01.01.

11 RIVERS & FLOODTIDE

OUTLINE

DAYS OF OPPORTUNITY
James and conflict
Civil war
Church under Cromwell
Faith and ferment
Commonwealth to Restoration
Fox and Quakers
Bunyan and Baptists
Scotland and Covenanters
William and Mary

DAYS OF OUTPOURING
Discovering and questioning
Spiritual malaise
The Pietists
The Moravians
Wesley and Methodism
Edwards and awakening
Whitfield and preaching
Wales and revival
Anglican evangelicals
Fruits of revival

Questions
Open Reflection
Reading & Resources

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 SALVATION LANDSCAPE
An opportunity to understand, discuss and reflect upon the story of the people of
God; seamlessly integrating biblical and church history against a background of
world history and applying our observations to the Christian community today.
LEARNING GOALS:
Main Unit Objective: To enable learners to understand the relationship between
history, mission and eschatology in defining the environment, inspiration and the
purpose of Christians as the people of God.
Module Objective: To enable learners to recognise and understand the biblical
presentation and historical development of Christianity
Learners will:
Review historical events
Analyse different interpretations
Identify the spiritual dimension of world history
Reflect on the relevance to the students own times
Learners will acquire a knowledge and understanding of:
Sequential events
Historical context
Methods of history telling
Influence / impact of events on subsequent events
Session Learning Goal:
Learners will study varieties of expressions of the Christian faith in the challenge
and changes of the 17th and 18th centuries.
Session Description:
Faith and change in the 17th & 18th centuries

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 01.01.11 RIVERS & FLOODTIDE

DAYS OF OPPORTUNITY

James and conflict

At the death of Elizabeth in 1603, the son of Mary Queen of Scots, already James VI
of Scotland, became James 1 of England. At this point the majority of those
committed to the Church of England saw themselves simply as members of a
national church, which was Protestant in character. Within this broad church,
however, conflicting tides had emerged: -

High Church: individuals like Richard Hooker and William Laud stressed that the
Anglican church, with its historic episcopate, was as apostolic and catholic as the
Roman church. Those influenced by this emphasis were very sacramental in their
theology and worship and saw the king and bishops as essential to church
structure and function.

Puritan: influenced by Calvinist ideas many saw the Anglican church as only
semi-reformed, they wanted simplicity in worship and the church free from the
control of the king and the bishops. There were two contrasting puritan views
about the church: -

Presbyterian with elected elders overseeing churches in a

geographical area, as was the case in Scotland; people like Thomas
Cartwright encouraged this;
Congregational [independents] with each local church having only
of committed believers and the authority to determine its own destiny
independent of a presbytery; this was encouraged by people like
William Perkins.1

James had been brought up under the influence of the Presbyterian church in
Scotland which John Knox had established. The Puritans felt sure that this would
make the new king favourable to the reforms they wanted in the Church of England.
In 1604 met a delegation of Puritans at Hampton Court Palace to discuss what they
described as biblically based reforms for the Anglican church. He saw their demand
for the abolition of bishops and Presbyterian style structure as removing his power to

1 In the notes above we are using the term puritan and independent in particular ways; but the term
puritan is often used about this time to speak broadly of people wanting a more spiritual lifestyle and
a more reformed church, and independents could refer to many separatist groups breaking with the
established church.

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control the church and thus the divine right of kings which he cherished. His famous
reply was, No bishop, no king! James refused all but one of the Puritan demands;
he authorised a new translation of the Bible, the King James version, published in
1611.

James not only crushed Puritan hopes but was determined to drive them from the
church. He not only deprived them of their livings, but refused to tolerate their
existence within the established church. While he agreed with them theologically he
would have no church that challenged the power of the crown. The Puritans and
other dissenters were driven underground, some escaped to the Continent, but a
zeal for religious reform and freedom based on scripture continued in their hopes
and preaching. It was disappointment and frustration at events that led to the sailing
of the pilgrim fathers from Holland, via Plymouth, to New England in the Mayflower
on 6th September 1620, many more would follow.

Civil war

In 1625 James died and his son, Charles 1, came to the throne and quite simply, a
bad situation became worse. Like his father, Charles also believed in the divine right
of kings, and his archbishop, William Laud, continued the attack on Puritan
influences. The Queen, Henrietta Maria, was a Catholic and Laud was suspected of
Roman sympathies as he introduced increasingly high practices into the church.

On the political front Charles treated Parliament with increasing contempt. The king
was under pressure to raise finance to meet his commitments but the Commons
made no allowance for this and deep acrimony arose. From 1629 Charles ruled
without Parliament. Further political incompetence was seen in the king trying to
impose English church government, liturgy and prayer book upon the Scots. They
responded in fury and signed the national Covenant to maintain the freedom of the
church; they defended this between 1639-40 by defeating successive English
armies. These events led to the English people becoming even more indignant
about the kings mismanagement of affairs. A hostile Parliament was recalled in 1640
with events climaxing in January 1642 when the king attempted to arrest five
members.

On the 22nd August 1642 the king raised his standard at Nottingham and the
English Civil War had begun. It was not a religious war, but over the kings right to
levy taxes and the rights of Parliament as we have seen; however, religious strands
were entangled in the whole event. The years between 1642-1646 saw the awful
conflict. At first things went against the Parliamentarians, but under the increasing
leadership of Oliver Cromwell and the Ironsides of his New Model Army they began
to gain a crushing victory. This Huntingdon squire was a Puritan independent. Once
the king was captured there was increasing pressure for Charles execution due to
his duplicity. The Presbyterians did not want the death of the king so Cromwell and
the Independents purged them from the Commons. King Charles 1 was beheaded at
Whitehall on January 30th 1649.

Puritan dominance of Parliament during the years of the civil war led to the setting
up of a committee to provide an alternative to the Thirty Nine Articles as a basis for

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a united church in Britain after the war. The result of their work was the Westminster
Confession. It is an orderly and clear presentation of Christian truth, from a Calvinist
perspective, set out as a confession of faith; it is the basis of faith of all Presbyterian
churches; and viewed as one of the finest fruits of Reformed theology.

Church under Cromwell

The end of the civil war presents a situation unique in church history; there is an
important political state under the authority of a Christian military leader who is
personally an independent in his belief about the relationship between the Church
and the state!

The aftermath of the war saw the bulk of the English people either moderate
Anglican or Presbyterian. However, there were increasing numbers of independents,
separatists and dissidents scattered throughout the nation. New laws allowed
freedom of thought and worship and the English church became dominated by
independency; in effect a vast collection of parishes, each with a certain amount of
freedom to organise religious life as it chose, with the minimum of central direction.
Most people, like Congregationalists and Baptists, who wanted to worship in
gathered congregations separate from the parochial system were free to do so.
Those faithful to the defeated Anglican system were treated with reasonable
tolerance, and Catholics were treated better than they had been for a century even
though they had supported the king in the Civil War. More extreme sects, to which
we shall refer below, faced official and unofficial persecution. Some of the great
Cathedrals became meeting places for various groups; Exeter Cathedral was
divided in half by a brick wall, Presbyterian one side, Independents the other! Of
course in the Restoration of Charles II all this will be swept away; but the religious
face of England could never be the same again.

Faith and ferment

Viewing church and society from the top down, following the Civil War, suggests a
time of remarkable freedom; but to view church and society from the grass roots
reveals an astonishing period of revolution. Social discontent among the bottom fifty
percent of English society at the time of the Civil War was great; there was not only
the huge disruption of the war but the years 1620-1650 have been described as
economically among the worst in English history. Therefore the hopes of many for a
new social and economic order to emerge from the conflict were high. But in the
event the war only benefited the gentry and the merchants, so there was reaction.
This particularly came to a head after the execution of the king.

Added to this, these were also days of intense religious excitement. There was
widespread belief that the time had come for God to pour out his Spirit upon all flesh
and that through the violence of the Civil War the kingdom of God would be
established upon English soil and that Christ would descend to reign over it. There
were ecstasies everyday and prophecies everywhere; amongst soldiers of the New
Model Army, artisans in London, vagabonds and traders: -

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 Richard Sale walked barefoot and in sackcloth through the streets of
Derby; flowers in one hand and stinking weeds in the other;
James Milner prophesied that the 2nd December 1652 would be the
first day of the New Creation and would be marked by a sheet carrying
a sheep being let down from heaven.

Anarchy, communism and apocalyptic were in the air giving rise to numerous
groups. There were claims to spirituality in everything from holiness to lawlessness.
It has been said that particularly between 1645-1653 there was a great overturning,
questioning, revaluing of everything in England. Old institutions, old beliefs, old
values came in question.2 There is a tendency to want to clearly distinguish
between these groups and individuals, the reality appears to be that at the time the
whole situation was much more fluid in its expression. We must also be careful in
not distinguishing too strictly between religion, politics and general skepticism. Some
of the main groups and influences were: -

Levellers: A movement that grew among radical supporters of Parliament. They

demanded sovereignty be transferred to a Commons elected by all the people,
with equality before the law and freedom of religion. Their name was given by
their enemies who saw their aim as levelling human estates; making everyone
equal. Because their reforms were not acted on, with only landowners being
allowed to vote, they turned to agitation in the New Model Army. This led to
mutiny in April 1649 that was crushed by force, and by 1650 leading Levellers like
John Lilburne were imprisoned and the movement crushed; but its ideas were to
inspire others.

Diggers: Between 1649-50 a communistic movement, led by Gerrard Winstanley

and others began to cultivate common land near Cobham in Surrey; also inspiring
other groups elsewhere. They planted vegetables to feed the needy. Local gentry
and landowners incited mobs to harass them and later the government dispersed
them. They claimed the Civil War had destroyed the landowners claims and that
should revert to the common treasury God originally intended; the Norman yoke
was to be broken. There was to be social equality, education for all, and abolition
of trade, universal suffrage and an imminent expectation of the Millennium.
Winstanley saw the present world as running up like parchment in the fire, and
wearing away. Society must return to its virgin state. They genuinely believed
that their digging was an outward manifestation of an inner confidence that the
time had come for Gods intervention in history.

Fifth Monarchists: They emerged from within Cromwells army and were
inspired by the vision of the destruction of the four anti-God kingdoms in Daniel
2:44. They looked for the direct intervention of King Jesus into English politics to
bring about the effects that democratic political methods had failed to achieve.
Cromwell crushed their intrigues and their plot ultimately to murder him. In 1661
Venner headed another rising in which he and 16 others were executed.

2 Christopher Hill The World Turned Upside Down Pelican 1975 p14.

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 Muggletonians: The emerged about 1651 through the teaching of two obscure
men, John Reeve and Lodowick Muggleton; a London tailor and his cousin. They
claimed to be the two witnesses of Revelation 11 and to have the spirit of
prophecy and visions from heaven. Muggleton said he was the mouth of Reeve
as Aaron had been to Moses. They saw their work as to seal the elect in
preparation for the forth-coming judgment of God. They expressed the right to
curse all who opposed them and declared eternal damnation to all their
adversaries. They denied the Trinity and held a dualist doctrine. While they were
imprisoned as nuisances, they were not without influence.

Seekers: These were individuals and sometimes groups whose disenchantment

with the failure of the church of their day, and through influences from the
Continent, turned their back upon all the forms of organisation and ceremonies of
the visible church. They taught that the true believer waits and seeks for the
church of apostolic power, which God will establish. They were earnest,
peaceable, spiritually minded people and appear to have held large meetings in
both Bristol and the north of England. As we shall see the majority were absorbed
into the Quaker movement after 1652.

Ranters: This was a movement of the free spirit. Like some Levellers and
Diggers they wished to abolish private property. Like the Seekers they denounced
all outward forms of religion; emphasising instead that true religion was found in
the indwelling spirit that was present within each person. They were pantheists;
and their exaltation of self led them to virtually regard themselves as divine
beings. However, it was their pursuit of personal and spiritual freedom that led to
their most extreme beliefs and behaviour. They taught that they could know no
freedom from sin unless they could freely sin without guilt. They would regularly
swear and blaspheme, smoke and drink. They saw no wrong in lying, stealing or
even murdering if the occasion demanded it. They taught that all men and women
were but one man and woman so fornication and adultery were pure acts. They
went out of their way to mock religion. Ranters were numerous and they were
everywhere. They were in the Army and across the nation, and found in their
thousands in London. Their emphasis on individual thought and action meant that
they tended to produce a whole variety of groups around prominent leaders. They
were one of the main reasons why observers at the time saw England appearing
to swarm with sects. They had a devastating effect upon many individuals and
groups; there are frequent references to shattered Baptists. Both George Fox
and Richard Baxter wrote against them. Many were converted to the Quaker
movement; others were severely punished by the authorities for their immoral and
blasphemous acts that led to the eventual suppression of the movement.

Commonwealth to Restoration

The problem facing Oliver Cromwell was that, following the execution of the king in
1649; he never found a satisfactory way of ruling the national commonwealth he
created. There was no king, no lords nor bishops. Initially, as commander-in-chief of
the army he used military power to crush the Levellers and the Irish. In 1653 he took
the title Lord Protector but wisely refused the crown. Cromwells protectorate was
clearly marked by his independent puritan commitment and by some of the finest

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and coarsest aspects of his character. Amongst Cromwells legislation were
attempts to regulate the suitability of the clergy; there were also laws prohibiting
cock fighting, horse racing, stage plays and swearing in attempt to reform morality.

During this time we see the influence of individual Puritans like Richard Baxter who
was minister of the parish church in Kidderminster between 1641-1660. He was a
gentle scholar and preacher who was concerned about the whole pastoral state of
the church. He worked strongly for Christian unity in an age where separation was
often viewed as a virtue. He wrote with a warmth at a time when this was hardly a
characteristic of the Puritan.

With Cromwells death in 1658 the Puritan revolution was spent. There was no
leader, no policy, no plans and no constitution that satisfied the nation, which began
sinking into political chaos. It was the army commander George Monk who correctly
assessed the popular mood for a return of the Stuart royal family. On 26th May 1660
Charles II returned to the throne at the invitation of Parliament. Not only was the
monarchy restored, but so also was most of what had been removed by the Civil
War. Anglicanism was reestablished with High Churchmen in the ascendancy. Old
scores were settled; the regicides [king-killers] were executed and the
Presbyterians were given no church concessions.

In 1662 the Act of Uniformity demanded all Anglican ministers give their complete
assent to the Book of Common Prayer. Over 2000 clergy, Presbyterian, Independent
and Baptist, left the national church. The break between Anglican and Puritan was
complete and English dissent was formally marked. It was now a time when any
English person who was not an Anglican faced serious difficulties; thousands of
nonconformists died in terrible prison conditions, others faced financial ruin through
having their property sequestrated.

Fox and Quakers

George Fox was born in 1624; he came from a godly home in Fenny Drayton in
Leicestershire. His remarkable life spanned all the political and religious upheavals
from the reign of James 1 to that of William and Mary. From childhood he was aware
and serious about spiritual things; hungry for God but perplexed by all the religious
confusion around him. Having been apprenticed to a shoemaker - trader, and with
no formal education, he set out, in 1643 at the age of 19 as a wondering seeker
after truth. Fox inquired and questioned everywhere and from everybody he met
and was dismayed by the religious controversies of his day which he increasingly
saw as trivial, and the failure of ministers of his day, Puritan or dissenting, to help
him. He would spend hours alone studying his Bible; this gave him a prodigious
knowledge of the text. He had long and deep inner struggles but slowly came to
believe that a person did not need the steeple houses to find God. People should
rely on the Holy Spirit, the inner light of the living Christ, through whom they could
commune directly with Jesus Christ. He said that God spoke this truth directly into
an individuals heart.

Having made this discovery of the power and life of the Spirit experimentally,
George Fox became a travelling evangelist in 1647, believing that he had a

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command from God to turn people to that inward light, spirit and grace.. In eight
years there would be 50,000 Quakers:

In 1648 he was holding great meetings in the Midlands and many

were convinced and become part of this society of friends;
In Nottingham he was first imprisoned for speaking out in a church to
challenge a clergymen;
In 1649, prior to his imprisonment in Derby, the movement was given
the nickname Quakers when Fox told the judge to tremble before the
Lord;
In 1652 he climbed Pendle Hill in Lancashire where in a vision, the
Lord let me see in what places he had a great people to be gathered;
In Westmorland he met a group of Seekers who responded to his
teaching and leadership, forming the Valiant Sixty who became
involved in mission and evangelism: the movement now develops a
focus beyond one individual;
In Furness he met Judge Fell and his wife Margaret; their home
Swathmore Hall was to become a centre for Quaker activity and many
years later, in 1669 after the Judges death, George Fox and Margaret
were to marry.

In the early days, the 1650s, the Quaker movement was inevitably caught up in
religious and spiritual ferment of the time. To many it was another dangerous group;
to others it was truth amid confusion. Many of the early Quakers had been Seekers,
Ranters or shattered Baptists. That some ranting ideas influenced some early
Friends groups is seen in the events surrounding James Naylor. A one time
Parliamentary soldier and preacher he became a charismatic itinerant Quaker
preacher and writer who suffered his share of prison. In 1656 the enthusiasm of
some of his female admirers, as he entered Bristol, led the authorities believe he
was reenacting Jesus triumphal entry. He was arrested, the matter was debated in
Parliament, he was pilloried and whipped through the streets. Though released, he
died soon after, but left a stain on the Quaker name. However, the contrast of
Quakerism to the ferment of the time is seen in the declaration, ... had not the
Quakers come the Ranters had overrun the nation.

It was George Foxs strength of character and personal qualities marked the Quaker
movement and enabled it to withstand the political and religious upheavals of the
times. He had a great reputation for physical and moral courage; he would always
speaking the truth and refused to take oaths. He ate a frugal diet and took little
sleep. Attempts were made to enlist him in the Civil War as an officer but he refused
declaring that war was contrary to scripture. He treated all people as equals;
refusing to remove his hat and using thee and thou. He personally faced
imprisonment eight times, and travelled thousands of miles on both foot and
horseback; he often thought himself to be near death. He constantly faced verbal
abuse and physical violence from soldiers, jailers and ordinary people. All this was
an example to those who followed him; by 1689 some 12,000 Quakers had suffered
imprisonment, 300 dying in captivity. Like Fox the movement had great social
concern:

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 adequate wages for servants and workers;
justice and abolition of the death penalty;
care for the poor, prisoners and debtors;
kindness and freedom for slaves.

The influence and expansion of the Quakers is seen in the life of William Penn. He
was born in 1644, the son of an Admiral, and grew to be a well-educated, well-
travelled, fashionable young man with excellent connections to the Stuart house. In
1666, in Ireland managing family property, he became a Quaker. He was imprisoned
and disowned by his family; though later reconciled. His writings, preaching,
suffering and friendship with George Fox all made him an important figure among
the early Friends. In 1681 Penn was offered an enormous tract of land in America in
payment of a debt owed by Charles 11 to his father. The new province was called
Pennsylvania [Penns woods] with its capital Philadelphia [brotherly love]. The
Holy Experiment with its concern to live in justice with the native Americans and
religious freedom. Events did not justify the early idealism. Despite developed in the
colony and Penns later years were dogged by financial hardship. However, it marks
the influence impact of the Quakers.

In 1671 George Fox travelled to Barbados, Jamaica and the east coast of America.
He also visited Holland and Germany. His life spent in travel and preaching ended in
1691 in London. In a sermon three days before his death he declared, I am clear, I
am fully clear.

Bunyan and Baptists

In 1628, John Bunyan, eldest son of a poor tinker was born in Elstow near Bedford.
At sixteen, with little education, he was drafted into the Parliamentary army for three
years to return as a tinker. These were years of godlessness, though he probably
met people of faith in the army. In 1649 he married his first wife Mary3 , who bore
him four children in their poverty before her death in 1658. Bunyan was stirred
spiritually by his wife telling of her godly father, hearing believing women speaking
joyfully, and listening to John Gifford, the pastor of an dissenting congregation in
Bedford, preaching in 1651. It was not until 1653 that Bunyan finally believed, was
baptised and moved to live in Bedford. Three years later he begins to preach in the
surrounding villages. With the Restoration unauthorised preaching became a
punishable offence and in November 1660 he was arrested and imprisoned for the
best part of the next fourteen years. He saw preaching not only his responsibility, but
as his right and privilege. In prison he made shoe laces to support his second wife of
a year, the eighteen year old Elizabeth who fearlessly supported him, and the
children. He also continued to preach and to write.

In all John Bunyan wrote more than 60 books during his lifetime. However, his
confinement was to give the world the unique literary and spiritual classics; Grace
Abounding [1666], and Pilgrims Progress [1678] one of the most widely read
Christian devotional books in the English language and has since been translated

3Her name is not given, it is assumed to be Mary according to the custom of naming the eldest
daughter after her mother; Bunyans daughter was blind Mary.

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into over a hundred languages. Yet Bunyans major literary influence came through
reading the Bible, however, he makes his mark in an age of Shakespeare and
Milton. He also wrote against the Quakers whom he believed, along with the
Ranters, were deceivers; however, his attitude towards them mellowed after he
spent some time with them in prison.

In 1672 Bunyan was released from prison, called to be pastor by the Bedford
congregation and licensed as a preacher. The remainder of his life was spent
pastoring, writing and preaching in the Bedford area with occasional visits to London
churches; proving himself to be one of Englands great nonconformist preachers and
earning the nickname Bishop Bunyan. The famous Puritan scholar John Owen was
asked by Charles 11 how he could listen to a tinker preach, he replied, May it
please your majesty, could I possess the tinkers abilities for preaching, I would most
gladly relinquish all my learning.

Theologically Bunyan was Puritan and Calvinist, but his concept of church was
separatist and Baptist. The church in Bedford was independent in affiliation,
congregational in structure and Baptist in practice. However, any believer was
welcome to participate in the Lords Supper irrespective of the manner of their
baptism; this open communion irritated many Baptists.

The Baptists emerge out of the seventeenth century Independents, but have their
roots among the sixteenth century Separatists and Brownists on the Continent who
were influenced by Anabaptist ideas. In 1612 a group left Holland and led by
Thomas Helwys established the first Baptist church at Spitalfields in London; they
were the General [Arminian] Baptists. Between the years 1633-1638 the Particular
[Calvinistic] Baptists emerge. Both streams developed widely during Cromwells
Commonwealth with some 300 Baptist churches by 1660.

In 1688 John Bunyan was caught in the rain riding from Reading to London. He
caught a fever and died in the home of a friend on August 31st. He was buried in the
London cemetery of Bunhill Fields.

Scotland and Covenanters

At the Restoration king Charles promised the people of Scotland that he would
uphold the Covenants made by the Presbyterians who resisted his fathers attempt
to impose bishops and prayer book upon the nation. However, Charles only took the
oath to get the Scottish crown and had no intention of keeping it; he imposed
Episcopacy upon them and denounced the Covenants as illegal. This erupted into
the killing times in Scotland in which there was the savage repression of all
dissidents. There were disastrous defeats of the Covenanters at Bothwell Bridge and
Rullion Green. Forbidden to meet in public small companies of Covenanters met in
the open on the misty moors and in the deep glens and ravines of the southern
uplands of Scotland to escape attack from the merciless dragoons. These were days
in which no less than 17,000 men and women suffered for conscience sake, many
dying as martyrs, sometimes without trial, in Edinburgh.

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William and Mary

Charles 11 died in 1685 and a bad situation became worse. His brother, James II
who was an avowed Catholic, made it clear to the horror of both Anglicans and
dissenters alike that he was going to actively promote the Roman cause within the
nation. Added to this there was Monmouths rebellion in the west country, with its
savage aftermath in the Bloody Assize by Judge Jeffries. By 1688 James had
alienated the majority of the nation. When a group of English politicians invited
James Dutch Protestant son-in-law, William of Orange, to mount an invasion to
overthrow him few people were prepared to oppose him. Popular feeling broke into
uprising and James fled to France by 1689. William and Mary took the throne, they
brought stability to both church and state. There was religious toleration;
Anglicanism was established, nonconformity blossomed with some 1000 places of
worship being built across the country. In Scotland the Presbyterian church was
established.

DAYS OF OUTPOURING

Discovering and questioning

The seventeenth and eighteenth centuries saw a rise of science, which in turn had a
profound impact on philosophical speculation. This revolution in thinking and
understanding, paralleled with the monumental upheavals in both church and politics
brought about most of the changes that we recognise distinguish the modern world
from the mediaeval. The discovering and questioning had both a disturbing and
liberating impact; greater understanding of the natural world was exhilarating while
challenges to traditional ways of thinking disturbed many. Inspired by science the
earliest thinkers took logic as their starting point and were concerned to understand
the basis of knowing [epistemology]. They were not hostile to God but were rather
more intrigued by the rational structure of the universe, but increasingly belief in God
became marginalised and would stir a wind of doubt and skepticism that was to chill
the faith of many with consequences we shall observe. As this period of
enlightenment develops human reason becomes enthroned as the touchstone of
truth. The ideas rationalism, empiricism and deism have been described by Karl
Barth as a system founded upon the presupposition of faith in the omnipotence of
human ability.

Rationalism

In the winter of 1619 the French philosopher, Rene Descartes [1596-1650], was
serving as a mercenary in the Bavarian army during the Thirty Years war. In an
attempt to come to an understanding of the basis of human knowledge he decided to
sit by the warmth of a stove and disbelieve everything he had ever believed. The
experience reduced everything down to the simple fact of his own existence and led
him to the conclusion, Cogito ergo sum [I think therefore I am]; the very fact that
he is questioning proves that he must exist. He then proceeded to reconstruct the
world around him very much as he had left it. The fact that Descartes died a nominal
Roman Catholic, with a belief in a God who guarantees the validity of our thoughts
about the world, raises questions about the significance of his ideas. What is

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significant about Descartes is that he brings a new departure; he set up human
reason and individual consciousness as the final criterion of truth, a trend which has
dominated western thought ever since.

Empiricism

While philosophical thinking on the Continent was dominated by the rationalism of

Descartes and others, in Britain it was empiricism that was seen as the key to
knowledge. This says that experience is the key to knowledge: -

John Locke [1632-1704] argued that reason is dependent upon the

senses in order to operate, reason is what we see, hear, touch, taste
and smell; the senses are the basis of knowledge;
George Berkeley [1685-1753] argued that to exist demanded either to
perceive or to be perceived; all reality is in the mind it is not primarily
material. It is the mind of God that is the sustaining basis of reality;
David Hume [1711-1776] argued that only feelings exist, not the self;
he questions the very idea of cause and effect, arguing that we only
experience disconnected events to which the mind gives the
impression of continuity.

While both Locke and Berkeley believed in God, but David Hume was agnostic and
attacked the notion of miracles as incapable of proof. He launches the most severe
attack on natural theology and has been described as the patron-saint of
skepticism.

Deism

Like rationalism and empiricism the ideas of deism were also increasingly hostile
towards the Christian faith. Deism originated in the seventeenth century with Lord
Herbert of Cherbury who tried to show that religious belief was reasonable without
having to appeal to the special revelation of the Christian faith. The ideas spread to
the Continent where, while atheism was rare and dangerous, philosophers argued
that religion was needed for order but the natural religion of deism because
Christianity was a hindrance to the good nature of humanity. We see this clearly in
the French philosophers: -

Voltaire [1694-1787] proclaimed that God is a Being beyond all

beings, mystery beyond rational thought, human reason and
conscience the standard to judge issues by, nevertheless with regard
to the church and Christianity he cried, Let us obliterate the infamy!;
Jean Jacques Rousseau [1712-1778] wanted more than Voltaires
dry rationalism and wanted sentiment in natural religion, he saw the
human person as essentially good but corrupted by their environment.

All this questioning and skepticism began to spread through the universities of
Europe and from there into society; it was inevitable that it would have a negative
influence on the life of the church.

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Spiritual malaise

The end of the seventeenth and beginning of the eighteenth centuries saw the
countries of northern Europe and the colonies in America in a state of spiritual
malaise. The spiritual fervour of the generations involved in reform and dissent of the
Reformation was spent. Added to this the doubt that was engendered by
rationalism, empiricism and deism spread like a cold mist across the church: -

Germany had been caught up in the struggles of the Thirty Years war [1618-
1648] with foreign armies crossing their territory, tyrannising the population with
multitudes of refugees fleeing for their lives. In the aftermath of the war there was
famine and disease that further decimated the population. Accompanying these
events was a clear moral decline, one pastor said, Old and young can no longer
tell what is of God or of the devil, poor widows and orphans are counted for dung,
like dogs are pushed into the street, there to perish of hunger and cold. The
church was more concerned with doctrinal dispute than pastoral care; the salaries
of the clergy were paid by the state so they had little incentive to change.

Britain was dead spiritually. Many Anglicans feared extremes and took a middle
way of moderation; sermons were little more than highly polished moral essays.
The political climate was also opposed to the gospel; with cynics of the day
suggesting that any day a bill could go through the Parliament taking the words
not out of the commandments and placing them into the Creed. With the
widespread collapse of personal faith there was an inevitable decline in moral
standards. Speaking of England in their day: -

John Wesley: ungodliness is our universal, constant, and peculiar

character;
Isaac Watts: there is decay of vital religion in the hearts and lives of
people';
George Berkeley: Morality and religion in Britain has collapsed to a
degree never known in a Christian country.

New England saw the zeal of the early pioneers and spiritual frontiers people turn
into paralysis. Those who, a generation before, had left Europe to escape
persecution and establish religious freedom were now an as dead a sleep as
ever. This was the assessment of a Boston preacher of the colonial churches in
1727. Many had established the halfway covenant which allowed anyone who
was not scandalous in life to be admitted into church membership and to partake
of communion. Church involvement had become no longer a matter of faith but
social convention.

The Pietists

Pietism, with its concern for experiencing the Christian faith, arose within the
Protestant churches of Continental Europe during the closing decades of the
seventeenth century as a challenge to the spiritual malaise which was taking hold. It
had as its central interest: -

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 The renewal of spiritual life within the individual;
The belief in the Bible as the guide to faith and life;
The complete commitment to Christ evident in life;
The nurture of devotional life : preaching, hymns, cell groups;
The concern to meet social needs;
The requirement of mission;
The desire for ecumenicity;
The fulfilment of the Reformation.

Pietism had various antecedents such as devotional mystics, English Puritan piety
and Dutch Precicianism. While it had run its main course by the middle of the
eighteenth century it, nevertheless, continued, and continues, to influence a whole
variety of movements right up to the present day. For all its variety and diversity it is
generally agreed that Pietism began in the Lutheran churches of Germany.

Philip Jacob Spener [1635-1705] was a pastor in Frankfurt who became

appalled by the decay in the Lutheran church of his day. He sought to rediscover
Luthers appeal to the heart. He set up house meetings [collegia pietatis] for
prayer, Bible study and sharing; everything to encourage the priesthood of all
believers [all the teaching was in total harmony with Luthers theology]. His book
Pia Desideria became a manual for Pietist reform in the Lutheran churches and
beyond. The movement spread widely, groups everywhere. Spener identified six
requirements for church renewal: -

People must have a better knowledge of the Bible;

Restoration of mutual concern;
Emphasis upon good works;
Avoidance of controversy;
Spiritual people as ministers;
Return to fervent preaching.

Spener did not want to break with Lutheranism but rather see the Lutheran church of
his day reflect the spiritual life of the early Christians. Spener was strongly
influenced by Johann Arndts True Christianity; his uniqueness was the energy he
brought to the movement.

August Herman Franke [1663-1727] was strongly influenced by Spener during

his university days, and at the great mans death he took up the leadership of the
German Pietist movement, making its centre at Halle where he taught. He worked
with the destitute and depressed, setting up a poor school, orphanage, hospital,
widows home, teachers training institute, Bible School, book depot and Bible
house. He had strong emphasis on foreign missions; sending two people to India.
He produced a new spirit of ecumenism throughout Europe. He was known as an
uncommonly kind and gentle person who was generally concerned about
everybodys problems. He saw the groundwork of his ministry as, a life changed,
a church revived, a nation reformed and a world evangelised.

Pietism was a look forward; it inspired hymn writers like Paul Gerhardt. It was also to
influence many other groups besides Lutheran; Reformed, Catholic and in radical

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reformed circles. It was to inspire the Moravians and be an important influence
behind the revivals in England, Wales and America.

The Moravians

Following the execution of Jan Huss in 1415 his followers were severely persecuted,
some escaped and in 1457, under the leadership of Gregory, they organised
themselves in to a church called Unitas Fratrum or Unity of the Brethren; now
known as the Moravian Church. By the time of the Reformation there were 400
congregations with some 200,000 members. They now became a persecuted and
scattered church, especially with the events of the Thirty Years war; their chances of
survival appeared slim. Nevertheless, they clung to a belief that they were hidden
seed and that yet again their ancient church would be reborn. Surprisingly, the story
of that rebirth begins in Pietist Germany.

Count Nicolaus von Zinzendorf [1700-1760] was born into the German
aristocracy; yet his grandmother was an important Pietist and Spener was his
godfather. He was sent as a pupil in Frankes school in Halle where his early
spiritual devotion was seen when he began the grain of mustard seed club. Here
boys pledged themselves to love the whole human family and to spread the
gospel. On leaving university he travelled Europe on a grand tour before settling
to a career. In Dusseldorf art museum he saw Domenico Fetis Ecce Homo
which carried the inscription I have done this for you; what have you done for
me? Its challenge led him to pledge his life to Jesus service. He then married
and went into state service in Saxony, but was also an active Pietist; sponsoring a
meeting in his home and trying to reconcile the Lutherans with Pietism. In 1721 he
bought an estate at Berthelsdorf where he had the vision to form a Christian
community. Its fulfilment was to emerge from a surprising turn of events.

Herrnhut : In 1722 a lone Moravian, Christian David, came to Zinzendorfs door

asking if refugees from the Unitas Fratrum could settle on his estate. He was
later described by Zinzendorf as one who burnt with zeal like an oven and as a
Moravian Moses. Initially there were six adults and four children but by 1726
there were 300; Christian David having made ten journeys across the border to
bring different groups. Soon after the settlement began, there was a prophecy that
said, the estate would become a light to illuminate the whole land. From that
time on it was given the name Herrnhut [under the Lords watch or on watch for
the Lord]. Zinzendorf and his wife were increasingly drawn into the life of the
community, but by 1727 problems began to emerge. They were a mixed group
and there was economic pressure; added to this a false teacher caused upheaval
in the community. Under Zinzendorfs leadership they drew up a Brotherly
Agreement; this was seen as a true rebirth of the Unitas Fratrum. On the 13th
August 1727 a great out pouring of the Holy Spirit took place binding the
community together in love and commitment to Jesus.

Mission was to become the abiding hallmark of the Moravians. In 1731

Zinzendorf was the guest at the coronation of King Christian V1 in Copenhagen.
While there he met a slave, Anthony Ulrich, from the West Indies, who pleaded for
missionaries to to go and work among his people. With his return to Herrnhut

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 Zinzendorfs missionary zeal was fired with a passion to carry the gospel to every
land. This was to have phenomenal results. On 21st August 1732, the first two
Moravian missionaries Leonard Dobler [a potter] and David Nischmann, were sent
to the island of St Thomas in the West Indies to work among the slaves. They
were prepared to sell themselves as slaves in order to work among them; this in
the end was not necessary. This was the beginning of the golden decade of
Moravian mission; by 1742 the small community of only 600 had sent 70
missionaries to many parts of the world [Greenland, Lapland, Georgia, Surinam,
Ghana, North America, South Africa, Algeria, Sri Lanka, Rumania and Turkey]. By
1760, the year of Zinzendorfs death, they had 226 missionaries and some 3000
converts. And so the story continues. Moravian mission and evangelism has been
estimated as achieving more than the totality of all Protestant effort before them.
Their love and self sacrifice was amazing. It is estimated that the Moravian ratio of
missionaries to those at home was 1: 60, compared to 1: 5000 for the rest of the
Protestant church. The whole church was a missionary society. Moravians
inspired the founding of the Baptist Missionary Society 4, the London Missionary
Society, the British and Foreign Bible Society and much much more. They were a
spiritual tidal wave against rationalism.

Wesley and Methodism

John Wesley [1703-1791] was born in the reign of Queen Anne; the fourteenth of 19
children [8 dying in infancy]. At the age of seven he was rescued from their burning
home, which led his mother Susannah to speak of him as a brand plucked from the
burning. She was devout, strict and an organised woman. His father Samuel, an
Anglican clergyman in Epworth, was exacting; a scholar and relentless preacher.
Both parents were godly and had nonconformity in their background; they organised
a religious society, popular at the time, in their home. The family shared devotions
before dawn, the children were taught strict study habits and were used to physical
hardship.

John went to Oxford in 1720 and he proved an able student. He set patterns which
would characterise the rest of his life. He read widely; 100 books a year during his
lifetime, and was always open to new ideas. He learnt seven languages. He loved
riding, walking and was a good swimmer. He learnt to live on a mere 28 per year,
well below the poverty line even in his day. In 1728 he was ordained an Anglican
priest, teaching at Oxford but also helping his father.

Spiritual development

In 1729 his brother Charles [1707-1788] went to Oxford, he formed a small club
with two other students to help them each other with their studies and to encourage
one another in fellowship and spiritual development. In the November of that year
John returned to Oxford, he took over leadership of the group and saw its
membership grow to about 25. John later identified this as the beginnings of
Methodism. It was nicknamed the Holy Club and its members were called

4 The Moravian missionary work began more than half a century before William Carey the father of
modern missions began his work.

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Methodists; a title used in the seventeenth century for groups using method to
develop spirituality. They were strongly influenced by the ideas of William Law in his
book Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life. George Whitfield joined the group,
only 20 years old; he was guided in his devotional reading by Charles and was
converted in the same year.

In Oxford John, like the rest of the group, gave himself to self-examination, the study
of scripture, fasting on Wednesdays and Fridays, and working among prisoners in
the local jail. In 1735 he preached a sermon entitled, Circumcision of the heart; he
would later say that it contained all the principles of his ministry in the years ahead.
However, at the time he did not know them as his own, either emotionally or
spiritually.

Spiritual crisis

1735 also saw the death of Samuel Wesley, and John and Charles travelling as
missionaries to Georgia in America. During their voyage they met Moravians whose
fearlessness in the face of possible death during a storm left its mark on John; it
revealed the inadequacy of his personal faith. Their leader, Spangenburg,
challenged him, Do you know Jesus Christ? John replied, I know he is the
Saviour of the world, True, but do you know he has saved you? Though he lacked
personal assurance John worked among the Native Americans in the colony, but
returned to England the next year; ill, disheartened and shamed in a failed love
affair.

In London John sought out the Moravian leader, Peter Boehler, who spoke to him of,
self surrender, instantaneous conversion and the conscious joy of salvation. Asking
if he should stop preaching till he had faith Boehler replied, Preach faith till you have
it and then preach faith because you have it! On Wednesday 24th May 1738, after
attending evensong in St Pauls, John went to an informal meeting of an Anglican
society in Aldersgate. Arriving late, someone was reading from the preface of
Luthers commentary on Romans. As he listened John had a tremendous
experience, I felt my heart strangely warmed, I felt I did trust in Christ alone for
salvation, and an assurance was given to me that he had taken away my sins, even
mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death. The experience so gripped him
that he set out to become a preacher and organiser with few parallels within the
story of the church. It has been said that, what happened in that little room was of
more importance to England than all the victories of Pitt on land or sea.

During these early days there was great friendship between the Wesleys, Whitfield
and Benjamin Ingham [Moravian evangelist]. On 1st January 1739, at a love feast
held in the Moravian meeting place in Fetter Lane in London, the Holy Spirit fell upon
them. John said, About three in the morning we were praying when the Holy Spirit
came mightily upon us.. many cried out for exceeding joy, many fell to the ground.
This experience launched a campaign of extensive evangelism all over England and
beyond.

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 Preaching and Methodism

John Wesley began preaching at the age of 37, but increasingly churches were
closed to him. By late 1739 George Whitfields sermons in the open air were seeing
remarkable response, so John went to investigate. He saw hundreds of coal-grimed
miners, tears furrowing their faces, finding God. So John went into the open fields to
preach. He travelled and preached wherever he could get a hearing. Anglican law
forbade preaching in the parish of another minister without their permission, so John
declared, The world is my parish!; soon to become a Methodist watch word.

Wesley faced much persecution from both clergy and violent mobs. His preaching
attracted mainly the lower and middle classes; there was spiritual hunger
everywhere. John had neither the eloquence nor physical presence of Whitfield. His
sermons in print seem prosaic, but when preached in the power of the Holy Spirit,
men and women sometimes screamed, were physically convulsed and even fell
unconscious. Wesleys primary gift was his ability to organise and administer the
methodist societies that he established throughout the nation. Further, all those
who were committed were discipled through the class system that he set up. He
was revolutionary in encouraging both men and women lay preachers, a key
feature of Methodism, on the advice of his mother. The statistics of his ministry are
challenging: -

He averaged 60 miles a day, regardless of the weather, some 5000

miles a year, and 250,000 during his ministry, mostly on horseback;
He rose at 4am daily and was preaching by 5am; an average of 15
sermons a week and 40,000 in his lifetime;
He covered the whole of Britain; visiting Wales, Scotland [22 times]
and Ireland [42 times];
He translated hymns and scripture, wrote 5000 books and articles and
numerous letters, he also kept an important journal and coded diaries;
He trained hundreds of men and women;
His brother Charles wrote 6500 hymns;
He saw 79,000 Methodists in England, and a further 40,000 in
America, the year that he died.

In his later years he was greeted with acclaim almost everywhere; his journeys
became like triumphal progresses. His slight figure, clean-shaven, ruddy face, bright
eyes and snowy hair brought a response akin to veneration. Opening clinics and
orphanages for the poor, making cheap books available, preaching spiritual dignity,
cleanliness, thrift and temperance. Sadly his late marriage to Mrs Vazeille in 1751
was one of the worst mistakes of his life, it was very unhappy and they parted in
1755, but did not divorce.

John Wesley was always an Anglican and personally desired to remain with it,
simply spreading holiness throughout the land, but in 1784, when he was 81 years
old, he ordained ministers to serve in America and on the basis that ordination is
separation the break began. A conservative in political outlook but radical in faith
John Wesley can rightly be called an apostle of England.

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Edwards and awakening

Jonathan Edwards [1703-1758] was born the same year as John Wesley and was
the person whose ministry lit the torch of the great awakening in America. The son
of a devout Congregational minister Jonathan was both pious and precocious as a
child and had a conversion experience that involved a sense of the total sovereignty
of God and his complete dependence upon him; which led him to a Calvinist position
in theology. He studied at Yale, and then in 1726 he became the assistant pastor to
his famous grandfather, Solomon Stoddard, at Northampton, Massachusetts in New
England. He encountered the sleep of spiritual deadness first hand and sensed the
congregation was very insensible to the things of religion. By 1729 he was the
senior pastor and he began to proclaim justification by faith. His powerful preaching
began to bring about a change. By 1734 revival began to swell, and souls came by
floods to Jesus Christ ... the town was never so full of love, nor so full of joy, nor yet
so full of distress, as it was then. In this small town of only a few hundred people
nearly thirty people a week were regularly being converted; over 300 in a period of
six months. Soon the effect swept into neighbouring Connecticut he realised that this
was the beginning of something very significant; this proved to be correct.

In September 1740 George Whitfield arrived from England; he had only been
converted five years earlier, but had already been a pioneer in the revivals there.
With Whitfields arrival the awakening that began in 1734 now burst into full flame. In
Boston the crowds were soon too large for any building, so he went out into the open
air and the numbers increased by thousands on each occasion with powerful
movements of the Holy Spirit on each occasion. At his farewell sermon in 1741 there
was a congregation of 20,000 people. Revival continued for a further eighteen
months after Whitfield left. Apart from the thousands of individuals who met God,
some 30 religious societies were formed in Boston alone, churches were
overcrowded, and there was new life and spirit in the ministers. It was said that even
the very face of Boston seemed to be strangely altered; and the same was true for
much of New England.

A consequence of the awakening was a growing concern about mission as well as

evangelism. Individuals like David Brainerd [1718-1747], engaged to one of
Jonathan Edwards daughters, worked among the native Americans of eastern
Pennsylvania. In a period of three years he rode 3000 miles on horse back, but was
finally overcome by disease; yet he saw 130 people saved. He died of consumption
at the age of twenty-nine, but his diary, published by Edwards after his death, stirred
hundreds of people to become missionaries; Henry Martin and William Carey
included.

In 1750 Jonathan Edwards was dismissed from Northampton because of a dispute

over communion. He and his wife moved to the frontier town of Stockbridge to be
pastor to the settlers and missionaries to the Native Americans. Since his death in
1758 from smallpox he has been regarded by many as having produced some of the
greatest theological and philosophical writings in American history. While he could
be a hell-fire preacher he was also compassionate and generous. He attempted to

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enable faith to come to grips with a changing world of science and philosophy by
uniting head and heart.

Whitfield and preaching

George Whitfield [1714-1770] was one of the outstanding figures of his day; as is
clear from our earlier references to him. He was born in Gloucester, the year Queen
Anne died, to a publican, and went to Oxford where he came to faith in Christ
through the Holy Club. In 1736 he was ordained as a deacon of the Anglican
church at the age of twenty one. His first sermon, in his hometown of Gloucester,
was said to have been so fervent that complaints were made to the bishop that he
had driven fifteen people mad. Between 1736-37 he did missionary work in Georgia
at the inspiration of the Wesleys. In 1739, once again in England, he discovered his
gift of open air preaching. In 1740 he made the first of seven visits to America and
his involvement in the great awakening. His contact with Jonathan Edwards
persuaded him in favour of Calvinism and led to conflict with the Wesleys
Arminianism; while initial bitterness gave way to renewed friendship, but there was
never complete reconciliation.

In 1741 Whitfield began a round of enormous evangelistic enterprise in England,

which he continued until the end of his life; he called himself one of Gods run
abouts: -

He regularly preached 20 powerful sermons a week;

He travelled all over England and visited Scotland fourteen times;
He toured throughout South Wales with Howell Harris on several
occasions and developed a very close association with the Calvinistic
Methodists;
He was supported by Selena, Countess of Huntingdon, who opened
her homes to him and built chapels for his converts; The Countess of
Huntingdon Connection;
He built and supported the work of an orphanage and school;
He had little interest in administration so his movement was very weak
in structure; he said that compared to the Wesleys his converts were
like a rope of sand.

Whitfield probably has only Latimer as his equal as a preacher; none was more
eloquent or moving. JC Ryle said No preacher has ever retained his hold on his
hearers so entirely as he did for thirty four years. He had a striking physical
appearance and astonishing range of voice that commanded rapt attention. He
created atmosphere with the use of question and exclamation, and the famous actor
David Garrick claimed he would give a hundred guineas just to be able to say the
word, Oh the way Whitfield did. While his sermons had a tedious sameness due to
underpreparation, his preaching was dynamic and compelling with a style that was
plain, unadorned and often colloquial. His message centered on the Puritan themes
of sin, justification by faith and new birth. His work complements that of Wesleyan
Methodism and in some ways he anticipates them in; using Bristol as a base,
publishing a magazine, founding a school, summoning a conference of preachers
and speaking in the open air.

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Wales and revival

Since the reign of Charles 11 Wales had been spiritually neglected and as a
consequence lay under a veil of darkness. As the eighteenth century dawned there
were important individuals, like Griffith Jones [1683-1761] who prepared the way for
what was to come. However, the evangelical revival proper focused on the work of
two people in particular, Daniel Rowland and Howell Harris.

Howell Harris was the school master, in the village of Talgarth, in the Brecon
Beacons. He lived a self-indulgent life, but became conscience stricken about his
behaviour, this led to his being converted at the Whit Sunday communion service
in 1735. He was filled with fire and the love of the Lord as a result. He
immediately became an evangelist, even though it was against his temperament;
his witness drew others to experience salvation. He also cared for the sick. The
remarkable response to his preaching brought hostility from the clergy; eventually
being dismissed from his post in the school. He travelled from town to town, often
facing violence, and displayed exceptional power as a public speaker. However,
he could also be shy, awkward and even quarrelsome. Howell Harris remained a
lay preacher in the Anglican church all his life. It has been said of him that he
was the most successful preacher that ever ascended a pulpit or platform in
Wales, an extraordinary instrument raised up by providence, at an extraordinary
time, to accomplish an extraordinary work.

Daniel Rowland was a curate in Llangeitho in Cardiganshire but was without any
genuine spiritual experience; more interested in sport than faith. Struck by the
success of an independent preacher, Philip Pugh, Rowland went to hear him and
subsequently to copy his style. The experiment appeared to be a great success
and his church filled as he thundered at the congregation about Gods judgment.
But when they asked what they should do he had no answers! Remarkably Daniel
Rowland came to faith through his own preaching and the prayer and influence of
Griffith Jones. By 1735 he began to bring spiritual awakening to his parish and
people streamed to hear him preach; he had great oratory. Howell Harris
described him as a second St Paul in his own pulpit.

By 1737 Rowland and Harris joined forces to bring revival to Wales. In 1752 Harris
home in Trevecca became the centre for revivalist activity and a training centre,
sponsored by Selina the Countess of Huntingdon. The also had strong links with
George Whitfield. These leaders and others working with them influenced
thousands. John Owen said of them both, The revival of religion in the church was
their avowed object from the first and their professed object through life.

Anglican evangelicals

The whole evangelical movement in Britain, in the eighteenth century, originated

from within the Anglican church, though it continually burst its banks. The Wesleys,
Whitfield, Rowland, Harris and others were Anglicans; revealing the poor state of the
independent and dissenting churches of the day. However, parallel to Methodism
there was a similar movement that remained within the Anglican structure; having
the same purpose and theology but not the itinerant style and with a view of church

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order that looked for revival within existing structures. Nor must we think the
movement was simply a by-product or response to Methodism; it was not.
Influenced, yes; but originating in significant instances before the conversion of
either Whitfield or Wesley. It had no overall organisation, no concerted action on a
national scale; so it was less spectacular than Methodism and bases on opinions
rather than personalities. The movement spread throughout the nation, the West,
the North, the Midlands and London. While a Wesley or a Whitfield did not lead it
there were nevertheless important figures; we shall mention three as an example of
the many: -

Samuel Walker [1714-1763] was born exactly the same day as George Whitfield.
He came into the ministry with little call or conviction and was pleased to go to
Truro in Cornwall because the town had a reputation for worldliness which suited
his interests. Within a year he had been brought to faith through the influence of
the local schoolmaster. His new preaching had a dramatic impact upon the town
and two rooms had to be hired to create space for the people needing
counselling. Within a short time there had been some 800 conversions from a
population of only 1600 people; most of the adults. All converts were organised
into small groups to aid them spiritually, in a way that Wesley would latter do. The
influence spread into other areas. The area was geographically isolated and
Walker died early, yet in the first stages of Anglican evangelicalism clergy
throughout the country looked to Samuel Walker for a lead.

William Romaine [1714-1795] was a vain and scholarly clergyman looking for
social advancement within the church. he came to salvation through his personal
study of the scriptures about 1749. His early ministry met with frustration but he
came to be recognised as Londons principle preacher. He was a friend of
Whitfield and the Countess of Huntingdon and drew large crowds. He appears to
be the earliest leader connected with Anglican evangelicalism in London.

William Grimshaw [1708-1763] was born in Lancashire and became a pleasure-

seeking parson in Todmorden. In 1734, around the time of the death of his young
wife, he began to give himself to prayer and his life was changed. In 1742 he
moved to Haworth [later famous for the Brontes] and his preaching soon filled the
church. At his arrival only 12 attended communion, soon there were as many as
1200. His ministry extended into four counties; Yorkshire, Cheshire, Derbyshire
and Lancashire, with a circuit that usually involved preaching 30 times a week! he
collaborated with both Wesley and Whitfield when they were travelling in the
North. After his death the work continued from strength the strength under the
influence of individuals like Henry Venn.

Fruits of revival

It is impossible to measure or quantify the true fruits of the revivals that influenced
the Continent, the Colonies and the British isles; but some broad observations can
be made: -

Thousands were genuinely and life-changingly converted;

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 A new standard of pastoral care and dynamism was released into the
church;
Many new Christian societies were founded; like the Religious Tract
Society and the British and Foreign Bible Society;
Many new missionary societies were born by the end of the century; like
the Baptist, London, Church and Methodist;
There was momentum for Christian education through the Sunday
School movement with people like Robert Raikes and Hannah Ball;
There was a new passion for social justice; with actions like the
beginning of the campaign for the abolition of slavery;
There was strong impetus for prison reform with individuals like John
Howard, a friend of Wesleys;
There were huge efforts to provide food and clothing for the poor,
dispensaries for the sick, workshops for the unemployed, care for
widows and orphans plus the development of bank and legal advice for
the needy along with other relief agencies.

Questions

1. What significant opportunities do you think were missed during the seventeenth
century and why?

2. What are the significant features of the move of God in the eighteenth century?
What can they teach us for our own day?

Open Reflection
Consider that you were a Quaker in the 17th century or a Moravian in the 18th
Century; what do you think might have inspired you to work for significant change in
the way of being church in your day? What things motivate you to work for change in
the church in the 21st Century? What do you think are the major obstacles in bringing
about these changes today? How might the stories explored in this session both
excite you and encourage you?

Reading & Resources

OK & M Armstrong The Baptists pub Judson Press 1983

H Barbour The Quakers in Puritan England pub Friends United Press 1985
Richard Baxter Autobiography pub Everyman 1931
WC Braithwaite The Beginnings of Quakerism pub Cambridge 1961
JC Brauer Protestantism in America pub SCM 1966
H Brogan The Longman History of the United States pub Longman 1985
J Brown John Bunyan : His life, Times and Works pub Banner of Truth 1964
JHS Burleigh A Church History of Scotland pub Oxford 1960
BS Capp The Fifth Monarchy Men pub Faber 1972
N Cohn The Pursuit of the Millennium pub Temple Smith 1970
J Comby How to Read Church History [Vol 2] pub SCM 1989
GR Cragg The Church in the Age of Reason 1648 1789 pub Penguin 1966
A Dallimore George Whitfield pub Banner of Truth 1970

Workshop notes are copyright to Anvil Trust and may not be reproduced without permission 01.01.11.24
R Davies Methodism pub Penguin 1963
JD Douglas Light in the North [Scottish Covenanters] pub Paternoster 1964
T Dowley [Ed] Lion Handbook : The History of Christianity pub Lion 1977
DF Durnbaugh The Believers Church pub Herald 1968
G Fox Journal pub Religious Society of Friends 1975
VHH Green John Wesley pub Arnold 1961
N Hampson The Enlightenment pub Penguin 1968
C Hill The Intellectual Origins of the English Revolution pub Clarendon 1965
C Hill The World Turned Upside Down pub Penguin 1975
C Hill A Turbulent, Seditious, and Factious People : John Bunyan and His
Church pub Oxford 1988
JE Hutton A History of the Moravian Church pub Moravian Publication Office
1909
JE Hutton A History of Moravian Missions pub Moravian Publication Office 1922
RA Knox Enthusiasm pub Collins 1987
T Lane Lion Concise Book: Christian Thought pub Lion 1986
KS Latourette A History of Christianity pub Harper 1953
KS Latourette Three Centuries of Advance [History of the Expansion of
Christianity Vol.3] pub Zondervan 1970
AJ Lewis Zinzendorf : The Ecumenical Pioneer pub Westminster 1962
P Miller Jonathan Edwards pub Univ Massachusetts Press 1981
AL Morton The World of the Ranters pub Lawrence and Wishart 1970
S Neill A History of Christian Missions pub Pelican 1964
J Pollock John Wesley pub Lion 1989
J Pollock George Whitfield and the Great Awakening 1973
HD Rack Reasonable Enthusiast : John Wesley & the Rise of Methodism 1989
CW Sharman George Fox & The Quakers Quaker Home Service 1991
FE Stoeffler German Pietism During the Eighteenth Century pub EJ Brill
[Leiden] 1971
John Wesley Journal [Condensed 2 Vols] pub CH Kelly 1903
BR White The English Baptists of the Seventeenth Century pub Baptist
Historical Society 1983
BR White The English Seperatist Tradition pub Oxford 1971
A Skevington Wood The Inextinguishable Blaze pub Paternoster 1960

Video Cromwell [Richard Harris / Alex Guinness] Gateway Films

Video John Bunyan: The Preacher BBC / Gateway Films
Video John Wesley: The Preacher BBC / Gateway Films
Video First Fruits [Moravian mission] Gateway Films

Workshop notes are copyright to Anvil Trust and may not be reproduced without permission 01.01.11.25