Chas Brewer
Puritan Board Freshman
What is the Puritan Board opinion on this new revival at Asbury and what do some of y’all think about the 1970 revival that happened at Asbury?
2023 Asbury Revival
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Blood-Bought Pilgrim
Puritan Board Sophomore
I think it's probably hard for us to genuinely judge from afar unless very flagrant red flags show up. I'm taking the posture of hoping and praying for the best, but not assuming either way. The true test of a revival is rooted in things which we can't easily know from a great distance and which take time to reveal themselves. If anyone knows someone solid who is actually closely connected to what is going on that would be interesting to hear.
John The Baptist
Puritan Board Sophomore
I have been following this as well, and wondering the same thing. Like Andrew said, hard to know from a distance. I am more negative towards ‘revivals’ in general, which is certainly influenced by my background and current environment. My charismatic-ish friends have been loving it, so I tend to be skeptical. Perhaps not the best attitude, but I struggle.
I pray that the gospel is being preached and hearts are being changed.
I pray that the gospel is being preached and hearts are being changed.
arapahoepark
Puritan Board Professor
Interesting take and has interesting comments as well.
heidelblog.net
I have also heard that Asbury is a liberal seminary that still believes homosexuality is a sin from a former seminarian there. But that was a few years ago.
Asbury Is Having A Revival (Again) - The Heidelblog
A spontaneous marathon revival among students and faculty at Asbury College in Wilmore, Kentucky, resulted in a week-long shut-down of classes and reached out to other colleges and communities from coast to coast this month. Students, faculty, townspeople, and visitors wept, and smiled through...
heidelblog.net
Having been in my very young twenties during the so-called revival of the early 1970’s, I can say that it all looks very familiar. There were true converts during that period but also a lot of later shipwrecks. The movement did not result in reformation but rather in a further deformation in the church.
All you can do is pray that the Lord would open eyes and bring true conversions, even while knowing that the concerns and observations in RSC’s article are right on target.
All you can do is pray that the Lord would open eyes and bring true conversions, even while knowing that the concerns and observations in RSC’s article are right on target.
Updates and Info are for updates and info about the PB; not in general! Moving to general.
ArminianOnceWas
Puritan Board Freshman
Interesting take and has interesting comments as well.
I have also heard that Asbury is a liberal seminary that still believes homosexuality is a sin from a former seminarian there. But that was a few years ago.Asbury Is Having A Revival (Again) - The Heidelblog
A spontaneous marathon revival among students and faculty at Asbury College in Wilmore, Kentucky, resulted in a week-long shut-down of classes and reached out to other colleges and communities from coast to coast this month. Students, faculty, townspeople, and visitors wept, and smiled through...
The revival is occurring at Asbury College and not at Asbury Theological Seminary. The observation might seem subtle but remains distinct still. "Liberal" is a relative term. Some on this board consider Arminianism as "liberal." Meanwhile, others employ the term in relation to modern liberal Protestant theology. Asbury Theological Seminary is certainly Arminian, but it cannot be considered a proponent of contemporary liberal theology. Additionally, the school retains traditional values regarding homosexuality, as your source observed.
The sovereign LORD may work through, against, without, above, below, beneath, and beyond means, whether they be righteous means put forward by righteous men, or wicked means at the hands of wicked men, etc. He has done so in the past, and we have biblical witness to that. Ours is not to question whether God may do so. But neither is it ours to approve men’s illicit means or methods not approved/set forward by God’s commandments. The secret things belong to Him, but to us and our children, only those things revealed/prescribed in holy scripture. God may send strong delusion such that men will believe a lie. We may not. God may use the unordained man’s (or, gasp- even woman’s) “preaching” to convert some of His elect (or harden further some reprobates). We may not give support or tacit approval to those things clearly contrary to His prescription, and yet we can say in retrospect He has perhaps used this or that thing in His holy and wise counsel. The occurrence of a thing, and some good fruit of it, do not give us leave, necessarily, to support it. Only the guidelines of scripture may serve as our course of policy. God, on the other hand, does whatsoever He pleases, and does all things well, and withholds permission to us, some of those things He is free to do Himself.
Wonderkins
Puritan Board Freshman
As a former pentecostal, my alarms are going off. The university website says they are grounded in the Wesleyan-Holiness tradition. As a kid the churches I spent the most time in were a part of the Church of God of Tennessee. It's also in the holiness tradition.
I never saw it to this degree of length, but the things happening in the videos could be seen at every single youth camp, every Church of God event, and every time our youth group combined with another one. In fact, it used to be that a great service was when the "holy spirit" moved so much that the sermon was canceled and we just went home after worship. The pastor would usually say something like "well, I can't add anything to that. Let's pray." And it almost always started with the teenagers. I never saw it pushed until I became a teenager.
I might seem overly skeptical, but my experience tells me this will fizzle out soon with nothing to show for it. I hope I'm wrong. I hope it's not just another Brownsville, or Toronto.
I never saw it to this degree of length, but the things happening in the videos could be seen at every single youth camp, every Church of God event, and every time our youth group combined with another one. In fact, it used to be that a great service was when the "holy spirit" moved so much that the sermon was canceled and we just went home after worship. The pastor would usually say something like "well, I can't add anything to that. Let's pray." And it almost always started with the teenagers. I never saw it pushed until I became a teenager.
I might seem overly skeptical, but my experience tells me this will fizzle out soon with nothing to show for it. I hope I'm wrong. I hope it's not just another Brownsville, or Toronto.
ArminianOnceWas
Puritan Board Freshman
When I first heard about it a week ago, my initial thoughts were, "I hope this doesn't gain much media (Christian or not) attention. If it's of God, then media attention will likely bring it to ruin, and if it's not of God, then the attention will only serve to perpetuate the false narratives of Christian revivalism." I'm glad that at this point, it doesn't seem to be resorting to Brownsville or Toronto in terms of strange "signs."
However, the holiness tradition of Asbury seminary is the portion that largely rejected Pentecostalism, including your former Church of God (Cleveland). Rather, the original motivating factor for the early movement was a separation from Methodism which they viewed even in the mid-19th century as skewing away from sound doctrine and practice. Currently, Asbury is at the forefront of the Global Methodist Church, which is the exit movement from the contemporary UMC.
retroGRAD3
Puritan Board Senior
I would say this is typical charismania.
MyCrows
Puritan Board Sophomore
I don't know much about what's being said at this place, and neither does my wife. The thing is, she was trying to get insight to what was actually going on here, and couldn't find any real info.
So if the average internet user can't really get a whole lot of information about it, then what are these people who are showing up in droves expecting to hear when they get there? Why are they coming?
So if the average internet user can't really get a whole lot of information about it, then what are these people who are showing up in droves expecting to hear when they get there? Why are they coming?
I loved the perspective of a nearby OPC pastor who posted something along the lines of: "We had a revival this morning. We heard the word preached, participated in the Lord's table, praised our God together ..." As I write this, I'm remembering that this same fella wrote a major graduate work on Jonathan Edwards, so he'd have a good sense of what has happened to the term "revival" historically.
Steve Curtis
Puritan Board Senior
Hard to square this with their official positions on morality (https://www.asbury.edu/life/resources/handbook-community-life/commitments/morality/) including the following on human sexuality:
Asbury University Statement on Human Sexuality
As an evangelical Christian university established in the Wesleyan-Holiness tradition, Asbury University believes that Holy Scripture, interpreted through the lenses of Christian orthodox tradition, reason, and personal experience, occupies a privileged position as the final authority for the faith and practice of the people of God and thus, for all aspects of the Asbury University community. As members of this community, we are committed to living into the fullness of salvation as taught in Scripture, characterized by holy love, reaching into all aspects of our lives, including our sexuality.
We affirm that humans are beings created, in the image of God, male and female, and are of inestimable worth. As a result we affirm that human sexuality is intended by God to include more than the contemporary cultural emphasis upon the physical experience, and is a gift of God designed to reflect the whole of our sensual and relational createdness. We believe that it is only within the context of the covenant of marriage between one man and one woman that the full expression of sexuality is to be experienced and celebrated. This understanding of covenantal marriage, and the practice of celibacy within singleness, are the means by which we may experience a life of full human flourishing while glorifying God and honoring his Word.
A faithful interpretation of Scripture affirms the principle that sexual purity honors God and that all forms of sexual intimacy that occur outside the covenant of heterosexual marriage are sinful distortions of the holiness and beauty for which God intended. As members of a larger community, we recognize that stewarding one’s expression of sexual intimacy is a trust that reaches beyond ourselves, extending even to those who may disagree with our beliefs. Therefore, we understand our responsibility to uphold biblical truth in our belief and practice, but in a way that reflects the grace that holiness produces.
We believe that the sin of sexual immorality (e.g., pre-marital sexual behavior, adultery for the heterosexually married person, polygamy, polyandry, p0rnography, incest, and all forms of same-sex practice) is about the behavior. As sinful fallen creatures, we are all tempted to sin, however, we do not claim those areas of temptation as right and good – and worthy of embrace and celebration. Rather, we unashamedly insist that by the grace of God we are called to live within the biblical boundaries of our sexuality, and are empowered to live in obedience with God’s will and alignment with His purposes as revealed in Scripture. We do not surrender the biblical standard of sexual purity to the prevailing secular culture, nor the definition of “male” and “female” to mean something more or different than a individual’s sex at birth. At the same time, we do pledge to extend compassion and care, providing accountability and assistance as we support all members of our community— students, staff and faculty—in their desire to live consistently with the Christian teaching on human sexuality as described above.
Accordingly, Asbury University will not recognize or support campus groups whose aim by statement, practice, or intimation is to promote a vision of human sexuality that is contrary to this understanding of biblical teaching. Further, we believe the above affirmations to be consistent with the ancient and historic teaching of Christian scriptures around the world and remains the guiding light for our practice.
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