What to Make of the Asbury Revival

Revivals used to divide American Protestants. From the First Great Awakening in the 18th century to the Billy Graham crusades in the 20th, some thought the unusual religious gatherings were the works of God, some insisted they were driven by emotional manipulation, and others saw in them mixtures of both. The recent episode at Asbury University—a Methodist institution in Wilmore, Ky., where students lingered in prayer for two weeks after a chapel service—has received only praise. Even Cardinal Timothy Dolan said he wished Roman Catholics approached Lent as zealously as Asbury’s students worshipped Jesus. This is a different phase of church history.

A seminary professor encouraged the Atlantic’s overwhelmingly liberal readers to take encouragement that students asked Tucker Carlson not to cover the revival. The reason? “Students have chosen hiddenness and simplicity, selfless hospitality, and a relentless hunger for Jesus.”