David Jeremiah writes: After the War of Independence, the influence of Christianity waned. According to historian J. Edwin Orr, “In the wake of the American Revolution came a disastrous setback for evangelical Christianity.” The typical student at Harvard was atheist, says Orr. “Students of Williams College conducted a mock celebration of Holy Communion. When the dean of Princeton opened the chapel Bible to read, a pack of playing cards fell out…Christians were so unpopular they met in secret and kept their minutes in code. The radical leader of deist students led a mob in burning the Bible… The last two decades of the 18th century were the darkest period spiritually and morally in the history of American Christianity.”
Then God sent another revival–the Second Great Awakening. It swept across the frontier, turned Ivy League schools upside down, and launched a new generation into global ministry. It’s true to say the Western world is only now shaking off the effects of the Second Great Awakening.
Lord, do it again!
(“Turning Point Daily Devotional,” 9-10-11)
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