Durham E-Theses

Durham E-Theses Glossalalia and other preternatural phenomena in British evangelical Christianity 1730-1910 Holbrooke-Jones, S. How to cite: Holbrooke-Jones, S. (1977) Glossalalia and other preternatural phenomena in British evangelical Christianity 1730-1910, Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/9875/ Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in Durham E-Theses • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full Durham E-Theses policy for further details. Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk 2 ABSTRACT *Glossalalia and other pretexnatuial phenomena in British Evangelical Christianity; 1730-1910.' S.Holbirooke-Jones. In refuting the claim of Wesley's critic that 'all the extraordinary gifts and operations of the Holy Ghost belonged only to the apostolical and primitive time,' Bart I offers evidence of glossalalia and other preternatural phenomena occurring at various times throughout history: 1) In the' _ _ New Testament it examines evidence for these spiritual manifestations; particularly the primary sources of Acts II and I Cors. XII, XIII and XIV. 2) In subsequent Church History it records many instances of glossalalia and other kindred phenomena; paying partic\ilar attention to Montanism and Jansenism. 3) It assimilates evidence for preternatural phenomena in British Evangelical Chirstianity during the period 1730-1910 i,e. from the rise of Ifethodism to the beginning of the modem Pentecostal movement. It lists the following periods of spiritual activity when glossalalia and, or, other pretemattrral phenomena were frequently manifested^: a) The Ei^tiênth Century Revival and the Hise of Methodism. b) Edward Irving and the Rise of the Catholic Apostolic Church. c) The Port Glasgow Manifestations of 18^. d) The Ulster Revival of 1859. e) The Welsh Revival of I904. f) The Pentecostal Movement of 190?. In Part II there follows an appraisal of the evidence offered with: 1) a detailed discxission of the doctrine of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament and in the writings of St.Paul. 2) an examination of the historicity of the evidence for glossalalia and other preternatural phenomena in the New Testament and subsequent Church History. 3) a psychological and physiological study of the phenomena in early Methodism^, the TJlster Revival of ^B^^Guf\cL 10 Hie 'HOtf Welsk Rôiocui- The Conclusion lists the incidence of glossalalia and other preternatural phenomena within British Evangelical Christianity (1730-1910) and while acknowledging the doubts about the genuineness of the phenomena» affirm that despite some counterfeits and delusions, a genuine *heartwork' accompanied by authentic manifestations of the Holy Spirit OS taken place. GLOSSALALIA MP OTHER PBETERMATTIRAL FHEHOMEHA IH BRITISH EyMGELICAL CHRISTIANITY 1730 - 191Q S. HOLBROOKE-JOHES The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. No quotation from it should be published without his prior written consent and information derived from it should be acknowledged. DSTRODDCTIOir PART I : NARRATIVE OF EVIDENCE PART II: APPRAISAL CONCLUSION 1. "Glossalalia and other preternatural phenomena in British Evangelical Christianity 1730-1910." S. Holbrooke-Jones. INTRODTJCTION Evangelical Christianity is the religion of inward experience. It is not enou^ that the facts of religion may be known and appropriated intellectiially; the Evangelical must experience his religion emotionally, as well as intellectually in definitive statements. He would go even further and affirm that the Spirit-filled Christian should feel his religion and, as a result, should not be surprised if preternatural phenomena foims part of his religious experience. But after the •excesses' of the Commonwealth Period (1649-39) the re-established Church of England turned its back on what Monsignor Ronald Knox describes as 'the religion of enthusiasm' and settled down to the ordered sobriety of the Carolinian High Church Period. The strict enforcement of the Act of TJhiformity and the formal repetition of the 1662 Prayer Book offices gave precious little scope for anything verging on preternatural manifestations. Consequently, by the turn of the century much religion, partictilarly within the Church of England, had grown cold and formal. There was little to warm the hearts of the people. Sermons were long and dryly intellectual. Into the Latitudinarian deathly calm , of early ei^teenth century England thundered the brothers Wesley and the Evangelical Revival. The apostle of the Religion of Experience was John Wesley. Brought up with Charles and his many other brothers and sisters in his father's Rectory at Epwortb and educated at Charterhouse and Oxford he was quite plainly destined for the Anglican ministry. At Christ Ch\irch he pltinged deeply into the reading of devotional literature and was particularly impressed by Jeremy Taylor's 'Holy living and Holy dying'. Following Taylor's advice he began a diary 'writing down how he employed every hour'. The result was a changed life. Regarding Taylor's book he writes: 'When I met with it in 1726, the nature and extent of Inward religion now appeared to me in a stronger light than ever before. I saw that giving all my life to God would profit me nothing, \inless I gave my heart to him I saw that simplicity of 3. intention, purity of affection, one design in all we speak or do, and one desire ruling all our tempers are indeed the wings of the soul, without which we can never ascend to God. I sou^t after this from that hour.' ^ It was another thirteen years before he was to experience a consciousness of being saved throu^ faith in Christ. On May 24th,1738, he attended the Moravian meeting in Aldgate Street. Luther's preface to the Epistle to the Romans was being read: "Faith, and faith alone Justifies. Possessed of it the heart is cheered, elevated, excited and transported with sweet affections towards God. Receiving the Holy Ghost throu^ faith, the man is renewed and made spiritual and is impelled to fulfill the law by the vital energy in himself." Wesley was to write of that marvellous moment: "I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone for salvation: and an assurance was given me that he had taken away my sins, even mine and saved me from the law of sin and death. I then testified openly to all there what I now first felt in my heart." 1. Tyewnan - 'Life and Times of Rev.J. Wesley' : Vol.1, p.22. Before his conversion Wesley had been intensely pious but lacked real inward conviction. ^w he knew he was saved and possessed power over himself and sin which he had not possessed before. 'He had practised religion; now he experienced its bliss.' But not only his personal faith but his whole public ministry was transformed by his conversion expeviexice. He now preached with a power and conviction that he did not possess before. More over, during his 'field' preaching in London, Bristol and elseiidiere remarkable scenes occurred among his vast assemblies: crying and shrieking, trembling, groanings, swoonings and prostration often lasting for several days. Such were the remarkable physical manifestations or 'excesses', depending on one's point of view, that in 1744 the Bishop of Lichfield felt constrained to pen 'A Charge against Enthusiasm'. His object was to prove: •The indwelling and inward witnessing of the Spirit in the believer's ear, as also praying and preaching by the Spirit are all the extraordinary gifts and operations of the Holy Ghost, belonging only to the apostolical and primitive times and that consequently all pretensions to such favouirs in these last d£^s are vain and enthusiasticalo' 5. To which Wesley promptly replied in 'The Distinguishing Marks of a Work of the Spirit of God' (1744) with: 'It is no sign that a work is not divine because it is not carried on in a way unusual and extraordinary. The Spirit is sovereign in '.His operations. We ougjit not to limit God where he has not limited himself. Neither is a work to be judged by any effects on the bodies of men: such as tears, trembling, groans, loud outcries, agonies or faintings: for there is reason to believe that great outpourings of the Spirit, both in prophetic and apostolic ages were not wholly without these extraordinary effects. The same is true respecting religious commotion among the people, for this is the natural result of such a work.' ^' The contention of this thesis is that 'all the extraordinary gifts and operations of the Holy Spirit' - including glossalalia and the other Pentecostal gifts, as much as the physical phenomena which accompanied Wesley's preaching - did not belong only 'to the apostolical and primitive times' but may be traced intermittently throuôut the Christian era and are to be foxind as a genuine spiritual experience within British Evangelical Christianity from the rise of Methodism until the upsurge of the modem Pentecostal movement. 1« Jo Wesley : 'The distinguishing marks of a work of the Spirit of God.' PART ONE NARRATIVE OF EVIDENCE Page I : The Testimony of Scripture g II : The Testimony of previous Church I5I History III : British Evangelical Christianity:1730-1910: 159 The Eighteenth Century Evangelical Revival 159 Annus Mdiabilis: I83O 179 The Second Evangelical Revival:I859 213 The Welsh Revival of 190^ 221 The Pentecostal Movement: 1907 24-9 THE TESTIMOMY OF SCRIPTURE For the purpose of our study it is first supremely necessary to examine in detail the Scripture record of the Pentecostal outpouring of the Holy Spirit as described in Acts II w 1 - 21.

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