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À l’intérieur du protestantisme évangélique français, les frères larges, qui se distinguent des frères étroits dénommés darbystes, représentent une dizaine de milliers d’adeptes, membres inscrits ou simples sympathisants. Ils se rattachent en principe aux Communautés et Assemblées Évangéliques de France (CAEF). Leur implantation a débuté dans la seconde moitié du XIXe siècle, et s’est faite principalement par l’action conjuguée d’évangélistes suisses et britanniques. Depuis leur irruption dans l’Hexagone, les frères larges, forts de leur expérience individuelle de la conversion, se prodiguent pour faire des prosélytes, qui adoptent un ethos à la fois exaltant et exigeant. Or, jusque dans l’entre-deux-guerres, alors que la culture globale de la société est encore largement chrétienne, les convertis apparaissent d’extraction plutôt modeste ; le recrutement se diversifie par la suite. Collégialité du ministère de la parole et anticléricalisme péremptoire obligent, toute l’animation des communautés ecclésiales des frères larges révèle une insigne disposition égalitaire et un mépris du formalisme pincé. Ainsi perdure, non sans concessions désormais, une réticence notoire à l’égard du pastorat classique.À l’échelle nationale, si l’évolution globale des CAEF pointe bien vers une honnête structuration dénominationnelle, elle n’efface pas encore la mémoire de leur originelle inappétence à jouer le jeu prétendu mondain de la confessionalisation du christianisme. Du reste, s’ils ont bien entrepris quelques œuvres sociales, les frères larges ne s’attèlent guère au siècle présent, fût-il celui des institutions religieuses et de leurs réalisations œcuméniques. / Within French Evangelical Protestantism today, the “Open Brethren”, who are to be distinguished from the “Closed Brethren” (also called darbystes), number around ten thousand adherents, whether registered members or sympathizers. Their churches generally belong to the Communautés et Assemblées Evangéliques de France (CAEF). The movement had its beginning during the second half of the nineteenth century, mostly through the combined efforts of Swiss and British evangelists. Since their appearance in metropolitan France, the Open Brethren, on the strength of their individual experiences of conversion, have devoted themselves to winning converts, who then adopt an ethos that is both elating and demanding. Up until the period between the two world wars, while the general culture of French society was still largely Christian, converts joining this movement were of modest descent; recruitment has since become more diversified. Because of a shared ministry of the Word and a peremptory anticlericalism, leadership in Brethren circles reveals a distinctive egalitarian disposition and a disdain for stiff formalism. Thus their well-known suspicion of classic pastoral ministry persists, though not without some concessions. On the national level, if the CAEF assemblies on the whole seem definitely to be moving toward true denominational structuring, they still remember their original resistance to entering the so-called worldly game of Christian confessionalism. And although they have created a number of social and charitable organizations, they shun the “present age”, including religious institutions and their ecumenical achievements.

Revivalism and fundamentalism were significant forces that greatly influenced the life and theology of North American Mennonites during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. After World War II, the (Old) Mennonite Church began to make a significant shift away from fundamentalism. The Conservative Mennonite movement began in the 1950s in protest against the theological and sociological changes taking place in the Mennonite Church, particularly the loss of fundamentalist doctrines. This thesis traces the influences of fundamentalism as they were adopted early in the twentieth century by the Mennonite Church and came to fulfillment in the founding of the Conservative Mennonite movement. By looking at the history of the (Old) Mennonites in North America and the development of Protestant fundamentalism, this thesis provides a theological analysis of the influence of fundamentalism on the Conservative Mennonite movement.

Revivalism and fundamentalism were significant forces that greatly influenced the life and theology of North American Mennonites during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. After World War II, the (Old) Mennonite Church began to make a significant shift away from fundamentalism. The Conservative Mennonite movement began in the 1950s in protest against the theological and sociological changes taking place in the Mennonite Church, particularly the loss of fundamentalist doctrines. This thesis traces the influences of fundamentalism as they were adopted early in the twentieth century by the Mennonite Church and came to fulfillment in the founding of the Conservative Mennonite movement. By looking at the history of the (Old) Mennonites in North America and the development of Protestant fundamentalism, this thesis provides a theological analysis of the influence of fundamentalism on the Conservative Mennonite movement.

From the seventeenth century, North America has experienced a succession of powerful and nationally significant revivals. Such movements of the Spirit emanated from the seed of a reformed tradition that was maintained by the Pilgrim Fathers, Scots and Irish hesbyterians, Dutch Reformed and German Lutherans. For example, this heritage was foundational to the First Great Awakening, which produced a remarkable turn in favour of the Christian faith among the colonies during 1730-1750. Furthermore, following the American War of Independence this reformed heritage became the ground for promoting the Second Great Awakening, another movement of the Spirit that continued for a period of over twenty years. However in the 1820-30's, this heritage was seriously confronted by a different form of revivalism. During this decade, new theologicaVphilosophical thinking, together with an updated method of evangelism, began to upset an accepted and traditional understanding of revival and revivalism. Existing friendships or loyalties between pro-revivalists were tried and tested and their eventual division over the issues meant that two alternative or separate views of revivals became common. The traditionalists tended to emphasize the sovereignty of God in revival, whilst the innovators appealed more to the use of human means in promoting 'outpourings of the Spirit.' This thesis will attempt to answer a central question: Can the church promote a revival? Is revival only, or always, directly attributable to God's sovereignty? Does God operate outside the employment of human agency in revival? If not, then at what level, to what degree, or by what means, does or can the church actively participate in the process of revivals? These questions will be considered £roman overview of American revivalism during 1730-1860. This thesis will aim to present a case, based on biblical exegesis and historical illustration. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Church and Dogma History))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, in association with Greenwich School of Theology, U.K., 2005.

From the seventeenth century, North America has experienced a succession of powerful and nationally significant revivals. Such movements of the Spirit emanated from the seed of a reformed tradition that was maintained by the Pilgrim Fathers, Scots and Irish hesbyterians, Dutch Reformed and German Lutherans. For example, this heritage was foundational to the First Great Awakening, which produced a remarkable turn in favour of the Christian faith among the colonies during 1730-1750. Furthermore, following the American War of Independence this reformed heritage became the ground for promoting the Second Great Awakening, another movement of the Spirit that continued for a period of over twenty years. However in the 1820-30's, this heritage was seriously confronted by a different form of revivalism. During this decade, new theologicaVphilosophical thinking, together with an updated method of evangelism, began to upset an accepted and traditional understanding of revival and revivalism. Existing friendships or loyalties between pro-revivalists were tried and tested and their eventual division over the issues meant that two alternative or separate views of revivals became common. The traditionalists tended to emphasize the sovereignty of God in revival, whilst the innovators appealed more to the use of human means in promoting 'outpourings of the Spirit.' This thesis will attempt to answer a central question: Can the church promote a revival? Is revival only, or always, directly attributable to God's sovereignty? Does God operate outside the employment of human agency in revival? If not, then at what level, to what degree, or by what means, does or can the church actively participate in the process of revivals? These questions will be considered £roman overview of American revivalism during 1730-1860. This thesis will aim to present a case, based on biblical exegesis and historical illustration. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Church and Dogma History))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, in association with Greenwich School of Theology, U.K., 2005.

This dissertation examines the early history of the East African Revival in the 1930s and 1940s with careful attention to the way in which Christian beliefs and practices were appropriated and shaped by African revivalists in colonial Uganda and Ruanda-Urundi. With the sympathetic support of the evangelical-minded missionaries of the Ruanda Mission, the African revivalists (widely known as Balokole, Luganda for “saved ones”) played an indispensable role in the expansion of the revitalization movement beyond geographic, social, and cultural boundaries. In addition, the African revivalists made significant contributions to the creation of a distinctive African Christian spirituality that precipitated moral and spiritual transformation of numerous individuals. This study shows how the Balokole Revival gained adherents and spread into nearby regions through the involvement of African evangelists, teachers, and hospital workers. The “Bible Team” of itinerant evangelists who served voluntarily in remote villages was key to the rapid expansion of the movement. To sustain the effects of their conversion experiences, the African revivalists employed creative practices such as public testimony and fellowship meetings. In schools, Balokole teachers spread new moral values by living out the virtues of the revivalist piety; in hospitals, converted workers led daily prayer meetings and engaged in personal evangelism. All these efforts built up a strong indigenous Christian community based on common experience, belief, and liturgy. This dissertation contributes to the existing scholarship of the Revival by tracing its social and theological roots in the Ruanda Mission, and by foregrounding the pivotal role of the African revivalists in the shaping of the unique spiritual character of the movement. Particular attention is given to the causes, nature, and effects of religious conversion in the colonial context. An important feature of this study is its integration of social scientific studies about religious conversion with insider perspectives in the form of interviews and personal narratives. As active agents in the multiethnic and multicultural movement, the African revivalists articulated through their words and changed lives what it meant to be “saved.”

This dissertation examines the powerful vortex of John Sung's revivals in China and Southeast Asia, which directly influenced ten percent of all Chinese Protestants by the end of the 1930s. It begins in 1926 with his decision to pursue theological education in the United States, and ends with his physical collapse in 1940. But the work is not focused on biographical details; it is primarily concerned with how Sung's ministry evolved. Contrary to the numerous biographies on Sung that circulate in multiple languages, he did not return to China as a newly born-again believer enthusiastic to call the nation to repentance. Instead, this work demonstrates that Sung first floundered in China, spending several years piecing together his conversion narrative, and he adopted the revivalism that made him famous only after joining the Shanghai Bethel Mission in 1931. Once those pieces fit together, however, Sung became the preeminent Chinese evangelist of the twentieth century. The dissertation uses archival material and unrestricted access to Sung's own diaries not only to reconstruct the transformations within Sung's ministry, but also to make new dimensions of his work accessible. Particular attention is given to class, women, and divine healing. Sung's revivals appealed to the xiaoshimin, or China's petty urbanites, who sought a modern spirituality that befit their urban lives, yet wanted a religious system that addressed their traditional concerns. Women appeared at Sung's revivals in disproportionate numbers, because in China and Southeast Asia revivalism and modernity fueled one another, and women could use that combustible mix to cast new places for themselves in local societies--even if it meant challenging Sung's own perception of women. Sung's practice of healing, derived from the holiness movement, temporarily challenged China's medical pluralism, before eventually becoming part of it. Analysis of Sung's ministry suggests that revivalism was a powerful tool for personal and social revitalization. Through it, Sung not only rebuilt his own life and ministry, but he also used revivalism to recreate a distinctively Chinese spirituality, though now Christianized and expressed in ways appropriate to China and Southeast Asia's modernizing cities.

The Christian History was a pro-revivalist magazine printed in Boston from 1743-1745 during what is known as the Great Awakening. It contained accounts of revivalism written by pro-revivalist ministers from throughout the American colonies, England and Scotland. These ministers believed that the Holy Spirit was being poured out upon the land in a shower of grace, causing unprecedented numbers of people to convert to Christ. In The Christian History, pro-revivalist ministers expressed their support for the revivals and shared their experiences. Thus the magazine has typically been viewed as religious propaganda advocating a single, polemical viewpoint. However, in spite of its pro-revival stance, The Christian History contains a spectrum of ideas pertaining to theology, religious history and the controversial issues that surfaced during the Awakening. For instance, although revival supporters sought to defend the Awakening as an authentic outpouring of God's grace, they did not all agree on how to handle the revivals. When it came to the "errors of doctrine" and "disorders of practice" that surfaced during the Awakening -- things like Antinomianism, bodily manifestations and itinerancy -- Christian History ministers responded differently. Though they sought to form a more uniform policy regarding these issues and others in a pro-revival ministerial meeting, in the end their opinions and reactions were shaped by their personal experiences with the revivals. In spite of their differing views regarding errors and disorders, Christian History ministers evaluated and contextualized the revivals similarly. In their revival narratives they frequently drew upon the Bible to explain and support their pro-revival stance. Some also used historical precedents as tropes for demonstrating that aspects of revivalism were perhaps unusual, but not thoroughly new. Most, however, sought to legitimize the revivals by describing their positive social qualities. For example, they wrote how tavern-going and neighborly contentions decreased, whereas occasions for religious worship multiplied. These "good fruits" of revivalism, asserted Christian History contributors, showed that the Awakening had changed the "face" of society for the better and was therefore an authentic outpouring of God's grace.

This thesis examines revivalism and reform movements in rural areas of western New York. The bulk of literature on this region in the Second Great Awakening concentrates on middle class, urban people. This thesis argues that revivalism and evangelical fervor was carried to rural portions of the region by migrants from western New England. Evangelical Christianity and revivalism provided emotion succor for rural people grappling with negative social conditions, such as isolation, poverty, crop failure and alcoholism, in the New York frontier. Religious adherence became especially important for women, who were more isolated than men. Religious adherence and revivalism allowed rural evangelicals an opportunity to "purify" society from sinful behavior. Revivalism waned as social conditions improved in rural areas, but the tradition of societal "purification" remained. In this way, rural evangelicals, as well as Quakers and Spiritualists, engaged in moral reform, to eradicate institutions and behaviors they perceived as sinful from society.