Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1912-07-23

victions. When an evangelist, with
tremole note in his voice which he
operates without a real feeling in
his heart or tear in his eye. speaks
to such hearers, they instantly melt
into tenderness, and profess CONVEX
sion; when the pathetic preacher
has passed by and the power of the
world allures them, they respond just
as quickly to. its appeals.
Now, no one who has read atten-
lively the history of christianity will
for a moment .5depreciate genuine re-
vivals Of religion. From the first
these ! seasons of refreshing have
nightly strengthened the church of
God and built up the kingdom of
heaven. The revivals of the Reform
ers., the Puritans. the Wesleys, and
Whitefelds, and fEdwardses were de-
oIsive moments in the history of the
nations in which they prevailed, and
they Influenced even the political his
tory of mankind. DR.. Austin Phelps
has put the case of REVEALS in these
strong words: Scarcely can a more
memorable exhibition of God be found
than that presented by a revival of
religion Historians seldom take note
of such an obscure event; yet If the
secret connections of revivals with the
destiny of nations could be disclosed,
they would appear to be more criti-
cal evolutioris Of history than the
Gothic invasions. A volume has been
complied narrating the decisive bat
ties OF the world. But more signifi-
cant than this. and probing deeper
the divine government of the world.
would be the history Of revivals."
These words are amply justified by
the history of the Wesleyan revival
I'm Great Britain and the Great
Awakening and ''the Revival of 1900
in this country, to which such ais
torians as Leckey, Greene, McMasters,
and Woodrow Wilson attribute the
widest and most far-reaching ef-
tects.
But in all these great revival move
ments there were no commercialized
-evangelists capitalizing. after the
manner of Gehazi in the case OF
Naaman, the gratitude of these. VINO
were blessed by them. The evanse-
lists, who grows rich on religious SEN
sation. is a distinctly modern thing;
and If he is in any line of succession
he belongs to that of Simon Magus
rather than to the apostolic order
Moreover, the historic revivals, TO
which reference has been made.
sprang from the proclamation ot
the most profound truths; the lead
ers in these mighty movements
never for "a moment entertained the
foolish MOTTO, hat doctrinal nebu-
lousness is q basis for moral reh-
ovation. The doctrine of justific1-
tion by faith was a matter or lire
and death to Martin Luther, IS
was the doctrine of the New Blrfh
to Jonathan Edwards and the doc
trine of the witness of the Spirit
to the Wesleys. When those apOs-
tolIc men went forth proclaiming
these great and essential truths
they were not trying to work all
the churches, but they were en-
deavoring to uplift all the churches
and spread Scriptural holiness
through out the world. Doctrine
less sentimentality they abhorred.
a Again, no sensible man will de-
cry emotion in religion. The wo'r-
der is not that the great truths OF
Christianity, when they take root
in the heart. produce excitement. put
rather that any sane mind can ac-
cept them coldly. They are such
truths as ought to stir the soul TO
its depst depths. If political con
.ventions are filled with excite
ment over issues of an earthly Sort
how much more should the start
ling truths of the Gospel move the
human mind and heart. From the
first the gospel has always stirred
men whenever it has been preached.
John the Baptist brought q whole
nation to its knees when he went
forth into the wilderness preach
ing the gospel of the kingdom Of
heaven; Pharisees and SadduceeS.
Jewish peasants and Roman sol