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A Survey of the Role of Small Groups in Christianity's Major Spiritual LIBERTY UNIVERSITY RAWLINGS SCHOOL OF DIVINITY BIG THINGS START SMALL: A SURVEY OF THE ROLE OF SMALL GROUPS IN CHRISTIANITY’S MAJOR SPIRITUAL AWAKENINGS A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE RAWLINGS SCHOOL OF DIVINITY IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY BY JOE MACK EASTERLING LYNCHBURG, VIRGINIA MARCH 2020 Contents ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................................ vi ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................. vii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW ...............................................................1 Introduction ..........................................................................................................................1 Rationale and Need ..............................................................................................................3 Research Problem, Secondary Questions, Scope and Limitations, and Terms ...................4 Research Problem ....................................................................................................4 Scope and Limitations..............................................................................................5 Terms .......................................................................................................................7 Historical and Philosophical Overview of Small Groups and Spiritual Awakenings .........9 Historical Overview of Small Groups in the Christian Church .............................10 Philosophy and Rationale for Small Groups in the Christian Church ...................13 Historical Overview of Occurrences of Spiritual Awakenings ..............................17 Theological and Philosophical Analyses of Spiritual Awakenings .......................24 Methodology ......................................................................................................................26 CHAPTER 2: SMALL GROUPS IN SCRIPTURE AND EARLY CHRISTIANITY ..........28 Small Groups in the Old Testament ...................................................................................28 Small Groups in the Intertestamental Period .....................................................................31 Small Groups in Jesus’ Earthly Ministry ...........................................................................32 The Evolution of Small Groups through the First Millennium of Christianity .................35 The Prevalence of the House Church of the First Three Centuries .......................34 Congregational Consolidation and the Shift to Small Group Agape Feasts ..........41 Full Congregational Worship and the Rise of Basilicas ........................................45 The Adaptation of Small Groups for Catechism and Clerical Training ................49 The Emergence of Small Groups during the Early Rumblings of Reformation ................58 The Waldensians ....................................................................................................58 The Lollards ...........................................................................................................61 The Hussites ...........................................................................................................65 i The Element of Small Groups during the Reformation Era ..............................................67 Martin Luther .........................................................................................................68 The Anabaptists .....................................................................................................71 Conclusion .........................................................................................................................74 CHAPTER 3: SMALL GROUPS IN THE FIRST GREAT AWAKENING (1726-1791)....................................................................................................................................75 Early Evidence of Small Groups: The Pietists, Puritans, and Moravians ..........................75 The Conference of Puritanism ...............................................................................75 The Pietist Conventicles ........................................................................................77 The Moravian Bands ..............................................................................................80 The British Revivals and Wesleyan Methodism ................................................................82 The Role of Small Groups in Sparking British Revivals .......................................82 The Role of Small Groups in Sustaining the Effects of Revival ...........................90 The American Awakening and Conferencing ....................................................................93 Theodore Frelinghuysen and Small Group Bible Studies ......................................93 Jonathan Edwards and Conference ........................................................................94 Principles Gleaned from Small Groups in the First Great Awakening in Britain and America .......................................................................................................................98 CHAPTER 4: SMALL GROUPS IN THE SECOND GREAT AWAKENING (1780-1850)..................................................................................................................................103 Socioeconomic and Religious Conditions prior to the Awakening .................................104 Social, Industrial, and Economic Conditions .......................................................105 Philosophical, Religious, and Moral Conditions .................................................107 Tenacious Remnants of the First Great Awakening ............................................108 Small Groups and Revival on College Campuses in America ........................................110 Hampden-Sydney College ...................................................................................111 The Haystack Revival at Williams College .........................................................112 Spread of Revival to Other Colleges ...................................................................114 Prayer Groups among Local Churches ............................................................................115 Prayer Unions and Revival in Britain ..................................................................115 A “Concert of Prayer” and Revival in America ...................................................118 The Presence of Small Groups in the Rise of Camp Meetings ........................................119 ii The Cane Ridge Revival (1801) ..........................................................................120 The Conversion and Ministry of Peter Cartwright ..............................................123 Charles Finney and the “New Measures” Revivals .............................................126 The Sunday School Movement ........................................................................................129 Robert Raikes and the Rise of the Sunday School Movement in Britain ............130 The Spread of Sunday Schools in America .........................................................134 Principles Gleaned from Small Groups in the Second Great Awakening in Britain and America .....................................................................................................................137 CHAPTER 5: SMALL GROUPS IN THE LAYMAN’S, WELSH, AND KOREAN REVIVALS (1857-1910) ............................................................................................................142 The Layman’s Prayer Revival (1857-1859) ....................................................................143 Socioeconomic and Spiritual Conditions prior to Revival ..................................143 Prayer Groups, Sunday School, and the Groundwork for Revival ......................146 Jeremiah Lanphier and the Union Prayer Meetings .............................................147 Evidence of Prayer Groups in the Spread of Revival ..........................................150 Impact of the Layman’s Prayer Revival ..............................................................154 The Continuation of Revival through the Ministry of Dwight L. Moody .......................156 Moody’s Early Years and Conversion .................................................................156 Small Groups in Moody’s Sunday School Mission .............................................158 Small Groups in Moody’s Evangelistic Ministry ................................................160 The Welsh Revival and Global Awakening (1904-1905) ................................................163 Precursors to Revival ...........................................................................................163 Evan Roberts and the Welsh Revival ...................................................................164 Impact of the Awakening in America and the World ..........................................168 The Korean Revival (1907-1910) ....................................................................................174 Religious, Cultural, and Moral Conditions prior to Revival ................................174 The Outbreak of Revival in Pyongyang...............................................................176 The Impact of the Korean Revival .......................................................................179
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