Baptistic Theologies, 2009

, Professor David W. Bebbington, sets the scene and then we explore the marks of renewal, revival and advance in mission in various baptistic contexts in greater Europe. We dare to believe that Baptistic Theologies will be an essential resource in understanding baptistic gathering communities and our primary theology, both for those within this tradition and those seeking to understand it. Keith G. Jones For the Editorial Board 4 On primary theology see Parush R. Parushev, ‘Theology for the Church: A Convictional Perspective on a Community’s Theological Discourse’, a paper delivered during a conference on The Dynamics of Primary and Secondary Theologies in Baptistic Communities in 2004 which we intend to publish in due course. Revivals, Revivalism and the Baptists 1 1 Revivals, Revivalism and the Baptists David W. Bebbington Revivals were once defined in the nineteenth century as ‘those outpourings of the Spirit, which result in the quickening of the church and the conversion of sinners’. 1 2 3 They were events in which there was normally a twofold effect, with the stirring of believers accompanying the turning of unbelievers to Christ. Revival, it was sometimes pointed out, implied an earlier period of vitality and so could not strictly apply to non-Christians at all. The synonym of ‘awakening’ carried a similar implication. Those asleep in their Christian profession were roused to new vigilance. Careful characterisations therefore included not only the mass conversions with which revival is normally associated but also the lifting of churches from an earlier time of declension. They were usually outbursts of fresh vigour that stirred whole congregations or even larger bodies of Christians. The phenomenon of revival exerted a major influence on the life of many Evangelical denominations including the Baptists. It will be useful initially to distinguish different ways in which the term has been employed. In the first place, it has sometimes been applied to individuals. In that sense it describes a personal quickening, often a restoration after backsliding. Thus Thomas Cooper, originally an English Wesleyan Methodist, became an advocate of freethought during the 1840s and 1850s but then, in 1857, returned to Christian faith, being baptised as a General Baptist two years later. Revival can also, secondly, mean a planned event in a congregation or town. Such events can be carefully organised and advertised in the manner of Billy Graham’s crusades of the later twentieth century. Thirdly, an awakening can be a spontaneous event in a congregation. It is usually marked by anxiety about sins, a widespread desire to turn to righteousness and a large number of conversions. There were many cases of such revivals, for instance, among the Baptists of Nova Scotia during the nineteenth century. Equally, however, and fourthly, a revival may be a spontaneous event affecting a larger area than a sing