1859 Welsh revival
Two Welsh historians, Thomas Rees[1], the Congregational minister, and E. T. Davies[2], the Welsh schoolmaster and scholar-priest, documented the multiple religious revivals which occurred in South Wales before the 1859 revival.
Davies (op. cit.: 55) initially documented that revivals occurred in Merthyr Tydfil in 1810, 1815 and 1829, and sporadically occurred in the Mynyddislwyn area over a period of thirty-five years[3]. He then documented that, in 1831-32, a series of three cholera revivals occurred.
Rees (ibid.) documented four subsequent revivals which occurred in 1841, 1842, 1843 and what he called 'The Great Revival' of 1849. He initially attributed the first three revivals to the circulation of a translation of 'Mr. Finney's "Lectures" by Mr. Griffiths. of Swansea' but subsequently wrote:
- 'It will be readily acknowledged that the terrible visitation of the Cholera was principally the means of arousing the attention of our hearers to consider seriously the important truths with which they were already theoretically acquainted ...' (Italics in the original)
Finally Davies (op. cit.: 56) wrote that the 'most powerful' of the 'cholera' revivals occurred in 1949 which followed an outbreak of the disease in Merthyr Tydfil and which spread across north Monmouthshire.
Two ministers, Humphrey Jones, a Methodist minister, and David Morgan, a Presbyterian minister, led the 1859 revival.[4] It had its roots in the 1857–59 revival in the United States.[5], which Jones had experienced in New York. On his return to Tre'r Ddôl, he recruited Morgan to the cause. It is estimated that the revival produced 100,000 converts.[6]
Some writers, such as Martyn Lloyd-Jones, also view the revival as connected to the revival in Ulster during the same year.[7]
References
- ^ Rees, Thomas (1867). Miscellaneous papers on subjects relating to Wales. London: John Snow & Co. p. 93-96. Retrieved 18 June 2024.
- ^ Davies, E.T. (1965). Religion in the Industrial Revolution in South Wales (Pantyfedwen Lectures). Cardiff: University of Wales Press. p. 55-56.
- ^ Davies cited Davies, Evan (1859). Revivals in Wales. London: John Snow. p. 50. in support of this latter set of occurrence
- ^ Evans, Eifion. "The 1859 Revival in Wales". Retrieved 23 April 2017.
- ^ Stead, William T. (1905). The Welsh Revival. Trumpet Press, 2015 Religion › Christian Church ›. p. 7. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
- ^ Jones, David Ceri (13 October 2015). "Welsh History Month: Wales, religious revival and the world". Wales Online.
- ^ Lloyd-Jones, D. Martyn (1987). Revival. Crossway. p. 7. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
Further reading
- Phillips, Thomas (1860). The Welsh revival: Its origin and development. London: James Nisbet and Co. Retrieved 17 June 2024.