Editorial February 18, 1905 Issue

The Expected Revival

Archibald McLellan

Upon every side we hear the prophecy of a great religious revival which is to sweep over all Christendom. Scarcely a day goes by in which this prophecy is not repeated in some religious paper, or by some minister whose sermon is reported in the daily press, and the work of the American evangelists now in England, and of an English evangelist who has recently come to America, are referred to as forerunners of an extensive or universal revival which shall awaken the people of all Christian lands. Just when this revival is to take place, and the precise form it will assume, has not been outlined, but that the time is not far distant seems clear to all who feel competent to read the signs of the times.

We sincerely hope that this promise of a great spiritual awakening is to be fulfilled, and that the world is about to enter into an experience such as it has not known for centuries, an experience for whose counterpart we must go back to the day of Pentecost. And when this great awakening comes, we hope that it will come as a revival of the whole of Jesus' gospel, his gospel of healing,—of mighty works,—as well as his gospel of preaching.

Whether such revivals as have been conducted from the time of Finney to the present day have been of permanent value to the cause of religion, is a question upon which even those who have taken part in them are not agreed, but there can be no question about humanity's need of the moral and spiritual regeneration which these revivals promise, and which they are intended to supply. Whatever doubt there may be as to the permanent value of these movements comes largely from the fact that those who have conducted them in the past have directed the larger part of their appeal to the emotions, with the result that later on the ecstasy of many of the so-called converts has subsided, and they have relapsed into their former ways of life. The reverse of this contention is, however, that, even if this be true, the number who remain faithful to their profession of reform is sufficient to justify the expenditure of time, labor, and money involved in this Christian endeavor, and that while the result is never quite what is hoped for, it always represents a distinct advance.

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