“And what was the final result?  Arminianism led the way to Socinianism, and near the beginning of the present century there was but a single orthodox Congregational church in Boston.  Harvard University had lapsed into heresy, and about a third of the churches of the Puritans denied the faith held by their fathers.”  And all this he traces back to that “great awakening.”  He further says:  “A work so great and extensive was accompanied by incidents which made many good men doubtful as to its effects on the Church.  Special seasons of religious interest are seasons of danger and temptation even under the guidance of the most enlightened and prudent....  Good men differ much in their estimate of the awakening, and the fruits of the work in many places afforded reason of much apprehension....  In its earlier stages the revival was unquestionably the occasion of the conversion of many souls.  It was like one of those mighty rains of summer which refresh many a plant and tree, but which are accompanied, in many places, with hail and storm and overflowing desolation, and which are followed by a long, dreary drought.  The Presbyterian Church welcomes fair revivals, sent by the Holy Spirit, but is averse to man-made schemes for getting up temporary excitements which have been so prevalent in our day.”

During the years between 1830-1850, another revival agitation swept over the American Church.  It was during this time, especially, that our English Lutheran churches caught the contagion, introduced the “new measures,” such as the “mourner’s bench,” protracted meetings, the admission of members without catechetical instruction, and many other novelties.  In not a few places, so-called Lutherans vied with the most fanatical sects in their wild extravagances.  Those who adhered to the time-honored method and spirit of conservative Lutheranism, who preached the Word in all its simplicity, catechised the young, taught that the Spirit and Grace of God can only be expected to operate through Christ’s own means, through Word and Sacrament, were denounced as formalists, who knew nothing of vital piety.  Among the leading advocates of the new way was the Rev. Reuben Weiser.  This now departed brother, with many other serious and thoughtful men, afterwards saw the error of his ways, and frankly and publicly confessed his change of conviction in the Lutheran Observer.  He says: 

“In 1842 Dr. J.W.  Nevin, of the German Reformed Church, published a pamphlet called ‘The Anxious Bench.’  It was, for that time, a bold and vigorous arraignment of the whole modern revival system.  He warned the German churches against this style of religion, but his warning was not much heeded at the time.  I felt it my duty to reply to Dr. Nevin in a pamphlet called “The Mourners’ Bench.”  At that time I was in the midst of the most extensive revival of my whole ministry.  I was honest and sincere in my views, for I had not seen many of the evils that were almost