South Africa's Forgotten Revival: The Story of the Cape's Great Awakening in 1860

By Olea Nel

Learn how this amazing revival not only launched women's education and mission stations throughout Africa, but also empowered Andrew Murray to achieve a notable victory over liberalism.

 

This was indeed a powerful revival from which we can learn much—not only from the wonderful fruit it bore, but also from the mistakes made and the resolute stance of its leaders against the backlash from the enemy. The story is told through the lives of three pastors: Andrew Murray—the powerful preacher and key leader; Nicolaas Hofmeyr—the promoter of local missions; and Gottlieb van der Lingen—the guardian of Dutch orthodoxy.

 

As the story unfolds you will learn:

• About the crisis in the Dutch Reformed Church prior to revival when semi-literate stock farmers believed that God had called them to subdue the African tribes, not evangelize them.
• How virtually overnight the revival demolished this erroneous outlook so that awakened Christians became people of prayer and mission enthusiasts.
• How Andrew Murray established the Huguenot Teachers Seminary for women and the Missions Institute for men.
•  How he defended the Synod against the onslaught of liberalism through legal battles in the Cape Supreme Court and Privy Council in London.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Clairvaux House
• Release date: Mar 5, 2021
• ISBN: 9780987642776

Book preview

South Africa’s Forgotten Revival

The Story of the Cape’s Great Awakening

in 1860

by

Olea Nel

© 2021 by Olea Nel

Clairvaux House

Batemans Bay

Australia

Unless otherwise indicated, Bible quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version.

Copyright © 1973,1978 by the International Bible Society.

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All rights reserved solely by the author.  No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the author.

Revised edition

ISBN: 978-0-9876427-7-6 (e-book)

ISBN: 978-0-9876427-8-3 (paperback)

Contents

Author’s Note

Commendations

Maps

Preface

Introduction

Part 1: The setting

A colony run by a company

Andrew Murray—key revival leader

Nicolaas Hofmeyr—a promoter of missions

Gottlieb van der Lingen—the guardian of Dutch orthodoxy

God prepares the ground

Part 2: Revival

A call to prayer

Worcester Conference

Distinguishing characteristics

Montagu

Worcester

Calvinia and other towns

Paarl

Revival spreads throughout the Cape

Fruits and outcomes

Part 3: The Aftermath

The boycott of Sunday trains

Division within the Paarl congregation

The battle against liberalism

Pioneers of a new era

Epilogue

Notes

Bibliography

Other books by Olea Nel

About the author

Author’s Note

The story behind the list of commendations

In 2008, an international Christian publisher indicated that they were keen to publish this work, but could not find a single church historian in their stable of authors who had heard about the Cape revival of 1860/61. So because of this lack of knowledge, the publication of my book was rejected. As I feared that the same thing would happen with other international publishers, I felt that I had no other option at the time but to publish my book through Xulon in the US.

Being achingly aware that I needed to find pastors and theologians in South Africa who could endorse my research for my planned South African edition that would be published in time for the 150th anniversary of this revival, I hastily reached out to a number of prominent pastors and theologians to ratify my research. This, then, is the list of ten church leaders from South Africa, plus one from Scotland, who were kind enough to read this book and provide their respective commendations.

Although I recount this story through the lives of three key leaders, it was really Andrew Murray who did the most to inspire awakened members of the Dutch Reformed Church to heed their biblical calling to bear much fruit. They certainly rose to the challenge by spreading the Gospel from the Cape to the Sudan via a concerted missionary endeavor.

Meanwhile, within South Africa, Andrew Murray launched women’s education by building the Huguenot Teachers Seminary in Wellington. Needless to say, the training of women did much to address the shortage of teachers in farm and church schools throughout the country. As he was also six-time moderator of the Dutch Reformed Church, he has also been credited for halting the spread of liberal theology during his lifetime.

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Commendations

Dr. Robert Vosloo, Senior lecturer in Systematic Theology and Church History, Faculty of Theology, Stellenbosch University.

I enjoyed reading this book. It is well-written and keeps the reader's interest throughout. In my view, it will appeal to a wide audience, especially those interested in revivals, prayer and missions. While the book is written in a popular style, it gives evidence of good research and a responsible engagement with the sources. I found the book very interesting and learnt a lot from Olea Nel’s research. I am sure that others will have a similar experience.

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Dr. Isak Burger, President of the Apostolic Faith Mission, South Africa

While reading this highly informative and spiritually uplifting book, I’ve come to wonder why such an important and momentous happening in the history of a large church and even a country did not receive more attention before. Indeed, there were some smaller publications in the distant past, but nothing that did justice to a revival that shaped and influenced the history of a church and country.

Being a church historian myself and a South African by birth, I can testify to the fact that the 1860 revival in South Africa left a positive heritage—the fruit of which is obvious even to this day.

My sincere thanks and appreciation go to the author for an honest, well-researched, and objective witness to the 1860s revival in the Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa, including her depiction of the key-players involved. In proportion, this revival is no less impressive and important than the Second Evangelical Awakening in America and England.

This book is long overdue and deserves to be taken notice of not only by South Africans but by everyone with an interest in revivals in the church.

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Dr. Michael Cassidy, founder of African Enterprise International. Chairperson of African Enterprise Leadership Training Centre (AELTC)

It is my privilege to commend Olea Nel’s volume South Africa’s Forgotten Revival: The Story of the Cape’s Great Awakening in 1860. This well researched volume not only brings a historical message of interest for both academics and the ordinary person in the pew, but also bears within its pages a very strong message of spiritual challenge relating to what God can do when His Spirit is allowed to move freely in reviving power amongst His people.

It is a good time for this little volume to see the light of day in South Africa as there has probably never been such a great need as there is right now for this country to know the kind of revival which came to the Cape in 1860, as well as to England with the Wesleyan Revival of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The fact is that it is only out of such revivals that real national reformation can come, the latter being the fruit, and the former the root. May God bring revival again to South Africa so that we may see the reformation we so seriously need.

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Dr. Peter Hammond, Director of Frontline Fellowship. Chairman of The Reformation Society, Cape Town. Contributing Editor of JOY! magazine. Editor of Christian Action Magazine.

Andrew Murray was one of the most important and blessed church leaders in South African history. A prolific writer, Andrew Murray’s books have continued to be in print for over a hundred years, translated into many languages, and beloved by millions of Christians worldwide.

Dr. Olea Nel has done the church a tremendous service by producing this vital book: South Africa’s Forgotten Revival: The Story of the Cape’s Great Awakening in 1860. We desperately need Revival today, and this dynamic book is both an inspiration and a practical help by exploring the people, the doctrines and the events that God used in such a powerful way back in the Cape of Good Hope in the 19th century. As we approach the 150th anniversary of this momentous Revival, this book will be a most inspiring and helpful study for churches, schools and families.

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Dr. Colin Peckham, former Principal of The Faith Mission Bible College, Edinburgh. International conference speaker.

Dr. Nel has done South Africa, and indeed the world, a great service in recording that which had simply slipped away into the vague and distant past. She has done a huge amount of research and unearthed valuable source material on this subject. It is fascinating to read this absorbing and challenging material set in the historical framework of that time. In these days of confusion on the subject of revival, she has recorded the essence of the coming of the Holy Spirit in power: When He is come, He will convict the world of sin...(John 16:8). The revelation of the presence and power of the Holy Spirit brings us to our knees. I thoroughly endorse this record and wish it a wide readership to stir our hearts to seek Him for His gracious outpouring everywhere.

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Dr. Hennie Smith, Editor of Die Boodskapper, official magazine of the Afrikaans Protestant Church.

About specific interpretations and emphases of the writer there can doubtless be a difference of opinion, but the portrayal of the main storyline is indeed an inspiration. Although Olea Nel has grounded this work in thorough research, the telling of it reads like a story—once begun, one can’t put it down. It tells how major obstacles to the furtherance of God’s Kingdom in Africa were dramatically overcome—not by human design or effort, but through the irresistible workings of the Lord himself.

The year 2010 will mark the 150th anniversary of this revival in South Africa. While revivals may differ in their manifestations and outcomes, the Lord, in a torrential blessing during the year 1860 and beyond, washed away the barriers to mission work, education and worshipping in the vernacular in order to open the door to the proclamation of His Kingdom in Africa. Undoubtedly, the fruits of this revival will serve as a source of inspiration for Christians world-wide. It will also give us hope that God is able to do the same for us in our present situation. And how necessary this is for an increasingly secularized world where personal effort only leads more deeply into despair.

If God doesn’t touch the heart and change it, all our efforts to try and alter people, structures, and customs for good will eventually flounder. By contrast, during a revival hearts are changed via a new-found relationship with the Lord. For this we can hope and wait, and for this we can pray.

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Dr. Christo Nel, former Dutch Reformed pastor with a teaching ministry to Afrikaans speakers both nationally and internationally.

This is an exceptional piece of historical research about an essential period in our God-history. I was fascinated anew by the storyline and the finely woven tapestry of historical events. May God use this book and its contents in this remarkable time we are living in, to help us remember what it is like when our Lord works sovereignly and uniquely.

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Dr. Bennie Mostert, Jericho Walls International

The research was very well done.  There was also much information that I was not aware of. Great work!'

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Maps

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Preface

God has always used his people to partner with Him in his work. So He expects us to understand the times and discover the direction in which He is moving. Perhaps He is inviting you to take a closer look at this wonderful phenomenon we call revival—just as He called me to do the same several years ago.

I was in the throes of doing some research at the National Library of South Africa, when I happened to unearth some snippets of information on this revival that so intrigued me that I decided to put aside what I was doing to uncover more material. My research revealed an aw-inspiring, Holy Spirit awakening that had transformed the Cape countryside and changed faulty attitudes virtually overnight. This book then is the outcome of my research. I have attempted to piece the data together in such a way that a discernable picture emerges that also tells a story.

But how does one assess the true impact of a revival, or an awakening, as it is also called? To put it more succinctly, what have those who have experienced the Holy Spirit’s closeness and power been able to achieve for the Lord through obeying His voice? While only our Father in Heaven can truly know that answer, there are surely visible markers, achievements, and spiritual fruit by which we as Christians are also able to judge.

From observation, the most popular books on revival include wonderful first-hand testimonies of unlikely people coming to the Lord. We love to read these stories because they warm our hearts and tickle our fancies. We nod in wonderment as the author describes how the whole of society was turned upside down. We let out a sigh and prayerfully wish that God would send a revival to do the same for us.

But what of the visible fruits that resulted from these transformed societies? Were they able, for instance, to withstand Satan’s inevitable back lash? Were mistakes made from which we can learn? Were leaders empowered to undertake God-given projects as normality returned?

One of the aims of this book is to answer most of these questions in a down-to-earth manner. You will discover that the information I’ve managed to assemble focusses more on the lead up to the revival and its aftermath than on heart-warming stories of transformation, although there are a few.

The truth of the matter is that very few first-hand testimonies exist. There are two reasons for this. The first is that the revival in the Cape Dutch Reformed Church was so widespread, having traversed the whole of the Cape like a wave from west to east, that those who had experienced the Holy Spirit’s transforming power had undoubtedly felt it to be the height of pride to proclaim what had happened to them when a multitude of others could tell of a similar experience.

The second reason is that the vast majority of Dutch Reformed members were semi-literate and could barely string together a correct sentence in High Dutch. This parlous situation had come about due the lack of Dutch teachers and schools. And if the truth be known, the vast majority spoke Cape Dutch (Afrikaans) which was frowned upon by both the English and Dutch elite.

This being so, the major focus of this book is therefore not on titillating stories, but on the years just prior to and after the revival, where what occurred is well documented and can be assessed from a human standpoint.

In my estimation, such an assessment would undoubtedly conclude that the Cape Revival of 1860/61 bore as many significant spiritual fruits—if not more—than some of the most famous revivals that have occurred over the centuries. The reason for asserting this is because it not only launched women’s education and the translation of the Bible into Afrikaans, but also inspired an amazing missionary endeavor that led to numerous mission stations being established throughout Africa, stretching from the Cape to the Southern Sudan.

Yes, mistakes were made, and you will read about them too. There was also a sustained backlash by Satan. But thankfully, Andrew Murray, the key leader God had chosen to guide the direction of this revival, was able to overcome the enemy by wielding the Sword of the Spirit—the Word of God. In the process, both he and others were able to sow spiritual seeds that would ultimately bear lasting fruit.

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I pray that as you reflect on the transforming power of the Holy Spirit and the lasting benefits that this awakening brought about, that your understanding of revival may be enhanced.

Olea Nel

Batemans Bay, Australia

2021

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Introduction

Before we begin our story, it is necessary to stop a moment to explain what revival is and what it is not. First and foremost, it is the spiritual awakening of church members. That is why the terms awakening (from awaken) and revival (from revive) are often used interchangeably. As the Church becomes renewed and revitalized, large numbers of unbelievers are converted and, as a result, society is transformed. Revival should therefore not be thought of as an abnormal manifestation of spiritual gifts, but rather a powerful manifestation of the normal work of the Holy Spirit which is to awaken, convict, convert and confirm.¹ Naturally, it may also be accompanied by gifts.

While the above definition is held by many evangelicals today, there is also another I would like you to consider. It has been posited by Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, one of the foremost preaches of the twentieth century. According to his view, the Church has lost its true understanding of revival as a sovereign outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Speaking around the time of the centenary of the Welsh Revival in 1959, he says: ‘During the last seventy to eighty years, this whole notion of a visitation, a baptism of God’s Spirit upon the Church has gone.’² For Lloyd-Jones this was such a tragedy, that one of his main goals as a preacher was to restore the historic meaning of the word revival.

A revival is a miracle . . . something that can only be explained as a direct intervention of God. . . . Men can produce evangelistic campaigns, but they cannot, and never have, produced a revival.³

At the Cape, Dutch Reformed Church members in the 1850s and 60s tended