Great Awakenings: Historical Perspectives for Today
Overview
This book is an engaging look at spiritual awakenings that have happened in the church throughout history. It examines how these extraordinary movements of God translate into the larger cultural analysis of today.
Spiritual awakenings have refreshed the people of God from the very origins of the church. What about these past movements can be instructive for the church today? Can we expect God’s awakening presence in our day? These questions brought about the “Surprising Work of God Conference” in the fall of 2015 in which speakers traced awakening movements from the Old and New Testaments to the present day.
Great Awakenings represents the culmination of this conference as the collected works of notable speakers. Chapters address questions about spiritual awakenings through historical, theological, and sociological lenses. They look at the events that precipitated these awakenings, evaluating whether their causes were purely religious or otherwise, and finally suggest what about the awakenings is normative for the church today.
- Examines the social components of religious awakenings
- Explores the ever-increasing global diversity of Christianity
- Points to the possible future of revivals in Africa, Asia, and Latin America
- Why 2 Chronicles 7:14 Is the Paradigmatic Verse for the Revivals and Theology of the Book of Chronicles
- The Long Roots of Affective Piety in Early New England
- Charles G. Finney and “The Second Great Awakening”
- From Calvinistic Methodist Miner to Pentecostal Icon: The Surprising Story of Evan Roberts, the Welsh Revival, and Azusa Street
- Neo-evangelicalism and Renewal Since the Mid-Twentieth Century
- Billy Graham and the Shaping of American Evangelism: Legacies
- Are the Surprising Works of God Completely Surprising?
- Transported to Oz: The Mission Field, Mission Force, and the Surprising Work of God in America
- The American Contribution to Worldwide Evangelical Christianity in the Twentieth Century
- Emerging Paradigm Shifts through the Global Revitalization of Christianity
- Awakenings and Revivals in the Context of Global Christianity
- David Horn
- Gordon Isaac
- Walter Kaiser
- Adrian Chastain Weimer
- Charles Hambrick-Stowe
- Gwenfair Adams
- Kevin Adams
- George M. Marsden
- Grant Wacker
- James Singleton
- Ed Stetzer
- Todd M. Johnson
- Cindy M. Wu
- Timothy C. Tennent
- Mark Noll
- Title: Great Awakenings: Historical Perspectives for Today
- Editors: David Horn and Gordon L. Isaac
- Publisher: Hendrickson
- Publication Date: 2016
- Pages: 250
- Resource Type: Collected Essays
- Topic: Church History
David Horn is the Director of the Ockenga Institute of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. His responsibilities involve oversight over multiple centers and programs involved in the seminary’s commitment to offering theological education to a variety of constituencies beyond the traditional student body. He also has direct oversight over the Shoemaker Center for Church Renewal and the Compass Program. Dr. Horn writes and speaks on issues related to practical theology and sociology of religion. Previously, he served on the pastoral staff of First Congregational Church in Hamilton, Massachusetts, and continues to be actively involved in the leadership and teaching ministries of the church.
Gordon L. Isaac is the Berkshire Associate Professor of Church History and Advent Christian Studies at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and the Director of the ThM Degree Program in Christian Thought. He regularly offers seminars on Martin Luther, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and Symbolics. He has lectured internationally and has written articles and chapters in books on a wide array of topics. His book Left Behind or Left Befuddled: The Subtle Dangers of Popularizing the End Times (2008) traces the sociological and theological underpinnings of the Dispensational movement and its ethical consequences. His current research interests focus on the spirituality of Martin Luther, particularly as contained in the three rules for doing proper theology: prayer, meditation, and spiritual trial.