Global Awakening: How 20th-Century Revivals Triggered a Christian Revolution

by Mark Shaw

The last century has seen the revolutionary remaking of Christianity into a truly world religion. How did it happen? What triggered the emergence of this new global faith no longer dominated by the West, full of new and vital forms of devotion? Mark Shaw's provocative thesis is that far-flung revivals are at the heart of the global resurgence of Christianity. These were not the quirky folk rituals associated with rural America and nineteenth-century camp meetings that belong more to an age of plows and prairies than of postmodernity and globalization. Rather they were like forces of nature, protean, constantly adjusting their features and ferocity to new times and to new places, speaking Spanish, Portuguese, Yoruba, Korean, Mandarin and Gujarati. They crossed the equator. As they traveled abroad they grabbed hold of missionaries, Bible translations, national evangelists, globalization and glossolalia and turned them into a religious revolution. In this engaging book we read the stories of Joseph Babalola and the Aladura Revival in Africa, of Kil Sun-Ju and the great Korean revival of 1907, of Paulo Borges Jr. and explosion of neo-Pentecostalism in Brazil, and of V. S. Azariah and the mass conversions of the Dalit people in India. As Shaw paints portraits of these and many more, his gallery fills, and we begin to see beyond isolated pictures to the sweeping landscape that we didn't realize was before our eyes all the time.

Genres: History, Christian, Nonfiction, Religion, Christianity

221 pages, Paperback

First published March 25, 2010

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name. ^6

Mark Shaw is professor of historical studies and director of the Centre for World Christianity at Africa International University. He studied World Christianity at the University of Edinburgh, UK, (MTh), and church history at Westminster Theological Seminary, Pennsylvania, USA, (ThD).

Also publishes as Mark R. Shaw.

Reviews

[Ruben Cervantes Jr · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent resource for students of christian spiritual revivals. If you are a "generalist" then you can just read chapter 1 & 10, since those chapters have much insight into the nature of revivals. Shaw brilliantly distills revival literature legends like Jonathan Edwards, Martin Lloyd Jones, Lovelace, etc. If you like the detailed stories, then chapters 2-9 give a perspective I have not really read before. Especially the chapter on Billy Graham, which is usually not a figure that gets studied in revival history, but the insights are amazing. He always ends each of the chapters with correlating insights learned from those movements into what may apply to all revival movements.

One of his main goals of the book is to show how Global Revival functions as a catalyst for change and is at the heart of the global resurgence of Christianity. One of the most helpful tools is the Venn diagram he creates to discuss the dynamics of global revivals and how they all are involved in the process (Spiritual, cultural, historical, global, and group dynamics). This book introduced me to a new term "glocalization" coined by Roland Robertson. This is helpful in understanding how the proliferation of a global revival happens. I also loved how he does not romanticize revivals, but actually showcases much of the rigor and negative elements that accompanies revival.

Toward the end of his book, he pulls from Anthony Wallace in understanding the kinds of expressions found in revitalization movements (revivals forming just one of 3). He basically states that there are "Nativist" movements that are backward looking revering the past and current traditions, "Vitalist" movements that reject the past and are wanting a blank canvas to create something the right way, and then there are the "revivalist" movements that honor the 'ideal past' and yet look forward to forge a 'beautiful tomorrow'. Shaw loosely 'biblicized' these concepts by distinguishing between the Lucan movement, Galatian Revivals, and the Corinthian expression.

Finally, his definition of revival is one that is distinguished from J.Edwin Orr, placing emphasis on the responsibility for humanity to engage in reform where Orr only assigns preaching to human agents and all the responsibility of revival to God. Though Shaw acknowledges divine involvement, he defines revival as "Charismatic people movements changing their world by translating truth and transferring power." This is an important contribution to the revival literature.

[Bob Hayton · Rating 4 out of 5]

In many ways, America is a world unto itself. Until some tragedy strikes beyond our borders, we are content to fret about our internal problems and concerns. But more and more the world out yonder is coming in to us. Globalization is forever changing our way of life. And the wide world is ever shrinking.

Almost every social arena is affected by this trend, and the Church is no exception. American Christianity has long prided itself as the beacon of world-wide missions. Yet we still are tempted to think the Church outside our shores stands in need of our American ingenuity. Mark Shaw in Global Awakening: How 20th-Century Revivals Triggered a Christian Revolution reveals how ignorant such a perspective truly is. Missionaries are now flocking to our own shores, and the story of the 20th Century is the world-wide surge of the Evangelical Church.

Some of us may have missed the newsflash. Mark Shaw explains:

When one looks beyond Atlantic shores the most significant change in the world in the last several generations is the broader revival of religion sweeping the southern hemisphere…. To miss the rise and significance of the new World Christianity would be like a concerned Christian in sixteenth-century northern Europe missing Luther and the Reformation. Something that affects the renewal of Christianity worldwide is afoot and no one should miss the party. (pg. 10-11)

From many quarters I had heard of this global renewal of Christianity. Mark Shaw’s book offered the chance for me to sample its various manifestations. Shaw uses eight case studies to illustrate his views of the nature and rise of global revivals. He argues that there are natural and supernatural factors at play. And he utilizes missiological and sociological studies to analyze these movements. Global Christianity, he finds, is less an exported Americanism than an indigenous inculturation of Christianity.

For the average Joe like you and I, his study still offers an accessible look into the variety and vivacity of worldwide Christianity. And to a large degree many of the movements he surveys from Korea and China, to India, Africa and on to South America, are the fruit of earlier mission endeavors.

The author shares what we all can learn from these historical revivals “as we look toward the future of the church”:

The current global awakening needs to shake us from our cultural isolation and obsessions as North American Christians…. What the current global awakening teaches me, however, is that the real emerging church is a wildly global and culturally pluralistic one which moves us toward the vision of 1 Corinthians 12, a body of Christ with many parts each recognizing their global interdependence. The message of global revivals is that God is internationalizing his people and we stand at an Ephesians moment (to use Andrew Walls’s expression) in which the cultural, geographic and political barriers are breaking down in light of the gospel. The current global revivals are not ends in themselves. Their ultimate significance will be seen in multicultural missional churches that seek to change their world in the power of the Spirit and in partnership with the mission of God. (from an Author Q & A provided by IVP)

This book isn’t for everyone. It’s a bit technical and doesn’t develop the stories as much as an average reader might like. Furthermore, Shaw is not as critical of new Pentecostal movements as some might like him to be. Nevertheless it offers a helpful survey of the growth of Worldwide Christianity and serves to enforce the notion that the proper term for such global developments is “revival”. Shaw helps us see that God uses both natural factors and human movements as catalysts in His work of growing His Church.

Ultimately, Global Awakening spurs us American Christians to see beyond ourselves and look for the hand of God in other places around the world. To serve this end I recommend the book for a wide audience.

See more of my reviews at CrossFocusedReviews.com

[Diane · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book provides comparative case histories of Christian revivals in the United States and various parts of the developing world throughout the 20th century. The author's thesis is that revivals have played an important part in developing indigenous forms of Christianity throughout the world. He provides great detail for each case. I really liked the book, because although there are many books available talking about the importance of global Christianity, this is one of the first that I've read that discusses non-Western Christian movements and/or leaders in any detail.

[David Owen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Describes the Big Picture

This book does a fine job of describing a variety of spiritual movements across the globe and gives a cogent analysis of key factors that enables them to thrive plus an attempt to understand their cyclical nature. The author obviously have a lot of knowledge in the area and has done thorough research including on site observation and analysis, without losing the excitement of their life-changing power. Very much worth reading.

[Peter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good book on this topic (I say that a lot). A nuanced approach which balances varying opinions on American influence on faith around the world. I would like to hear how he addresses the growth of the Chinese church, given its relative isolation from American revivals.

[Marcus Doe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book! As an African, it gave me a great perspective, the author lived in East Africa for years and understands Christian life apart from western influence.

[Ryan M Marks · Rating 2 out of 5]

The viewpoint is too open minded theologically