In the mid-nineteenth century, America experienced a surge of evangelical revivals that swept across the country like a wildfire. These revivals, particularly common in upstate New York, were characterized by emotionally charged preaching, theatrical appeals to immediate conversion, and an intense focus on personal, spur of the moment decisions. The altar calls multiplied, the people headed to the front with tears in their eyes, and mass conversions suddenly became the indicators of a successful ministry.
Behind the momentary excitement, however, brewed a deep problem. New converts were being hurled into the faith without having been invited to understand it. The emotional experience being celebrated from the altars was never rooted in reflective, disciplined learning and understanding of the new found faith. As a result, many embraced Christianity without ever being informed by its historical teachings. The historian George Marsden captured this phenomenon quite well: “anti-intellectualism was a feature of American revivalism.” In addition to these shallow, historically detached conversion experiences also came a growing suspicion towards learning, study, and theological reflection. The new attitude amongst the revivalist Christians was as if thinking too much about their faith might somehow extinguish it.
In the region where these revivals were at their peak, the so-called Burned Over District of New York, a name given to the region because of the frequent revivals, the absence of theological depth and overemphasis on emotional experiences created a fertile ground for new movements to spring up. Instead of growing into mature Christian communities, this area became the birthplace of several influential Christian cults completely divorced from historic Christianity: Mormonism, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and Christian Science. What revivalism neglected, others rushed in to build upon, shaping belief systems that departed radically from historic Christian teaching.
This history carries with it a dire warning. When the Christian faith and the life of the mind are severed, belief becomes vulnerable to distortion, confusion, and manipulation. True Christian transformation requires more than just intense moments of emotion. It requires more than simplistic altar calls and the repetition of unbiblical mantras like “I accept Jesus into my heart.” Genuine Christian transformation must involve the whole person, including the mind and intellect. To love God, the biblical text insists, is to love God with heart, soul, AND mind. The fire of “faith” may burn bright when its separated from the cultivation of the mind, but for all the wrong reasons and in all the wrong directions.
#MakeChristiansThinkAgain
