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Page 53
Our _seventh_ objection is closely connected with the last. Where
there is so much indifference to the Truth as it is in Jesus, that it
often amounts to open contempt, we cannot expect any provision for
teaching His saving truths to men. Hence we find but small provision,
if any, for doctrinal instruction in the revival system. Those who are
expected to be gathered in, converted and brought to Christ, are not
first instructed. They do not learn what sin is, what Grace is, and
how it is communicated and applied. They are left in ignorance of the
great doctrines of sin and salvation. They have the most imperfect
conception of God's Way of Salvation. And yet they are expected to
enter upon that way, and walk in it. They are exhorted to be
converted, to get religion, and to believe, while it is seldom, if
ever, made clear what all this means, and how it is brought about.
Surely it is not necessary that we should show that if ever a
person needs to act intelligently--if ever he needs to know exactly
what he is doing, why he is doing it, and what is involved in so
doing--it is when he is acting in the interests of his eternal
salvation. Then, if ever, he should act understandingly and honestly.
And for this he needs instruction. We have shown elsewhere that this
is God's way, the Bible way, the way of the early Church, the way of
the great Protestant Reformation, and the way of our Church of the
Reformation to this day.
We therefore object to this modern revival system, because it has
largely supplanted the old time systematic and thorough indoctrination
of the young. And, as we have elsewhere said, we are convinced that,
just in proportion as the youth are uncatechised and uninstructed in
the great doctrines of God's Word regarding sin and Grace, in that
proportion will doubt, skepticism, unbelief and infidelity infect
them, and lead them into the paths of the destroyer.
Our _eighth_ objection to this modern revival system, is
that it is so largely built up on the excitement of the feelings. The
first and great object of the revivalist seems to be to work directly
on the emotional nature of his hearers. If he can stir the depths of
the heart until it throbs and thrills with pent-up emotions, if he can
play upon its chords until they vibrate and tremble under his touch,
until its hidden chambers ring again with responsive longings, until
at last the repressed intensity breaks forth in overpowering
excitement, he is considered a successful revival preacher. To reach
this end the preaching is made up of exhortations, anecdotes and
appeals. There are touching stories, calculated to make the
tender-hearted weep. There are thrilling and startling experiences,
calculated to frighten the more hard-hearted. There are lively,
emotional songs, with stirring music, calculated to affect the nervous
system and bring about strange sensations. And when the feelings are
aroused, when the excitement is up, the hearers are urged to come
forward, to go to the inquiry-room, to stand up, or do something to
show that they are ready to take the decisive step.
Now, as we have shown above, if ever a person needs to be calm
and deliberate, it is when about to take the most important step of
his whole life. But men don't generally take important steps, or enter
upon decisive movements, when they are excited. When one is excited he
is very apt to do the wrong thing, and regret it afterwards.
Not that we object to _all_ feeling in religion. We by no
means believe in a religion without feeling. We know of no true piety
without deep and heartfelt sorrow for sin, and earnest longings for
ever closer union and fellowship with God, together with a childlike
trust and a fervent love to Him. We believe, however, that the heart,
with its emotions, can only be effectively reached _through the
understanding_. Through the mind we work on the heart. Through the
judgment we change the feelings. We appeal first to the intellect, to
instruct, to enlighten, to give clear and correct views and ideas,
then through the intellect to the heart. When Paul was sent to convert
the Gentiles, his direction was first of all "_to open their
eyes_"--that is, to instruct them--and _then_ to "_turn them
from darkness to light_." Paul was not to begin on the feelings,
but on the intellect. But the modern revival system reverses this
method. It makes a short cut, and goes at once to the feelings,
without first enlightening the mind. This is contrary, not only to the
Scriptures, but it is also directly contrary to the science and laws
of the mind. It contradicts mental philosophy as well as the Bible.
We believe that where there is the proper instruction in the
great saving doctrines of God's Word, where the mind is properly
enlightened to know what sin is, what salvation is, and how it is
obtained, there, unless there is a positive and determined resistance
to the power of truth, the proper feelings will come of their own
accord. It will require no heart-rending stories, no frantic appeals,
no violent exhortations to bring them about. But we object to the
revival system, because it is almost entirely built up on feeling, and
thus reaches only one department of man's complex nature. Instead of
changing the whole immaterial man--his intellect, his sensibilities,
and his will--it spends its force on the sensibilities alone.
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