Evan Roberts
Evan John Roberts (born June 8, 1878 in Loughor , † September 29, 1951 in Cardiff ) was a leading exponent of the revival movement in Wales .
Life
youth
Evan Roberts was the youngest son of Henry and Hannah Roberts from Loughor , Wales . Together with three other sisters he was brought up Calvinist - Methodist . He was a very serious child and attended church events regularly and frequently. Early on he was eager for a revival . Between the ages of 11 and 23, he worked with his father in a coal mine. Then he became a blacksmith.
Effective time
In 1904 Roberts began a theological training in Newcastle Emlyn . An evangelism by Seth Joshua in Blaenanerch, Cardigan resulted in an experience that established Roberts' belief in " Spiritual Baptism ." The movement was influenced by the Keswick movement . Roberts himself was a Calvinist Methodist.
In October 1904 he began speaking in a series of small events. These appearances led to his participation in the revival movement. His audience quickly grew into the thousands. In just two weeks, the revival attracted a lot of attention and became newspaper news. Then Evan Roberts and his brother Dan went on tour with their best friend Sidney Evans. They organized evangelism evenings in a wide area.
His preaching consisted of four main points:
- Confess all known sins, experience forgiveness through Jesus Christ.
- Remove everything from your life that makes you unsure or appears dubious.
- Be ready to obey the Holy Ghost immediately.
- Publicly confess the Lord Jesus Christ.
collapse
Together with the New Quay Girls , a choir of young girls, he traveled through Wales and hardly allowed himself any sleep and relaxation. He lived from hand to mouth. At the same time there were various revival events being held in various locations led by WW Lewis, WS Jones, Joseph Jenkins, Reader Harris, RB Jones (Baptist), Jessie Penn-Lewis , Seth Joshua, Keri Evans, and others. Evan Roberts was notable for the fact that he occasionally displayed almost clairvoyant skills. He did not always speak himself in the meetings. His presence was often enough, especially since the revival developed as a prayer movement in which all participants were involved in prayer. Even so, Robert couldn't keep up his grueling schedule for long. In addition, his relationship with the choir girls was questioned.
As early as 1906, Roberts suffered a physical and emotional collapse. Jessie Penn-Lewis was closely associated with Evan Roberts, and there has been some controversy over her influence on him. After the collapse of Roberts, the revival movement also lost momentum. Roberts had been in contact with Penn-Lewis for years, but never fully recovered from the collapse. Finally, Penn-Lewis explained some of the revival phenomena in Wales as the work of Satan. She put her controversial views in her book on spiritual warfare, war with the saints (Engl. War on the Saints ). In this book, she describes her view on the influence of demons on Christians. Penn-Lewis' fame was mainly based on her theses on the subject. Watchman Nee was influenced by this book.
After his collapse, Roberts clearly suffered from depression, even if he held onto his beliefs. He found consolation in writing poetry and found a new role in prayer as a ministry.
Further life
Although he spoke Gaelic, Roberts was recovering in England. After 1921 he lived in Brighton for some time and became critical of spiritual influences. In 1928 he returned to Loughor for his father's funeral. When he spoke only a few sentences there, a "mini-awakening" occurred. He spent his final years in Cardiff, where he remained in secret. Interest in his personality was only awakened again at the 100th anniversary.
Age
Evan Roberts died in 1951 at the age of 73. He is buried in the family grave at Moriah Chapel in Loughor , South Wales. A column there commemorates his contribution to the revival movement.
Quotes
His death notice on The Western Mail summed up his life as follows:
- “He was a man who had experienced strange things. In his youth, he had seemed to hold the nation in the palms of his hands. He endured strains and underwent great changes of opinion and outlook, but his religious convictions remained firm to the end. "
- (German: He was a man who had experienced strange things. In his youth it seemed as if he held the nation in his hand. He went through hardships and major changes of opinion and perspective. But his religious beliefs remained firm to the end .)
Works
- Why Should God's Children Pray? Gfn Sigrid Kanitz, Überwinder-Verlag, Rotenburg / Fulda around 1924.
- (Staff :) Jessie Penn-Lewis: War on The Saints , Diggory Press, ISBN 1-905363-01-X ( Eng . "War ... the Saints": Rev. 13.7. A reference book on the work of fraudulent Spirits among God's people and on the way to liberation. Translated from the 3rd English edition by Gfn Sigrid Kanitz. Überwinder-Verlag, Rotenburg / Fulda 1924)
musical
The story of Evan Roberts and his role in the revival movement was processed by Mal Pope in a musical called Amazing Grace in 2005 .
literature
- James A. Stewart: Invasion of Wales by the Spirit through Evan Roberts . Revival Literature, 1963.
- James Edwin Orr : The Flaming Tongue : The Impact of Early 20th Century Revivals. 2nd edition, Moody Press, 1975, ISBN 0802428029 .
- Brynmor P. Jones: Instrument of Revival , Logos, 1995.
- Roberts Liardon: God's Generals . Whitaker House, 1996.
- Holding Forth the Word of Life , Heath Church, 2000.
- National Library of Wales, Sir John Herbert Lewis Papers
- Joel Bettler: Evan Roberts' Contribution to the Making of the Revival in Wales. Thesis Missiology, South African Theological Seminary 2015
- Oliver Lutz: The Welsh awakening and its impact on German-speaking Switzerland (1904/05). Master of Theology in Missiology at the University of South Africa, 2018.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Evan Roberts ( Memento of the original from December 26, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . 100 Welsh Heroes. Accessed March 24, 2013.
- ↑ James Edwin Orr: The Flaming Tongue . 1975, p. 4
- ↑ Evan Roberts . Welsh Revival (September 29, 1904). Accessed March 24, 2013.
- ↑ James Edwin Orr: The Flaming Tongue . 1975, p. 10
- ↑ James Edwin Orr: The Flaming Tongue . 1975, p. 14, p. 21
- ↑ James Edwin Orr: The Flaming Tongue . 1975, p. 22
- ↑ James Edwin Orr: The Flaming Tongue . 1975, p. 23
- ↑ 'Amazing Grace' returns to Swansea for November 2011 . Malpope.com. Accessed March 24, 2013.
- ↑ http://www.istl.ch/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Der_Beitrag_von_Evan_Roberts_zur_Erweckung_in_Wales_Joel_Bettler_MIS_Paper.pdf
- ↑ http://hdl.handle.net/10500/25212
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Roberts, Evan |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Roberts, Evan John (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | British (Welsh) evangelist and revival preacher |
| DATE OF BIRTH | June 8, 1878 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Loughor |
| DATE OF DEATH | September 29, 1951 |
| Place of death | Cardiff |