According to your perspective what constitutes a genuine revival of religion?
Which are the criteria according to your undestanding of it that we should keep in mind to distinguish a genuine work and outpouring of the Holy Spirit from a spurious and counterfeit revival?
Often history "repeats" itself but often we dont learn from it's mistakes, without doubt we are living in an age of apostasy where the REVIVAL is the most misunderstood word in theology.
The sad thing is that even among the learned scribes in the church we get from them an uncomplete story of revival.
e.g. - a stauch calvinist will sift a revival in his theological system and after weighing the evidences, it's nature and results will conclud that genuine and pure revivals are those that are calvinistic in doctrine and play down some genuine "arminian revivals" as revivalism.
On the other camp the arminians have become so acustom with their "new measures" and methods in promoting revival as to "forget" that it is on God's soveregnity that a revival depends.
Once it was called "seasons of revival" now we say "revival meetings".
Once true conversion resulted in a real moral tranformation because the Holy Spirit the one who convicted and regenerated , today it's men who preach cheap grace and beg people to accept Jesus make an instant decision say a "sinner's prayer" and hop you are "born again". it's easy isnt it 1,2,3 steps and you are saved who cares for conviction of sin.We have redifined the words - repentance and faith and watered down the gosple.
These are times that call for spiritual and biblical discerments.Arminian or calvinian theology dont forget is a man made system (with some biblical support to back it).Our "constitution" and rule is the Bible not calvin's institutions or Arminius theology or any of the reformers writtings.
Why is this attact agaist Finney today, is he guilty of spurious revivals that deceive so many today? Was not God in his Soveregnity who ispired Finney to used those "new methods" as useful means of the Holy Spirit.In his time these "new measures" were blessed because God in his wisdom predestined so but today the same means most of the time have turned to a curse.
Ah the sad thing again is the narrowness of our undertanding of the work of God.Some put so much emphases on the sovereignity of God that they will do "nothing" unless God moves in their mids, others will do everything in the power of the flesh and not take to accout the sovereignity of God.
Emotionalism, wild entusiasm and revivalism are words that have substituted the genuine revival.
criteria of genuin revival:
It glorifies God the Father
Exalts Christ crusified on the cross
The Word of God is powerfully preached
The Truth conveyed by the Spirit
The Holy Spirit is outpoured like a soft breeze or mighty rushing wind
Spiritual war agaist the forces of darkness
Conviction, repentace, regeneration and sanctification will be the result that will show its evidence in true moral transformation of the individual and the community at large affected by the spiritual awakening.