It is not an exaggeration of historical facts to state that the United States of America was founded as a result of true spiritual revival. I will never forget sitting in my Colonial American history class during my junior year of college as our professor asked us who we thought was the true founder of the United States. Most of us volunteered answers like “George Washington,” “John Adams,” “Patrick Henry”, and “John Hancock” among others. But he vehemently shook his head to all those answers. Once he had rightly humiliated us, this professor, a strong independent Fundamental Baptist, dogmatically asserted that the true founder of the United States, spiritually, theologically, philosophically, economically, and politically, was . . .

. . . JOHN CALVIN.

During the course of my undergraduate and graduate studies, I learned his assertion was correct and that the founding of our nation was intricately linked to the events of the Protestant Reformation (1517-1648). Among the first generation of Europeans who landed on these shores over four centuries ago, many came primarily for religious convictions, and those convictions also influenced their descendants for generations. But along with that theological heritage, the first three centuries of American history also experienced God’s special blessing of revival, and often before times of national crisis. While I don’t want to read too much into this “cycle” of revival and crisis in our past, for only God can render a true judgement of such matters, consider the following  pattern that occurs from the 1620s until the 1920s:

The 1620s and ’30s marked the arrival of the Pilgrim Separatists and later the English Puritans on the shores of New England. They came to establish a pure Christian commonwealth as well as to fulfill Christ’s command in the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20). Thus, one might argue that American democracy was born as a result of spiritual revival. This revival was followed by a spiritual decline manifested in the Half-Way Covenant along with other crises such as Indian wars, colonial disputes with the English Monarchy and later the Salem Witch trials. This decline culminated in many New England churches embracing Unitarianism, Rationalism and Deism.

In the 1730s and ’40s, God again brought a spiritual revival to all the thirteen colonies through the ministry of Jonathan Edwards, the Tennants in Pennsylvania, Samuel Davies in Virginia and the itinerant ministry of George Whitefield among others. This “Great Awakening” raised up a godly population who endured the trial of the War for Independence (1775-1783) while guarding our nation from the bloody excesses experienced by later revolutions in France and other European nations.

In the 1790s, revival broke out on the frontier in places like western Pennsylvania, Ohio, Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Kentucky, lasting until the early 1800’s and preceding the national trauma of the War of 1812 (1812-14).

In the 1820s, many college campuses in the Northeast experienced the Second Great Awakening. This revival continued until 1850, despite the fact that that its theology and practices were corrupted by the New School Presbyterians, most notably Charles Finney, who tried to produce revival through man-made techniques. This period of revival preceded the sectional crisis that resulted in the great Compromise of 1850, and prevented the War between the States for another ten years.

In 1857-1858, the famous Prayer Meeting revivals spread through the larger cities of the Northeast, as if to prepare the nation for the great blood letting of the War Between the States (1861-1865). Then during the last year of the war itself (1864), revival spread through the Southern armies as if to prepare the Southern people for the great tragedy known as Reconstruction, a darker chapter in American history than the war itself.

During the 1870s and ’80’s, an evangelist by the name of Dwight Moody was raised up, leading revival meetings around the nation. Though the doctrinal content of his preaching was not as deep as revivalists of earlier generations, nonetheless, his preaching softened hearts and brought many souls into Christ’s kingdom. This revival was followed by the Economic Depression of 1893 and later the Spanish-American War of 1898.

In the early 1900s, spiritual revival manifested itself through the Bible Conference Movement, which gave birth to numerous Bible institutes and later the Fundamentalist Movement of the early 1920s and 1930’s. This manifestation of revival was followed by the terrible tragedy of World War I.

In the 1920s and ’30s, a smaller manifestation of revival spread throughout parts of the United States under the preaching of men such Wilber Chapman, Billy Sunday, Bob Jones, Sr., Gypsy Smith and Dr. Harry Ironside. Like the Moody revivals, the doctrinal content was weak, and at times, their methods were unconventional when compared to previous generations. This manifestation of revival was perhaps the smallest and weakest yet experienced in our land. Nonetheless, a witness for Christ and His gospel was given, hearts were softened, and souls were saved. This spiritual awakening was followed by the tragic events of World War II.

In the aftermath of the second World War, some prominent Evangelicals professed their desire to see another spiritual awakening in the midst of the twentieth century. These men later took the title “New Evangelical” and included such preachers and theologians as Harold Okenga, Carl Henry, Harold Linsell, Wilbur Smith and their most prominent spokesman, Billy Graham. While they hearkened to the revivalist traditions of the New School Presbyterians of the nineteenth century, their movement soon divided over doctrinal disputes regarding Inerrancy, the authority of scripture, ecclesiastical separation, and social activism among other matters. They never saw the revival hoped for and by the late 1960’s, their influence had quickly waned.

And since that time, what have we witnessed in our nation? I will consider that question in a third post on this subject, but here is my final thought:

Prior to the 1950s, our nation experienced a series of revivals before major crises. But since the 1950s, in spite of many manifestations of the “Christian religion,” we have not witnessed spiritual revival like the kinds I have noted here. It is now 2014, and almost 90 years have passed since we have seen a true spiritual awakening in this country.

Again, I asked the question from my previous post:

What is Christ doing among His church in our land and in our time?