles and practices of the New England churches) was adopted in 1648 there had been a strong sentiment in favor of lowering the standards of the baptismal requirement, but out of deference to a powerful minority, no decisive action was taken. From this time the discussion waxed warm. Many of the ablest divines of New England stoutly opposed any departure from the principles of their fathers, but the action of the Boston Synod in 1662 was final. In accordance with its provisions, persons baptized in infancy, "understanding the doctrines of faith, and publicly professing their assent thereto; not scandalous in life, and solemnly owning the covenant of the church, wherein they give up themselves and their children to the Lord, and subject themselves to the government of Christ and the church, their children are to be baptized." The Half- Way Covenant made no provision for any change in the civil status of those who came within the scope of its action. This was to remain as it was. While it relieved some of their ecclesiastical disabilities, those who owned the Covenant were not admitted to the Lord's table, nor could they have any voice in the affairs of the church.

RELIGIOUS DECLENSION. 13

The Half- Way Covenant elicited a vigorous protest on the part of its opponents, but the General Court of Massachusetts ''judged it meet to commend the same unto the consideration of all the churches and people," and thus it became a part of the church discipline of the colony.

The effect of the Half- Way Covenant v^as not altogether salutary. Instead of promoting vital religion its tendency v^as to encourage moralism. Those who were affected by it, instead of qualifying themselves for church membership, were rather encouraged by its provisions to rest content with the privileges which it conferred. Moreover it was not kept within the bounds of its original provisions. ''Originally its provisions applied only to church members who were admitted in minority, but before many years churches which adopted it construed it as admitting those non church members by baptism and even men of lax personal morality who might desire baptism for their children." * Gradually the Lord's table was opened to such as owned the Covenant. By some churches it was voted that "those who wish to offer their children in baptism join with the church, and have a right to all the ordinances and privileges of the church;" and "if any have any doubts with regard to their preparation

* Dexter's Congregationalism in Literature, p. 475.

for the Lord's supper, they may have the Hberty to stay away from that ordinance until their doubts shall be removed." At a later time advocates were not wanting for the theory that the Lord's supper was a converting ordinance and a means of grace for the unregenerate.

A general lapse in morals was the logical consequence, and this followed by a series of disasters on land and sea, in accordance with the stern ideas of that age, was interpreted as a visitation from the Almighty because of the iniquities of the people. Early in the history of New England, an unusual degree of prosperity had been enjoyed, but now crops had failed repeatedly, smallpox and other epidemics had prevailed in the colonies, disastrous fires had visited Boston, and violent storms at sea had done great damage to shipping and had occasioned the loss of many lives. King Philip's War, 1674- 1676, seemed to fill their cup of desolation to overflowing. One out of every twelve men of military age had met death at the hands of bloodthirsty savages, property was destroyed and some entire towns wiped out of existence, while the debts which had been incurred had brought the colonies to the verge of bankruptcy.

These conditions provoked thoughtful minds to serious contemplation. The General Court was petitioned to order a synod. The Court responded

ATTEMPTS AT REFORM. 15

and in September, 1679, a synod, which was known as the Reforming Synod, convened at Boston to consider (i) What are the evils that have provoked the Lord to bring his judgment on New England? (2) What is to be done that those evils may be reformed?

After a careful consideration of these problems, thirteen evils were specified as being the causes of the disasters and calamities which had come upon them. They were as follows : decay of godliness on the part of professing Christians ; pride and extravagance in dress ; neglect of baptism and church fellow^ ship together with a failure to testify against Quakers and Baptists; profanity and irreverent behavior in the sanctuary; absence of Sabbath observance ; lack of family government and worship ; backbitings, censures, revilings and litigations between church members ; intemperance, tavern haunting and putting the bottle to the lips of Indians, besides: adultery, lustful dress and behavior, mixed dancings, gaming and idleness; dishonesty; covetousness and a love of the world; opposition to reformation and leniency towards sin ; a want of public spirit in causing schools and other common interests to languish ; and finally a general unfruitfulness under the means of grace and a refusal to repent.

To remedy these evils it was recommended that the chief persons in church and state be careful to set a godly example; that the Cambridge Platform be re-affirmed; that none be admitted to communion who had not made a full profession of saving faith ; that discipline in the churches be diligently enforced ; that the churches be fully officered; that the magistrates attend to the support of such officers; that righteous laws should be established and enforced; that churches renew their covenants with God; that the sins of the times be engaged against; that the churches agree in covenanting to promote holiness and a closer walk with God; that provision should be made to support Harvard College and all schools of learning; and that all should *'cry mightily unto God, both in ordinary and extraordinary manner, that he would be pleased to rain down righteousness."

The results of the Reforming Synod were salutary but not lasting. Many of the churches solemnly renewed their covenants, days of fasting and prayer were appointed and in some places there were large accessions to the number of communicants. According to Cotton Mather, it was followed "not only by a great advancement of holiness in the people but also by a great addition of converts to their holy fellowship." But in most instances these additions consisted of such as owned the Half- Way Covenant and gave their assent thereto, so that the way was opened for a repetition of those very evils

ATTEMPTS AT REFORM. 17

which the Reforming Synod was designed to correct.

The disasters moreover which had visited the people were not averted, and in so far as they occupied the pubHc mind to the exclusion of religion they served to aggravate the demoralizing tendencies of the time. The loss of the old charter in Massachusetts, the seizure of the Old South meeting-house for an Episcopal service, and the witchcraft delusion at Salem added to the political and religious disturbances of the day. A combination of such evils, together with the spiritual desolation prevalent in the New England churches, gave a gloomy aspect to the closing years of the seventeenth century.

The opening years of the new century were no less gloomy than the closing years of the old. In 1702 Increase Mather exclaimed: "Oh New England, New England ! tremble, for the glory is going ; it is gradually departing." In 1721 he said: ''Oh degenerate New England ! what art thou come to at this day? How are those sins become common in thee that once were not so much as heard of in this land?" Election and fast day sermons of the time abound in similar allusions to the prevailing declension in religion. The leaven of the Half- Way Covenant was performing its deadly work. During the early part of the eighteenth century what was known as Stoddardeanism (so named because advocated by Rev. Solomon Stoddard of Northampton, Mass. ) became widely prevalent. He maintained "that sanctification is not a necessary qualification to partaking of the Lord's Supper," ''that the Lord's supper is a converting ordinance," and wrote a treatise in defense of the same. There was some opposition to be sure, but on account of Mr. Stoddard's commanding influence his views received wide acceptance throughout New England.

With the ebb-tide in religion there had been a steady decline in the morals of the people. Jonathan Edwards, writing of the conditions prevalent in his own parish about 1730, said: ''It seemed to be a time of extraordinary dullness in religion; licentiousness for some years greatly prevailed among the youth of the town; there were many of them very much addicted to night walking and frequenting the tavern, and lewd practices, wherein some by their example exceedingly corrupted others. It was their manner very frequently to get together in conventions of both sexes, for mirth and jollity, which they called frolicks; and they would often spend the greater part of the night in them, without any regard to order in the families they belonged to; and indeed family government did too much fail in the town." * Northampton furnishes a mild

* Works, Vol. III., p. 232.

ATTEMPTS AT REFORM. 19

example of the conditions which were prevalent throughout New England. The situation so far as we are able to learn presents an ever-darkening picture of the state of society and the moral condition of the people.

Was this state of affairs to continue ? Were conditions to wax worse and worse ? Had God forsaken New England? For a time it appeared to many as if he had. But the darkness of the period was the darkness which precedes the dawn, a dawn that was to usher in the Great Awakening, an awakening which was to result in the ingathering of thousands and the spiritual regeneration, not only of New England, but of the entire colonial system bordering on the Atlantic, and which was to give spiritual strength for the struggle for independence.

Chapter III. The Great Awakening

Dark as were the conditions which preceded the Great Awakening, there were not wanting rays of Hght to give promise of brighter days. Rev. Solomon Stoddard, whose practices evidently were better than his theories, had been blessed in his pastorate at Northampton, with special ingatherings which he called harvests, during the years 1679, 1683, 1696, 1 712, and 1 7 18. Revivals were also reported at Hartford, Conn., in 1696, at Taunton, Mass., in 1705, and at Windom, Conn., in 1721.

The great earthquake of 1727 profoundly affected the public mind and led many to inquire seriously concerning the way of salvation.

That same year Rev. Gilbert Tennent, who was destined to play no inconspicuous part in the Great Awakening, was called to the pastorate of a Presbyterian Church at New Brunswick, New Jersey. There he came in contact with the fruitful ministry of Rev. Theodore Frelinghuysen, who for seven years had been pastor of a Dutch Reformed Church in the vicinity, and whose success together with his fraternal counsel incited the young minister to a spirit of inquiry concerning his own lack of fruitfulness in ministerial labors. A sickness which visited him about this time deepened these impressions to such an extent that he resolved to be more faithful and earnest in his ministry should he recover. Upon his restoration to health he sought both by personal work and the faithful presentation of gospel truth to awaken the indifferent and arouse the impenitent to a sense of their spiritual needs, "which method," he said, 'Svas sealed by the Holy Spirit in the conviction and conversion of a considerable number of persons at various times and in different places in that part of the country as appeared by their acquaintance with experimental religion and good conversation." *

These various spiritual quickenings, which were as mercy drops before the showers of refreshing, would seem to indicate that the country was not altogether unprepared for that tremendous wave of religious influence which swept over the colonies and which has become known in history as the GREAT AWAKENING. So far as the human origin of this Awakening is concerned, it commenced in the quiet rural parish of Northampton, Mass., about 1734.

* Tracy's Great Azvakening, p. 35.

Rev. Jonathan Edwards, under whose preaching appeared the first manifestations of revival power, was born at East Windsor, Conn., October 5th, 1703* His father was a Congregational minister and his mother was a daughter of the celebrated Solomon Stoddard. As a child Edwards was precocious. At six he commenced the study of Latin, at ten he wrote an essay denying the materiality of the human soul, and at thirteen he entered Yale College, from which he graduated in September, 1 720, before he had quite reached the age of seventeen. During his second year in college he read Locke on the "Human Understanding," of which he said that he was inexpressibly pleased and entertained; more so than the most greedy miser, when gathering up handfuls of silver and gold from some newly discovered treasure. After graduation he remained two years at college, studying and preparing himself for the gospel ministry to which he had already committed himself.

In August, 1722, he accepted an invitation to the English Presbyterian Church in New York City, where he labored for a space of eight months. A permanent call was extended him, but the church was so small and the future so unpromising that he declined. During this pastorate he began a markable series of resolutions for the guidance of his conduct, pledging himself to do nothing which did not tend to the glory of God. Upon relinquishing his pastoral duties he repaired to the home of his father, where several months were spent in a further study of theology. In June, 1724, he received an appointment as tutor in Yale College, which position he filled for two years with honor to himself and credit to the institution. The infirmity of years was now resting upon his grandfather, the Rev. Solomon Stoddard, so that he felt the need of an assistant in his pastorate at Northampton. To this position young Edwards was called, and he was duly ordained as colleague with his grandfather on the 15th of February, 1727. Two years later, upon the death of the latter, he succeeded to the full pastoral office in what was then the strongest church in Massachusetts outside of Boston. A short time after his ordination he was joined in marriage to Miss Sarah Pierrepont of New Haven, who was then but seventeen years of age. The daughter of a minister, she was a young woman of accomplished education and marked personal beauty. The home life of this couple bordered closely upon the ideal. When he visited them George Whitefield was so impressed by their conjugal felicity that he wrote, ''She is a woman adorned with a meek and quiet spirit, and talked so feelingly and solidly of the things of God, and seemed to be such a helpmeet to her husband, that she caused me to renew those prayers which for some months I have put up to God, that he would send me a daughter of Abraham to be my wife."

For some months Edwards labored at Northampton without success, but in 1733 a change in the attitude and demeanor of the youth was apparent. There was a disposition to be guided by pastoral teaching and advice, and a few months later the revival commenced. 1 740 is the commonly accepted date for the Great Awakening, but in reality it commenced in New England in 1734 and continued, with some intermissions to be sure, for a period of eight years.