Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 15.djvu/391

 NEIV ENGLAND REVIVALS 377

for their conversion. The churches often encouraged this atti- tude indirectly if not directly. While the revival undoubtedly brings forward many who thus gain some years of church mem- bership and training it probably keeps many from coming into the churches under ordinary conditions before the revival. Many a pastor yields to popular pressure or looks to a revival to accomplish what he has either failed in or neglected to attempt. But with the modern methods of the Sunday school and the young-people's societies the steady increase of the churches may be more apparent and revivals will attend more to those outside the usual congregations. Revivals may have a much less impor- tant place in the religious effort of the future.

7. One more point of importance. It seems to be a fact that revivals in the last thirty years or more have less than formerly the characteristics of the early revivals and have become in modern phrase more "evangelistic" in object and method. The old-time revival began in the church. There were heart-search- ings, a deep sense of sinfulness, penitences and confessions, pri- vate and public, among the leading members of the churches. This work of real r^-vival often continued for some time before the effort at the unconverted began. The result was that mem- bers went out with power to win others, who were fellow-sin- ners needing with the church itself a common salvation. Here was real brotherhood. In recent revival efforts there has been a great change. The aim now is "evangelistic" in the narrow sense of that term. It often amounts to little more than an invitation to men outside the church to come into it and be as good as those in it are. The methods of Dawson and Gypsy Smith in Boston a year or two ago rose little higher than this plane of phariseeism and naturally failed. Dr. Chapman was a little better but he did not grapple with the need of .the churches for a greater life of righteousness among their very leaders. We heard no confessions from ministers and eminent laymen that meant specific things. The deeper ethical conditions were not touched. It is doubtful if the municipal reforms of our great cities are coming out of the revivals they have had.

It would be useful in this connection if statistics were avail-