Many question whether the following come from the Holy Spirit? Evil spirits? Or mass hysteria? Is it biblical or not? A cult or not?
The place? The Red River is near the Tennessee and Kentucky border. The time is 1799. The Pastor? Reverend James McGready of North Carolina. Others present were Mr. Rankin, Mr. Hodge, and William McGee, Presbyterian preachers, and John McGee, brother of William McGee, a Methodist preacher.
It was a marathon service lasting four days. Nothing unusual occurred until the final day when Mr. Hodge was preaching. Suddenly, a woman began to vent her emotions with ear-splitting cries and shouts. When the service ended, instead of the congregation dispersing, they remained.
But a strange thing happened: many in attendance began to weep silently. Mr. McGee did not understand what was happening; he left his seat and sat on the floor. He started to tremble, claiming to feel the power of God on him. Suddenly, he felt an irresistible urge to preach, and the people seemed eager to hear him. As he spoke, the same woman shouted and would not be silent.
McGee expressed his belief that there was a greater than he was preaching and urged the people to let the Lord God’s Omnipotent reign in their hearts. They were to submit to God so their soul could live. Many became vocal as renewed outcries from the same woman grew in intensity.
The preacher’s emotions had been worked up to their highest level. After reflecting for a few moments, he concluded that he would disregard the standard orderly procedures of the church. He then passed along the aisles, shouting and encouraging vehemently.
The noise and confusion increased, and hysteria grew to new heights. Screams for mercy were mingled with shouts of ecstasy as agitation overspread the multitude. This religious fervor soon spread along the Green and the Cumberland rivers.
Men brought their beds and provisions, traveling fifty miles to hear him preach. The idea was new. Hundreds of others adopted it as new camp meetings sprung up. The first regular general camp meeting was at the Gasper River Church in July 1800, but the rage spread, and a dozen encampments quickly followed. The meetings were held in the woods near churches, and the churches furnished lodging places for the preachers.
As the meetings progressed and the excitement grew more intense, those present rushed from preacher to preacher, singing, shouting, laughing, calling upon men to repent. Men and women fell to the ground, unable to help themselves. So many lay on the ground that the others couldn’t move around.
During the evening, the excitement became so intense that those who fell had to be helped up, carried to the meeting house, and laid on the floor so no one would trample them. Those who fell were called the “spiritually slain;” others lay quiet, unable to move or speak. And yet others would scream as though in great pain, floundering about as if having no control of their bodies.
Red River revival begins to spread. Time, 1807. Place? Logan Co., Kentucky.
Here was a place where human imaginations ran wild. It was a turbulent evening, fanatical, to say the least. As campfires blazed, those who had assembled bowed their heads. Hundreds of candles, lamps, and torches blazed, throwing both shadow and light into the woods, giving the woods an eerie appearance.
The chanting of hymns, passionate exhortations, prayers, sobs, shrieks, and shouts were heard from those under intense agitation throughout the evening.
Sudden spasms came upon many, and unexpectedly, they would thrust themselves to the ground. Feelings among them had worked itself up to the highest pitch of excitement until the early morning hours.
Many hours had passed, and the enthusiasm of those present began to cause strange contortions among the people, coming from what they claimed to be a so-called mysterious agency. From the preachers came an emotional, cheerful, optimistic excitement; and lastly, the zeal of the Methodists, who could not refrain from shouting aloud during the sermon and shaking hands with those close by.
Reverend James Crawford claimed those who fell to the ground numbered an astounding three thousand. This revival was afterward called the New Lights. Following this Great American Awakening, the Quakers, who were united, split into four distinctive groups. To the left of the New Lights, 321 separate groups formed, and many remained divided.
Again, division is the calling card of these forms of activities. Splits among the rank and file, each having pretentious leaders who break away from the historical teaching and biblically instructed forms of worship.
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