Fire: 1740-1741 -- The First Great Awakening

Fire, second in the “Great Awakenings” series by Bill Bright and Jack Cavanaugh, introduces us to the town of Havenhill, Connecticut in 1740. The revival focus here is the one brought about by the preaching of Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield.

Josiah Rush returns to Havenhill after spending seven years in exile, banished from the town after a fire he accidentally caused brought about the deaths of the town pastor and two young children. His old friend Philip Clapp, now the community leader, helps re-introduce Josiah as the new pastor. Soon, however, it becomes clear that the townspeople are still attached to their old preacher and will never accept Josiah. Hostility seems to come from every part of town, including the deacons, and especially from the busybody Eleanor Parkhurst, widow of the former pastor.

After Josiah’s arrival, more trouble arrives, including a small-pox epidemic. Several mysterious fires at the warehouses are blamed on Josiah; dock workers talk about strange things going on, and end up murdered. Josiah bungles around in his social life, still pining for his old love, Abigail Parkhurst, who is now engaged to Josiah’s close friend Johnny Mott.

As Josiah considers the town’s condition in his journal and diagnoses a “soul sickness,” he learns of the revival sweeping through Boston and other parts of New England. Through Josiah’s exploration we are briefly introduced to the historical figures of the time: Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield. As with all the books in this series, Fire includes great descriptions of the revival, the crowds of people attending to the preaching, and even the changed lives of the communities. Fire even includes a brief conversation with Benjamin Franklin, for a look at Franklin’s own unbelieving views (though that scene seems rather extraneous, thrown in only because of Franklin’s fame, but serving no real purpose).

Also in keeping with other books in this series, though, the actual revival of the time plays only a minor part, observed only by a few outsiders immersed in their own story. Yet Fire does a great job of conveying Christian truths, especially the idea that revival comes not on man’s schedule but God’s, and the glory belongs to God alone and not man. Josiah even gets his own Job-style confrontation, to further bring home the point of God’s sovereignty and power. As such, Fire is one of the better installments of the “Great Awakenings” series, with its good mystery story combined with sound theology. It also highlights the best known revival in American history—and the one true revival that came from the preaching of God’s word.

Proof: 1857-1858 -- A Great Prayer Revival

Proof: 1857-1858, the first in a series called “The Great Awakenings” by Bill Bright and Jack Cavanaugh, takes as its subject the great prayer revival of 1857-1858. Centered in New York City, where the revival began, Proof tells the story of 26-year-old Harrison Shaw, recent law school graduate. Harrison, orphaned since a young child, has grown up in a boys lodge and likes to help the residents of the seedy Five Points neighborhood. At his mentor George Bowen’s request, he applies for – and wins – a coveted internship in law from J. K. Jarves.

Shaw soon finds himself at odds with the rich world of Jarves and his daughter, Victoria. Even more so, he cannot handle the ferocious, predatory survival philosophy of Jarves – and soon finds himself, and everyone in his life, ruined by the revengeful Jarves. Later in their confrontation, Jarves creates a trial to examine the truth of the great revival, to put the Holy Spirit on trial.

Proof includes references to Jeremiah Lanphier and how he started the prayer meetings at the North Dutch Reformed Church in the fall of 1857. Later on, the story also chronicles many of the amazing answers to prayer and the revival’s impact to peoples’ lives as it spreads beyond New York City to include many other areas of the U.S. (and even on to Europe afterwards). The story includes some detailed and unpleasant descriptions of the New York City slums, including the Five Points neighborhood. Surprisingly, though, Proof rarely mentions the actual economic setting of this revival and a major factor that, from a human perspective, brought about the revival. Soon after Lanphier started his prayer meetings, the banks and stock market collapsed and the country was economically hard pressed—the time when people do tend to turn towards spiritual matters, getting a reality check against the good, prosperous times. A few of the characters’ personal “witness” stories make brief reference to this in the telling of their conversion story; yet the larger story, Proof, itself lacks that level of background—one might easily miss this detail if not paying close attention. The main focus of Proof is on Shaw and a few characters he interacts with, along with a rather episodic look, from a journalist’s perspective, at specific prayer revival marvels.

The character portrayals are average, and we learn and understand Harrison Shaw well enough. The other character portrayals, though, seem more two-dimensional. J. K. Jarves seems rather exaggerated and one-sided, an extreme example of a Darwinist, Madlyn Murray O’Hair-style atheist, and a real Scrooge of a man in a time when even the wealthy gave at least lip service to the idea of charity and Christian morality. His daughter Victoria turns out to be quite a surprise, but her overall character and the many things attributed to her seem hard to believe and a bit too much of modern-day feminism. In spite of such problems, though, she at least becomes more likable as the story progresses.

This book’s weakness is in its theology, a rather man-focused view in which the Christian characters, and especially Harrison Shaw, somehow feel that it is up to them to prove God’s existence and power—and that all of Christianity is at stake and will fail based on a bad outcome of a human court trial. It seems that the characters, many of them supposed great Christian leaders and scholars (and the authors, for coming up with such a fictional scenario in the first place), should consider the meaning of the scripture “Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine” (Matt. 7:6)—the wisdom and understanding that the things of God are sacred, and that at a certain point, with certain people, to forcefully press Christian ideas to that audience just belittles and denigrates the greatness and character of God. To be sure, a few characters briefly mention that God can defend Himself (one brief paragraph after many pages of contrary ideas), but the greater issue (Matt. 7:6) is never addressed, and the story takes the easy way out rather than a more realistic display of how God actually deals with His people in our post-1st century world.

Proof does a great job of bringing attention to this now-forgotten time, a prayer revival in the late 1850s when people sought God and He answered their prayers in an amazing way. This book includes many actual incidents of the people saved and prayers answered, a testament to the wonders God can do at all times, including these times of revival. As such, Proof is a good start to a series about past revivals, to educate readers about the various revivals in American history. The story and main characters provide decent entertainment and general information about these revivals, though the particulars, including the theology presented, could be improved.

Storm: 1798 - 1800: Revival in Early America

Storm, third in the “Great Awakenings” series by the late Bill Bright and Jack Cavanaugh, takes place in Connecticut in 1800-1801. Featuring historical figure Dr. Dwight, president of Yale College in the early 19th century, this story centers around two college boys, Asa Rush and Eli Cooper. Yale College is fully immersed in the Age of Enlightenment, the anti-Christian, pro-French philosophic reasoning of the time. Asa Rush begins his freshman year as one of a handful of Christian students determined to bring Yale back to its Christian heritage. Eli Cooper, full of himself and swept up in the Enlightenment philosophy, picks on Asa the new freshman and quickly becomes Asa’a main enemy. Just to make Asa’s life more complicated, though, Dr. Dwight commissions Asa to evangelize and save Eli Cooper.

The one actual revival from this time period, the Cane Ridge Revival in Kentucky, is introduced briefly, with appearances by Asa and Eli during school break. But most of the story takes place back at school, with an outstanding action-paced plot. Asa endures several incidents of freshman hazing, and romantic competition over high-society Annabelle Byrd. In typical Cavanaugh fashion, the characters end up in some very unlikely scenarios, with several surprising developments in the plot.

Throughout the action-packed story, the historical research also provides an exciting background, incorporating all facets of life at the time. We learn several examples of the rules for Yale freshmen, as well as many of the rules of dueling (which was then illegal) and how duels were supposed to play out. The Illuminati is referenced, and the general atmosphere shows the pro-French, pro-Jefferson and anti-Adams sentiments of the time, including the radical, dangerous factions of the American public. Storm includes the detail of guillotines shipped to America, and the strong desire some had to begin a new Revolution more in the style of the recent French Revolution. Throughout the story, we take comfort in knowing how history turned out while appreciating the characters’ uncertainty: would the Federalists leave peacefully? Would there be a peaceful transition of power from the Federalists to the Democrats? Such things had never happened before, after all.

Storm is an entertaining novel that highlights a crisis period in early American history. Even more, it shows a place not all that different from today, in which the Christian worldview clashes against the majority view, yet a few Christians make a difference by speaking out and praying for revival in the nation.

Faith of My Fathers: Biblical Fiction about King Manasseh's Reign

Faith of My Fathers, by Lynn Austin, continues the “Chronicles of the Kings” series about the Old Testament kings. After covering the life of Hezekiah in the previous three books, Faith of My Fathers begins the story of the next generation: Hezekiah’s son Manasseh, and Joshua son of the palace administrator Eliakim.

Manasseh's anger at his father’s death soon leads him to pagan idols and sorcery. Eliakim and the prophet Isaiah are soon executed and a new set of characters takes the stage. The main theme of this book involves Joshua’s anger and hatred toward his former friend, Manasseh, and how Joshua deals with his experiences: at first angry with God, but later returning to God and helping God’s people. Other fictional characters have similar experiences to the characters in previous books, such as Joshua’s sister Dinah and a maidservant named Miriam.

As with the previous books in this series, the historical background is not extremely well developed. The characters generally think like modern-day Christians, complete with a New Testament understanding of God as a loving and forgiving Father. The story itself could take place in any Christian era, with its emphases on persecution, suffering, and looking in repentance toward a loving and sovereign God. That said, Faith of My Fathers does offer good dialogue and many characters with their various subplots. This story is entertaining, with the good page-turning suspense of a good action novel, including a strong climax and a happy ending for the “good guys.”

Perhaps the most intriguing part of the story involves an item from Jewish history with some basis in facts gathered from the archeological records of Egypt. As the author notes at the end, apparently some Levites and priests did leave Israel during King Manasseh’s reign and settled a colony in Elephantine Island, Egypt; they may well have taken the Ark with them. Faith of My Fathers skillfully blends this idea into an exciting action plot, to be continued in the next book (Among the Gods).

Overall, Faith of My Fathers offers an excellent action-adventure book with Bible characters. Fans of Bible fiction will find this book adequate, as well as a good continuation of the characters and families from the previous three books of “Chronicles of the Kings.”

Waiting for Summer's Return: German Mennonite Immigrants

Waiting for Summer’s Return, a new historical novel by Kim Vogel Sawyer, takes place in eastern Kansas among a community of German Mennonites in 1894. Summer Steadman is the sole survivor of her family that had traveled from Boston, bound for Oklahoma but stricken with typhoid near the town of Gaeddert, Kansas. With her husband and four children buried, Summer lingers in town but finds no reason to eat, no reason to live. But local resident and widower Peter Ollenburger needs a tutor for his injured 10-year-old son, Thomas, and offers the job to Summer, a “learned woman.”

Throughout the story, the point of view alternates between Peter, Summer, and even young Thomas. Gradually we learn more about Summer; her grief early in the book is perhaps a bit overdone, making the story a bit slow and depressing to get through at first. But as time and pleasant experiences work in the character’s heart to heal her, so the story itself improves and becomes more uplifting. The final outcome seems certain (surely Peter and Summer will get together) yet the story takes a while to get there. Along the way the main characters and their relationships are well-developed and realistic, and as in real life some things take time. Summer must first heal from her grief, and afterwards consider her future. Peter must consider if he can love another woman as he had loved his Elsa.

The story also reflects the closed-community of German Mennonites, a people who have fled persecution in other countries and who now tend to keep to themselves, not welcoming outsiders. Here again, the townspeople develop and mature, from a rather hostile, suspicious mindset at first, until they gradually open up, a few families at a time, to the newcomer. The author also shows her knowledge of at least some German language. Peter Ollenburger, in particular, talks much of the time in German. As a new immigrant might well do, often his thoughts come out first in his native tongue, after which he translates as best he can – and often learns new English words in the process.

Waiting for Summer’s Return is an enjoyable historical novel, filled with great characters who grow and learn from each other. This story also gives a fresh look at the life of late-19th century immigrants and their community, and a glimpse at the history of German Mennonites in Kansas.