The Christ the Center panel had the privilege of interviewing Rev. Dr. Robert Davis Smart, senior minister of Christ Church (PCA) in Normal, IL, and author of the recently released Jonathan Edwards’s Apologetic for the Great Awakening. This is an excellent study of Edwards’s moderate defense of the First Great Awakening over against the criticisms of the “Old Brick” and future quasi-Unitarian Charles Chauncy. Smart points out that the big question was: Was the awakening a work of the Holy Spirit? Dr. Smart also discusses the relevance of Edwards and revival for today.
I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naïve. (Romans 16:17-18)