1. Global Awakening by Mark ShawDowners Grove, Ill.: IVP Academic, 2010

2. Who is Mark Shaw? He writes first and foremost as an Evangelical insider sympathetic to the cause of World Christianity. He also writes from a cross-cultural perspective, having lived and worked in Kenya for 25 years, where he is currently director of the World Christianity program at Africa International University in Nairobi, and having travelled to other countries such as Brazil and Argentina, where he observed first-hand some of the phenomena described in this book.

3. Who is Mark Shaw? He is also a student of World Christianity, having completed an M.Th. in this field of study at the University of Edinburgh, and of the history of Christianity, having completed a Th.D. in this discipline at Westminster Theological Seminary. He has previously written several other books on related topics.

4. Global Awakening: General Overview The precipitating backdrop for Shaws research are recent works by Noll, Walls, and Jenkins referencing the surprising growth of Global South Christianity in recent years, especially among those who might be broadly classified as Evangelicals, encompassing (in addition to more traditional Evangelicals) Pentecostals, Charismatics, and even African Initiated Churches (AICs).

5. Global Awakening: General Overview While acknowledging the validity of a number of factors typically posited as contributing to this phenomenon, he believes one significant factor has not been sufficiently recognized and studied: the factor of revival.

6. Global Awakening: General Overview The bulk of Shaws book (chapters 2 through 9, out of a total of 10) is dedicated to case study presentations of revival movements originating in a wide array of geographical and cultural settings throughout the course of the twentieth century. Along the way, he introduces us to the theories of some of the leading students of revival, including J. Edwin Orr, Richard Lovelace, and Jonathan Edwards.

7. Global Awakening: General Overview A main plank of Shaws thesis is that revivals are highly diverse in their geographical, cultural, and doctrinal expressions. While generally agreeing with Lovelaces definition of revivals as broad-scale movements of the Holy Spirits work in renewing spiritual vitality in the church and in fostering its expansion in mission and evangelism (14), he believes that, in order to truly describe what is happening in revivals, it is necessary to identify not only spiritual, but also historical, cultural, global, and group dynamics.

8. Dynamics of RevivalSpiritual Dynamics personal liberation, or freedom from spiritual bondage eschatological vision, involving a shift in values and behavior from self-reliance and fatalism to a bold new vision of God moving through history and giving local Christians a renewed sense of purpose

9. Dynamics of RevivalSpiritual Dynamics radical community, leading to an increased dependence on prayer, reverence for the Bible, and fellowship with the body of Christ evangelical activism evidenced by an increase in focus on evangelism and social action

10. Dynamics of RevivalCultural Dynamics indigenization (or the people factor). By this, Shaw means that the leadership for revivals usually comes from local people, youth, and the socially disenfranchised. inculturation (or the faith factor). What Shaw means by this is that the gospel message underlying revivals is understood at a deep heart level that connects with the worldview of the people among whom they occur.

11. Dynamics of RevivalCultural Dynamics contextualization (or the justice factor). This refers to the atmosphere of volatility and openness to change that typically precipitates revival.

12. Dynamics of RevivalHistorical Dynamics the problem stage, in which a minority culture develops a widespread dissatisfaction with the status quo imposed by a dominant culture the paradigm stage, in which new spiritual leaders have a crisis experience of faith and brokenness and begin to share their renewed spiritual vision with others. the power stage, in which reactionaries and radicals attack the movement. If the revival is able to survive this attack, long-lasting spiritual renewal can take place. Otherwise, it may be undermined and eventually squelched.

13. Dynamics of RevivalGlobal Dynamics globalization, in which influences from the West begin to permeate cultural settings where they had previously not held sway relativization, or the weakening of local traditions localization, in which local values are held up as worth preserving, and foreign values are regarded as suspect glocalization, in which a revival that initially takes root locally begins to spread and exercise influence in other parts of the world

14. Dynamics of RevivalGroup Dynamics the Lucan variable refers to those movements which find their source of inspiration in a return to the ancient roots of New Testament Christianity. the Galatian variable refers to a movement that is more concerned about preserving a more recent tradition. the Corinthian variable is one that seeks a radical break with the past, leading to a brand new start.

15. Shaws Definition of Revival charismatic people movements that seek to transform their world by translating Christian truth and transferring power

16. Case Study #1: Korea the revival movement sparked in 1907 through the influence of the Presbyterian university student Kil Sun Ju. The ideas promoted several years earlier by missionary John Nevius advocating self- governing, self-supporting, and self-propagating churches came to fruition as Korean society was feeling the oppression of a Japanese invasion which many Koreans regarded as supported by the West.

17. Case Study #1: Korea The concurrent feeling of national humiliation led to a hunger for a different sort of liberation that manifested itself in new indigenous expressions of dedication to God, including simultaneous prayer, healing, exorcism, and a general rejection of cessationism, or the belief that miraculous spiritual gifts ceased sometime in early church history.

18. Case Study #2: West Africa the proliferation of African Intiated Churches that sprung up as a response to the prophetic leadership of people such as William Wade Harris in Liberia and Joseph Babalola in southern Nigeria in the first half of the twentieth century. The key point to be gleaned from this example is the importance of charismatic leaders who rise up and attract a groundswell of popular following.

19. Case Study #2: West Africa These spiritual revolutionaries, however, are not necessarily manipulative pied pipers, but rather are often intellectuals who are able to perceive the signs of the times and successfully transmit to those around them a compelling vision for spiritual and societal transformation.

20. Case Study #3: India the Dornakal revival among the Dalits (or lower caste people) associated with the leadership of Anglican bishop V. S. Azariah. In the face of opposition from the government led by nationalist Mohandas Gandhi, who feared the conversion of the Dalits would weaken his project of national solidarity, Azariah preached a message of conversion to Christ accompanied by the promise of social and economic uplift, which proved to be an important catalyst for a massive turning of Dalits to Christianity.

21. Case Study #4: East Africa In contrast to the revival among the West African AICs, the East African revival focused primarily on the revitalization of existing mainline churches. A major emphasis in this case was repentance from sin and personal holiness. A highlight was an incident involving Anglican theology student William Nagenda who enrolled in school with the objective of promoting revival among what was perceived to be an environment of liberalism and accommodation.

22. Case Study #4: East Africa He was soon expelled from school, and this action served to galvanize the support of a growing movement of sympathizers who continued to promote revival largely outside the official structures of the Church of Uganda.

23. Case Study #5: United States the ministry of Billy Graham. He chronicles the story of how Graham began his ministry under the aegis of Youth for Christ in the context of a post-war emphasis on the renewal of American civic faith and opposition to communism. With the advent of the 1960s, and the corresponding social foment, however, new ideas were in the air.

24. Case Study #5: United States Along with an increased openness to Pentecostals and Charismatics, Evangelicals, taking their cue from the National Association of Evangelicals and Billy Graham, placed an increased emphasis on the spread of worldwide evangelicalism. The emblematic events signaling this shift were the Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization and the International Conference for Itinerant Evangelists in Amsterdam.

25. Case Study #6: Brazil three successive waves of Pentecostal and neo- Pentecostal advance Though he mentions along the way groups such as the Four Square Gospel Church, the God is Love movement, and the controversial Universal Church of the Kingdom of God, Shaw focuses his attention on the neo-Pentecostal Salt of the Earth movement, and its founding leader, Paulo Borges, Jr.

26. Case Study #6: Brazil Though different revival-oriented organizations and churches in Brazil have taken different approaches to the question of political and community involvement, according to Shaw, in each case, the evidence points to a clear expression of the three cultural dynamics of indigenization, inculturation, and contextualization.

27. Case Study #7: Reverse Mission the establishment of African Pentecostal churches in places like London. The African majority Kingsway International Christian Centre is now the largest church in England. Here we see the dynamic of glocalization at work. Revival has come full circle, as, both through immigration and intentional missionary outreach, churches and movements from the Global South are making an impact in many of the same places from which missionaries were first sent out to preach the gospel to them.

28. Case Study #8: China The roots of revival in China, according to Shaw, go back to the Boxer rebellion of 1900, when seeds of discontent due to cultural domination from the West yielded a subsequent harvest of indigenous revival fervor that first sprouted in the province of Shantung in the mid-1930s and later came to full fruition with the meteoric growth of the house churches under the communist dictatorship in the 70s and 80s.

29. Case Study #8: China Not all the dynamics of revival are positive, however, as with the arrival of the power stage there are often attacks from both reactionaries and radicals. From Shaws perspective, recent joint statements of key leaders of house church networks seeking to delineate house church doctrine in an orthodox formulation, and declare their intentions to bless rather than subvert the surrounding culture, are an attempt to circumvent these attacks and move the revival movement forward to continued growth and positive transformation.

30. Synthesis A big problem, which Shaw readily admits, is the broad diversity in regard to practically every element of revival manifested in the various examples he has shown us. His solution to the dilemma is spelled out in the group dynamics which differentiate between various types of revival. He also reiterates the combination of negative and positive results that frequently accompany revival.

31. Synthesis Although it may be definitely identified as a leading factor in the overall growth and success of the Christian movement, we cannot assume that every corresponding consequence is beneficial either for the church or the world. Though from the perspective of faith, it is almost impossible to deny the divine element and the sovereignty of God in spurring on revival, for Shaw it would be navely reductionistic to bypass the strictly human element.

32. Future Projection Shaw does not predict that revivals will ultimately overwhelm the world, and all of culture will, as a result, be Christianized He does, however, foresee a continuation of revivals, with a corresponding by-product of the breaking up of existing power structures, greater religious and social pluralism, and a leveling of the playing field in more and more places around the world.

33. Evaluation Is Shaw convincing in his conclusions? For the most part, yes. It appears beyond question that the factor of revival, as evidenced by the many examples he presents, as well as the multiple additional examples he does not have space to present, is a major contributing factor to the numerical growth and spiritual vibrancy of Christianity in much of the world today, especially in the Global South.

34. Evaluation He is also certainly on target in pointing out the many human variables that lie behind many of these revivals, and helping us to understand that revival is indeed more than simply Gods response to the prayers and preaching of his people. However, because so much of what is involved in revival does involve the sovereignty and supernatural intervention of God, it will always be beyond our grasp as humans to scientifically categorize and explain it in any satisfactory manner.

35. Evaluation It appears Shaw himself is aware of this, and his final category of group dynamics is an attempt to deal with the reality of the vast amount of variables that go into trying to describe revival in quantifiable terms. It would have perhaps been best at this point to confess there are certain factors with regard to revival that will always remain beyond our comprehension, and leave it at that.

36. Evaluation The most helpful aspect of the book is the graphic description of a broad array of actual cases of revival around the world. The choice of specific examples, while noteworthy in terms of their relevance for Shaws thesis, is not unduly weighted toward the most sensational or widely reported cases of revival. The examples given, while not exhaustive, are thoroughly representative. There are no glaring omissions.

37. Evaluation The topic itself is inherently fascinating. The personalities presented are colorful and the plot lines intriguing. One gets the idea while reading the text that the content would make an excellent guide for the script of a riveting television documentary. From a strictly human perspective, the material treated is significant. Shaws observations provide valuable insight into relatively neglected phenomena that have important implications for a full and accurate understanding of current world events and dynamics.

38. Evaluation From a Christian missionary perspective, the implications are enormous. To blithely go about cross-cultural missionary work without taking these factors into account is the equivalent of burying ones head in the sand like an ostrich. A careful balance must be struck, remaining reverently open and receptive with regard to the often strange and wonderful ways of God in the advance of his kingdom around the world, while at the same time avoiding a nave gullibility that is quick to assume that all that glitters in the spiritual realm is gold.