In the introduction to his classic work, A Faithful Narrative of the Surprising Work of God, published in 1738, Jonathan Edwards, pastor of the Congregational Church in Northampton, Mass., described the behavior of the town youth prior to the awakening…
If revivalism isn’t part of your spiritual experience, you’re not defective
It’s likely that mainline United Methodists are only vaguely aware of the “revival” happening at United Methodist-adjacent Asbury University. But it’s an event evangelicals across denominational lines can’t stop talking about, and so I’ll jump in. If “revivals” are not…
Looking for the origin of decline in the U.S. church? Baptist historian thinks he may know the answer
Bill Leonard became fascinated with the topic of conversion early in his career, often teaching and preaching about the dramatic, and not-so-dramatic, ways Americans have become Christians throughout U.S. history. And by the early 1980s, Leonard said, the number of conversions,…