Lessons From The Nineteenth Century (II)

Prof K. Runia. Trowel & Sword. September 1966

Preamble: In the words of William Carey in 1792, quoted by Dr. Runia at the close of this article: “Expect great things from God. Attempt great things for God” (Orr, p.40). Amen!

Lessons From The Nineteenth Century (II)

In the first article, which appeared in last month’s issue we gave a short summary of the book by H. Algra: ‘The Miracle of the Nineteenth Century’, mainly dealing with developments in the churches in the Netherlands. We further referred to the book by Dr. J. Edwin Orr: ‘A Light to the Nations’, a survey of the great revivals which took place in the same century. We saw, among others, how everywhere Missionary Societies were established and how all over the world the mighty movements of God’s Spirit became manifest.

Another striking result of the evangelical awakenings in the nineteenth century was what Dr. Orr calls: ‘The Social Impact of Revival’. In fact, there are two chapters in his book which have this very same title. It is indeed amazing what has been done by the evangelicals on this point. We cannot possibly go into the details. It must suffice to mention some of the areas in which the evangelicals were active: abolition of slaves, prison reform, development of trade unionism, improvement in the industrial conditions of the labourers, education of the masses (especially through Sunday Schools), fight agains prostitution and other forms of vice, etc.

Dr. Orr summarises all the achievements of this century in the following words: “The nineteenth century proved to be a time of evangelical renewal and advance, in which shone widely the Light of the Nations. The phenomenon of the Great Awakenings brought blessings untold to the Christian believer, to the congregations, to the Church at large, to the labouring man, to the world of women, to the welfare of children, to the care of the sick, to the shelter of the insane, to the protection of the unfortunate, to the education of the young, to the guaranteeing of liberty, to the granting of freedom, to the administration of justice, to the evolution of self-government, to the crusade for peace among the nations – in fact, in the nineteenth century, the Evangelical Awakenings may be shown to be the foremost method of an Almighty God to promote the betterment of all mankind and His chiefest instrument to win men to transforming faith in Himself” (pp.275/6).

In the last paragraph of the book the author says: “The world is now in another age of revolution like the one which preceded the century herein described. Again, a flood of immorality and a wave of lawlessness has enveloped the earth. In some countries, it is said that Christianity has become a waning influence, about to be ushered out of the affairs of men. How long must it take for despair to drive the Christians to prayer for another Revival of New Testament Christianity?” (p.276)

Some Lessons

As I said in the first article, the study of church history is not only interesting but also instructive. The attentive student can learn much for the solution of the problems of his own time.This is particularly true of the nineteenth century, as many of the problems of that century are still with us. Unfortunately we must add: in an aggravated form!

Comparing the two books, which inspired these articles, I was struck by the fact that in the English speaking world all emphasis seems to be laid upon the need of ‘revival’. The religious meaning of this word, according to the Shorter Oxford Dictionary, is: a general re-awakening of religion in a communion, or some part of it. In revival the main concern is the conversion of the individual and through his conversion the moral and spiritual improvement of the whole community of which the individual is a part. Revival, as far as I can see it, is not primarily concerned with the reformation of the church. Naturally, a revival will have important consequences for the life of the church, especially when the ministers are moved by the power of the Spirit. An example of this we find in Dr. Orr’s description of the results of the first Great Awakening which took place in the seventeenth century. “In England, the greatest lasting impact of the Revival was seen in the transformation of life of thousands of English clergy, who in a couple of generations transformed the Church of England”. In the same connection he quotes the historian Lecky who declared that the English clergy who were moved by the Evangelical Revival “gradually changed the whole spirit of the English Church. They infused into it a new fire and passion of devotion, kindled a spirit of fire and passion of devotion, kindled a spirit of fervent philanthropy, raised the standard of clerical duty, and completely altered the whole tone and tendency of preaching of ministers”. Something similar can undoubtedly be said of the revivals of the nineteenth century, although it must be added that, particularly in the Church of England, the influence of the Evangelicals was offset by the High Church movement which started in the fourth decade of that century.

Yet the fact remains that on the whole the revivals have contributed comparatively little to what I would call the ‘reformation’ of the church. By this I mean that the church as a whole, the church as an institution, is brought back under the authority of its confession and through this under the authority of the Word of God. It is a regrettable fact that on the whole the revivals of the nineteenth century, as they took place in the English speaking world, did not produce such a reformation of the church. One of the reasons is that many people who were seized by the spirit of the revivals had little appreciation of the dogma of the church.They were fervent Christians, who lived close to the Lord and expected much from the power of the Holy Spirit, but as far as doctrine is concerned, they were rather individualistic and confused. Another reason is that too often the problem of the church was simply bypassed by the establishment of the numerous un- or inter-denominational missionary organisations and agencies.

With wonder and deep gratitude we see how much has been done by these organisations and agencies. Indeed, the nineteenth century has been ‘The Great Century’ in the field of missions. Not since the first century has there been such a tremendous progress in the spreading of the Gospel. The good news was spread “from pole to pole”. I only need to mention. the names of William Carey, Hugh Martin, Hudson Taylor and every reader will see the great missionary movement encircling the globe.

But at the same time we see that, when a revival does not lead to the reformation of the church itself, the effects of the revival often disappear after a short time, in particular in the Western countries. Sometimes this happens already after one generation. Dr. Orr’s book, which speaks in such glowing terms of the revivals, provides ample evidence of this sad fact. Describing the dark days of the beginning of the nineteenth century he quotes Latourette’s judgment: “Again it looked as though Christianity were a waning influence, about to be ushered out of the affairs of men”. Dr. Orr himself writes: “That all this evil should befall Christendom one short generation after the most glorious revival of elementary Christianity confounds the unbeliever more than the Christian, who has learned to look for the opposition of the Adversary after a victory”. Undoubtedly, there is much truth in this statement. We see the same in the Book of Acts, when soon after the outpouring of the Holy Spirit we read the sad story of Ananias and Sapphira. And yet I do not believe that this is the only cause. I believe that another important reason is to be found in the fact that the revival did not produce a true reformation. The same is true of the revivals of the nineteenth century. It is therefore no wonder that at the end of this very same century the churches were in a worse state. For example, in the Presbyterian Churches all over the world we see that the door is opened for modernism by the acceptance of so-called Declaratory Acts or Statements. In our day the same can be observed regarding the Billy Graham Crusades. Again we are very thankful for the many fruits of these crusades, but it cannot be denied that Dr. Graham by his peculiar method and by his refusal to tackle the problem of the churches themselves does not in any way promote the reformation of the church. The necessary result is that all such crusades have only a temporary effect and after a while one sees no ripples any more in the ecclesiastical pond. Everything has returned to ‘normal’!

In the Netherlands the development in the nineteenth century has been different. Undoubtedly, there was revival too. Especially in the first half of the century this has been the spiritual power. The history of the Dutch church cannot be understood without the ‘Reveil’ (revival). But from the beginning there was much more concern with the sorry state of the church and much emphasis was laid on the need of reforming the church. In the second half of the century Dr. Kuyper made it the main point of his programme of action. His struggle was a struggle for the reformation of the church to which he belonged. In 1879, that is seven years before the second secession took place, he stated emphatically: We have to return to the Synod of Dordt, the last national synod and then we have to strive for a new spiritual synod, which, standing on the shoulders of the fathers of Dort, is enabled and empowered by the Spirit to make our church truly ‘reformed’ again (Dr.A.Kuyper, Revisie der Revisielegende, pp. 40/41).

Unfortunately the church itself refused to be reformed, and the result has been two secessions, which led to the establishment of two new churches, afterwards united into the Reformed Churches of the Netherlands. The decision to secede was never taken easily. These men were no separatists. But when they were confronted by the question whether to obey God or to submit to unspiritual and illegitimate regulations, they chose the former. “One must obey God rather than man”. And God has richly blessed their obedience. Yes, we may say that their separation has indeed led to reformation, and that in a twofold way. In the first place, there was a true reformation of that part of the church that seceded, In the new churches there was again the honest and complete acceptance of the confessions of the church. Consequently, there was also a return to discipline, both of life and doctrine. But, secondly, the reformation in the secession churches has also greatly influenced the development of the church they had left. For a great deal it is due to the existence of the ‘Gereformeerde Kerken’ that the ‘Hervormde Kerk’ too moved towards reformation. It took many years before this happened. It was not before 1945 that the ‘Hervorme Kerk’ accepted a new church order, in which it was clearly stated that the church wants to live in ‘fellowship with the confession of the fathers’. At the same time the door for doctrinal discipline was opened again, for it was stated that the church wants “to exclude the teaching that contradicts its doctrine”.

Of course, we know that so far the ‘Hervormde Kerk’ has not yet put this discipline into effect. But it cannot be denied that the new church order is a great step forward towards a true reformation of the church and that, if this church order is really maintained, a reformation is bound to follow.

Today

It is not necessary to describe the present situation in Australia and New Zealand. We are really not saying too much, when we speak of the sorry plight of the church in these countries. More important is the question: what must be done? What do the churches need first of all?

The answer of’ many evangelical Christians is: a revival. There are many small groups, which meet regularly, to pray for such a revival. In their own way they are already answering the question that closes Dr. Orr’s book: “How long must it take for despair to drive the Christians to prayer for another Revival of New Testament Christianity?’

Others say: what we need first and foremost is a new reformation. The church must return to its foundations, to the Bible, to the confession, to discipline, etc.

Personally I believe there is no contrast between the two answers. Indeed, I believe that we need both. We do need a revival. The word revival points to the powerful, overpowering action of the Holy Spirit. One could perhaps say: it points to the vertical aspect of the church’s need. Yes, we do need the power of God’s own Spirit to bring people to true conversion, to a new life of forgiveness and holiness. This is true of all churches, of the larger denominations, but also of our own small churches. We too need church-members who know the personal fellowship with their Lord and who experience AND practise it in their daily life. We do need men who besiege the heavens with their prayers. We do need prayer meetings of dedicated people, who have the burden of the church upon their hearts.

But we also need a true reformation. Our own churches need it, for every reformed church should constantly be in the process of continuing reformation. The other churches, the larger denominations need it, Sometimes people say: but this is impossible, for the disease has gone too far into the body of the church. From the human point of view this seems to be true. But – is this ‘human point of view’ the right view? Is this the attitude of faith? Even today the church belongs to Christ! Even today the Word of God is the living Word, which is not bound by any church order or set of regulations. Even today the Holy Spirit is the unlimited source of power.

Let us all be much in prayer for our Evangelical brethren that they may have .the courage to start on the road towards reformation. Let us discuss this with our brethren, in a spirit of humility and love. Let us as Reformed Churches live a truly ‘reformed’ existence in these countries, in order that we, in all our smallness, may be a mirror for other churches.

If we really and truly believe what the Bible proclaims about the power of Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit, then it is not at all impossible that in the twenty-first century another historian will write a book about ‘The Miracle of the twentieth century’! For it is still true what William Carey, the simple Baptist cobbler, in 1792, said to his associated Baptist ministers in his missionary sermon: “Expect great things from God. Attempt great things for God” (Orr, p.40).

K. RUNIA.

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