REVIVAL
By Mark Stibbe
Monarch in association with EA.
240 pages. £6.99. ISBN 1 85424 401 9
Mark Stibbe's popular treatment of revival (part of the 'Thinking Clearly' series) is enlightening, exciting and frustrating by turn. He helpfully defines revival as: 'A season ordained by God in which the Holy Spirit awakens the church to evangelise the lost, and the lost to their dire need of Jesus Christ.'
I was most fascinated by the insights he gives into revivals from three centuries and various (though exclusively Western) countries, including some of his own firsthand experiences. Surely no Christian could help but get excited on hearing of God's power at work in the conversion of multitudes. This alone caused me to wonder what it would be like if revival were to come to my corner of the world, and to pray that it would.
Mark Stibbe wisely rejects Finney's view that revival can be created by human action; it is a sovereign and unpredictable work of God by his Holy Spirit: 'If it can be announced in advance, then by definition, it cannot be a revival.' Many self-styled prophets would do well to heed such a statement.
There is emphasis too on the Holy Spirit's role as the one who convicts people of sin. Mark Stibbe does not make revivals sound comfortable or fun; no warm fuzzy feel-good factors here. 'Revivals put sin, justification by faith, atonement through the blood of Jesus, heaven and hell, judgment and salvation, right back on the agenda.'
There is welcome acknowledgement also that the Holy Spirit's role in revivals and at other times is to bring glory to Jesus, rather than to himself.
What I most regretted was that a scholar such as Mark Stibbe (from whom we have seen a thoughtful study on John's Gospel in recent years) should not feel constrained by reputable evangelical principles of biblical interpretation. He has tried too hard to bathe his teaching in Scripture, but has merely succeeded in reading lessons on revival out of sometimes the most surprising texts. The story of the birth of Samuel (the basis for a whole chapter) surely has nothing to say on the subject. The cleansing of the Temple, the woman at the well, Acts 1 and 2, and the Song of Songs are all used in a rather empty illustrative manner, rather than with rigour and respect.
This is a readable study without being a best buy.
