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Revival Phenomena

Revival Phenomena
By Colin Dye
Sovereign World Limited. 92 pages.
ISBN 1 85240 187 7

Colin Dye writes to inject a commitment to Scripture and to balance into the heated debate about the strange phenomena associated with current movements such as the Toronto Blessing.
He counsels us to test all things. Effects may not demonstrate spiritual depth and may lead to elitism. He warns that fleshly manifestations - which he clams are more common than outright counterfeit phenomena - may promote hype, exaggeration or exhibitionism. He admits that physical effects can be manufactured.
His overwhelmingly positive response, however, is reflected throughout the book. He warns critics about quenching the Spirit by failing to seek God in what is happening. He seeks to authenticate current manifestations by reference to both church history and Scripture. Unfortunately, his brief historical survey lumps monks and Quakers, Pentecostals, Reformers and Jesuits together - irrespective of their relationship to the redeeming grace of God. In an attempt to promote unity, he risks laying at the Spirit's feet all that is bizarre in church history. (The book contains no footnotes or bibliography.)
He goes on to search the Scriptures for examples of some of the current phenomena - excluding any mention of animal noises and actions. He rightly points out that a proof-text approach cannot be used here, that the Scriptures lay small emphasis on phenomena (much more on what God is doing) and that many phenomena are so strange, their real origin cannot be ascertained. He concludes that we cannot say that they must be present, but we can say that they may be present.
Dye fails to convince because he fails to address the dissonance that exists between Scriptural history and current practice. The sporadic and unexpected occurrence of unusual phenomena in the Scriptures, often when an individual meets God, contrasts sharply with highly charged modern 'renewal' movements and ministries where large congregations are repeatedly exposed to programmed expectation, suggestion, repetition and conscious or unconscious manipulation. While critics of the movement are accused of 'putting God in a box', I cannot imagine a more effective way of doing just that.

Eric Wright
Garden Hill, Ontario