It is well known that Christian revival meetings have long been part of Dixie’s heritage. They’ve been with us since the Great Awakening in the middle of the 18th century, but the Great Revival of Cane Ridge, Kentucky, in 1801 was the real beginning of this spiritual phenomenon as a fixture in Southern life. Once common also in the New England and other Northern States, they have largely disappeared there. Our Yankee cousins have become content with a God who can be analyzed and critiqued with the rational mind, who will stay tamely on the pages of a book or a journal. The Southerner wants something different: He does not simply want to think about God; he wants, much like the Holy Prophet Moses on Mount Horeb, to experience God – to encounter Him here and now – to see and grasp as much of His mystery and wonder and glory as he can.
The students and teachers at Asbury University in Wilmore, Kentucky, are the latest examples to manifest this longing in Southrons. Another revival is underway there: the Asbury Revival, as it is being called. But will they find what they are seeking – the life of fruitful repentance, the meeting with God?
It is our contention that these are best accomplished in the Orthodox Church – through her practices of prayer, fasting, and so forth; her worship, particularly the Divine Liturgy; and especially in the monastic life – and, furthermore, that the theology of Protestants (and Roman Catholics) makes it difficult, at best, to attain man’s true end of union with God. With the help of the testimony of Prof. Thomas McCall of Asbury Theological Seminary (which is next door to Asbury University) regarding the Asbury Revival, let us examine those claims.
Prof. McCall describes scenes from the Asbury Revival:
When I arrived, I saw hundreds of students singing quietly. They were praising and praying earnestly for themselves and their neighbors and our world—expressing repentance and contrition for sin and interceding for healing, wholeness, peace, and justice.
Some were reading and reciting Scripture. Others were standing with arms raised. Several were clustered in small groups praying together. A few were kneeling at the altar rail in the front of the auditorium. Some were lying prostrate, while others were talking to one another, their faces bright with joy.
They were still worshiping when I left in the late afternoon and when I came back in the evening. They were still worshiping when I arrived early Thursday morning—and by midmorning hundreds were filling the auditorium again. I have seen multiple students running toward the chapel each day.
. . .
The worship continued throughout the day on Friday and indeed all through the night. On Saturday morning, I had a hard time finding a seat; by evening the building was packed beyond capacity. Every night, some students and others have stayed in the chapel to pray through the night. And as of Sunday evening, the momentum shows no signs of slowing down.
This display of zeal for God is wonderful, but the fact that constant worship, prayer, Bible reading, contrition over sin, confession, etc., are seen as something abnormal shows the disconnect between Southerners and the Apostolic Faith. It is the norm in the home life, the parish life, and the monastic life of Orthodox believers to constantly be doing these things (and these exertions are intensified even more during the four lenten seasons of the Church year).
In the home, the individual believer (along with his family if he has one) has his morning and evening prayer rule to say, along with readings from the Holy Scriptures and the Holy Fathers of the Church, as well as the Jesus Prayer and other short prayers to say throughout the day as time allows. A look at a few portions from the Morning Prayers of the Orthodox will be helpful at this point:
. . .
The rest is at https://southernorthodox.org/reflections-on-asbury-other-southern-revivals/.
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Holy Ælfred the Great, King of England, South Patron, pray for us sinners at the Souð, unworthy though we are!
Anathema to the Union!
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