Faith and the Crisis of a Nation: Wales 1890-1914

by R. Tudur Jones, Robert Pope (Editor), Sylvia Prys Jones (Translator)

The nature of spirituality and religion in Wales during the period prior to and immediately after the Welsh Revival of 1904-05 is analyzed in this work. The state of the churches, the art of preaching, theological developments, and the events of the Revival are examined with astute commentary, offering a glimpse of denominational activity at the time and the changes this brought to the nation. Arguing that many of the social, cultural, and religious issues that would be important in the late 20th century in Wales existed a century earlier, this text provides insight into the problems and issues of contemporary Wales.

535 pages, Hardcover

First published July 29, 2004

Reviews

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a major study of Welsh religion, culture, and national life between 1890 and 1914. Not just a meticulous history, it argues that Wales was going through a deep crisis of faith as well as a cultural and national crisis. The author is interested in how Christianity, Welsh identity, language, education, and social change were tightly bound together, so the book helps explain why changes in religion, exempified in the 1904 revival and thereafter, had such wide consequences. The book looks at how the revival did not just arrive from nothing but reflected changes and expectations that were already emergent.

Not only is this one of the best treatments of the period in Wales out there, it also makes for a very useful understanding of the context in which Pentecostalism emerged. News of the 1904 revival spread around the world and itself formed the context for the Pentecostal revival in America.

The work shows a society already marked by anxiety about decline, worldliness, entertainment, and the weakening of older devotional habits. At the same time, it shows that many Welsh Christians were already longing for spiritual renewal and a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit, and in describing the revival itself, we can understand Evan Roberts' particular and sometimes controversial contribution within a wider expectation. The book does not describe Pentecostalism directly, but it provides some of the best background for understanding the religious mood that made it possible.

Welsh revival religion was already showing several later Pentecostal features before Azusa Street: intense expectation of the Spirit, prayer for outpouring, bodily manifestations, visions, trances, healing claims, and speaking in tongues.

The author argues that Welsh Nonconformity had a “pentecostal” strand long before 1904, and he traces it through repeated revivals, revival prayer movements, and a theology that expected direct anointing by the Holy Spirit. He says the 1904–5 Revival made that expectation “an experiential reality,” which suggests continuity rather than sudden novelty. The role of the Welsh Revival and Welsh context in the beginning of pentecostalism has not been ignored, but the Pentecostal orthodoxy nevertheless misses this aspect of continuity, and more could be made of that. A point also made by William Kay in his "Pentecostalism: A Very Short Introduction".

Although that's a lot on one aspect of this book, it is worth noting the book is wider and deeper than this. It is an essential part of the historiography of Wales, 1890-1914, and essential for understanding the historical context of the period.

[Jonathan Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a masterful and meticulous look at Christianity in Wales between 1890-1914. With incredible knowledge and understanding, this is an eye opening insight into the culture and church of Wales during these years, and gives a helpful account of the beginning of the decline of the faith in Wales. In particular, his investigation of the 1904/5 revival is very balanced and fair.
A long book (originally 2 books in Welsh I think).... but essential reading if you want to understand faith in Wales.