Journal: Southern Baptist Journal of Theology
Volume: SBJT 28:3 (Fall 2024)
Article: A Quickening Light: A Puritan Vision Of Revival
Author: J. Stephen Yuille

A Quickening Light: A Puritan Vision Of Revival

J. Stephen Yuille

J. Stephen Yuille is Professor of Church History and Spiritual Formation at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Fort Worth, Texas. He earned his PhD from Brunel University in the United Kingdom. Dr. Yuille is the author and editor of numerous books and book chapters on the Puritan theologians William Perkins, George Swinnock, and John Flavel. He has published journal articles in Themelios, Puritan Reformed Journal, and the Journal of Spiritual Formation and Soul Care. He is a member of the Evangelical Theological Society and the Association of Certified Biblical Counselors. Dr. Yuille has served in a variety of church ministry roles and he is married to Alison and they have two daughters.

“There may be life where there is no vigor,” declares Thomas Manton.1 That is to say, it is possible to be born again, implanted into Christ, indwelt by the Holy Spirit, and yet pass through seasons of spiritual listlessness. The reason for this lies in the instability of the heart, which never remains in the same condition but is up one moment and down the next. The desires of the flesh and the concerns of the world, coupled with our carelessness and fickleness, conspire to bring “deadness upon the heart.”2 At times like these, says Manton, there is but one remedy—revival, whereby God lifts us out of a “cold, sad, and heavy” condition and makes us “lively.”3

To appreciate fully what Manton is saying, it is necessary to divest the word revival of much of what is usually associated with it and listen to him on his own terms. Upon doing so it becomes apparent that his concept of revival presupposes well-defined convictions concerning the work of regeneration and the nature of knowledge. The purpose of the present article is to analyze these convictions.

This inquiry into Manton’s thinking on revival is of historical interest for two reasons. First, it reveals an important element of Puritan spirituality. Manton is not an innovator but reflects a tradition that permeates the writings of his fellow seventeenth-century Puritans—John Flavel,

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Thomas Watson, George Swinnock, et al. Second, it provides a lens through which to understand the so-called revivals of the eighteenth century. Multiple factors converged to produce these movements, yet none as important as the theological convictions and experiential emphases inherited from the Puritans.

The Puritans

During the reign of Bloody Mary (1553–1558), many Protestants suffere...