Joseph Castleberry
Description
In the Sixth Great Awakening and the Coming Renewal of the American Church, Joseph Castleberry employs Strauss-Howe Generational Theory to predict the
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resolution of the present period of crisis in America sometime in the next few years, followed by a period of remarkable national success for about twenty years, with a great awakening dawning sometime in the decade of the 2040s.
Those familiar with American church history may have heard of two “great awakenings,” although historians argue whether there have been one or two such periods without a clear definition of what would constitute such a phenomenon. The late William Strauss and Neil Howe have defined an “awakening” in such a way as to refer to five twenty-year periods in American history to date, including The Puritan Awakening (1620-1624), the “First Great Awakening (1724-1746), the Second Great Awakening in the 1800s, the Missionary Awakening (1886-1908), and the Consciousness Revolution (1964-1984). Along the same lines, Castleberry predicts that the Sixth Great Awakening will emerge in the 2040s, but he also points out the twenty years in advance of the awakening should bring significant revivals in churches and in Christianity in general.
The best predictor of the Church’s experience over the next twenty-five years may be the period before the outbreak of the Jesus Movement, which began around 1968. The most recent pre-awakening years (1948-1968) featured the rise of the sensational evangelist Billy Graham and the beginning of large evangelistic campaigns in stadiums around the world, the emergence of Oral Roberts and the Divine Healing revivals of the 1950s, the birth of televangelism, the golden age of Mainline Protestantism and the anti-Communist support of Dwight D. Eisenhower, record percentages of church membership and weekly church attendance, the beginnings of the Charismatic Movement, and significant growth of Christian parachurch organizations. Castleberry predicts a similar resurgence of Christianity in the next twenty years, preparing the Church to reap the coming harvest when the next societal awakening begins.
Castleberry makes a clear distinction between revivals—which are sovereign actions of God in response to the prayers of God’s people and can happen at any time—and awakenings, which are social movements that arise as part of regular cycles in history after a long period of prosperity which convinces a new generation that money cannot fulfill them and results in spiritual searching. When awakening and revival coincide, churches explode in new conversions and growth. So far in American history, the Church has always taken full advantage of every societal awakening and has experienced growth and renewal. But Castleberry warns that awakenings do not necessarily benefit any particular religion, as “a rising spiritual tide lifts all boats.” Indeed, history shows that spiritual awakenings can result in a rejection of a weakened Christianity in favor of new religions or secular spiritualities. If the Church does not prepare for the coming awakening, it will squander the greatest spiritual opportunity in history. But Castleberry sees positive currents starting to form, beginning the book with the story of increasing faith among many American public intellectuals and artists and observing that popular movements tend to form about twenty years after intellectuals and artists begin to sense the zeitgeist.
What should today's Church do to prepare for the Sixth Great Awakening? Castleberry offers a detailed description of Biblical revival, discusses the characteristics of the generations that will lead the next great awakening, including the coming, yet-unborn generation that will spark it. He places special emphasis on reviving churches and preparing Gen Z to pastor the next Great Awakening, just as leaders like Chuck Smith of Calvary Chapel accepted and led the Jesus People in the 1970s and 1980s.
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