Douglas Wilson’s Easy Chairs, Hard Words: Conversations on the Liberty of God consists of a series of fictitious conversations that are all too real between a pastor Martin Spenser and an inquiring Christian. Here is a ripe bit on real vs. faux revival.

“In a true revival, doctrine is the emphasis, and the doctrine is God-centered. In revivalism, because man is the center, feelings are emphasized. In revival, truth overwhelms the mind, resulting in an emtoinal response–inexpressible joy. In revivalism, the emotions are excited directly, and any number of teachings, true or false, can do that.“

“What about morality?”

“In a true revival, the change in the moral behavior of those blessed is significant and lasting. With revivalism, very little is done to teach the people to restrain their passions. In fact, because the ‘revival’ encourages a lack of restraint in the church, it is not long before  a lack of restraint is evident elsewhere, usually in the area of sexual morality.”

“Are you saying that in order to have a true revival, a belief in God’s exhaustive sovereignty is necessary”?

“Yes.”