The question must be asked whether these three revivals of 1839, 1859 and 1873, actually changed people for the good, long-term, or did most of them return to their old lifestyles after the excitement had died down? Lennie, in his books on revival, gives us a balanced assessment of this. Certainly, there were some emotional excesses of a small minority of people trying to “work up” an atmosphere, but in the examination process by the ministers afterwards, these sensationalists were usually identified. We find that the long-term fruit of the revivals also partly depended on the follow-up process. In many churches there was a good nurturing programme to help the new converts; in some churches this was not followed through as efficiently as it could have been. Furthermore, many of the people who were Christians before the revivals, encountered God in such a way that their lives expressed the reality of Christ in an extraordinary way.
One of the pioneers on a scholarly appraisal of revival was J. Edwin Orr, whose theses for a PhD at the University of Oxford was on the second evangelical awakening in Britain. He claimed that out of a population in Scotland in 1859-61 of over three million people, there were about 300,000 converts – or about ten percent of the population. Although it is clear that great transformation on a large scale occurred, Lennie points out that Orr missed some important considerations in his calculations, but admits that “The number of converts from the 1859-61 revival in Scotland remains unknown and completely unverifiable but is universally considered to have run into at least numerous tens of thousands.”
In the Free Church, for example, 477 churches recorded over 15,000 new members in 1859 alone, and the usual attendance at these churches was recorded at an increase of over 50% for many years after that. Alcoholic addiction decreased between 1859 and 1864 by 55% in Edinburgh, and crime was noticeably reduced wherever the revival went. In villages like Ferryden and Cellardyke, the fruit of the revival made a huge difference to the communities, with almost all of those converted in the movement being faithful Christians twenty-nine years later. George Gardiner of Banff wrote about the long-term positive change that came over the towns in the North East of Scotland, for “The whole face of society in those villages is so changed that those who have known them before are struck with wonder.” Matthews claims that “All the mission movements – home and foreign – philanthropic schemes, and measures for the alleviation of human suffering, have been mainly manned and maintained by the converts of the revival of 1859 and the sixties, and those who sympathised with it.”
The Christian movement during Moody’s 1873-4 visit grew out of the work in 1859-61, beginning in Edinburgh, and spreading through much of Scotland. Although it was called a revival, it did not have the same deep and purifying effect as before, leading to a higher fall away rate of the converts, some of whom preferred later to worship in “God’s green cathedral”outside, rather than attend church on Sunday;and yet thousands were clearly changed for good, many becoming church ministers and helping with the missionary cause. When Moody returned to Scotland in the 1880s, the evangelical high-water mark was still rising, with a good response to his preaching, and less of a dour dryness about the churches. But his first visit of 1873-4 was always remembered as the most far-reaching.
The 19th century though, was a critical time, because it was in this period of pioneering mission societies, followed by three significant revivals, with a growing unity in the Protestant churches, that a godly spirituality spread throughout all classes, and permeated the nation, preparing the church for a most extraordinary expression of social action and mission, that would, in turn, have global consequences.
In this short series about Scottish revivals in the 19thcentury, I have only given you a taster. A full history would take many months! If you wish to read more about 19th century revivals in Scotland, I can heartily recommend Tom Lennie’s scholarly works: Land of Many Revivals (2015); Glory in the Glen (2009); and Scotland Ablaze (2018). All three books have been published by Christian Focus Publications Ltd.
“If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14, NKJV).
Image: Fire: Oscar, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons.