The Men's Bible Conference at Pyongyang began on the 2nd and finished on the 15th of January, 1907. Other than the evening meetings, they decided to hold noon prayer meetings daily during the period. Although more than 1,500 men gathered in the conference, nothing unusual happened first.
On the 9th of January, when elder Kil preached the sermon titled, 'Open your heart and receive the Holy Spirit,' the congregation was so impressed by his message that they began to pray very loudly. On 12th, Rev. Blair preached on 1 Corinthians 12:27: 'Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it,' endeavoring to show that discord in the Church was like sickness in the body -- 'and if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it' (1 Corinthians 12:26) -- and striving to show how hate in a brother's heart injured not only the whole church but brought pain to Christ, the Church's Head.
After the sermon, many testified to a new realization of what sin was. A number with sorrow confessed lack of love for others, especially for the Japanese. An elder stood up and confessed his sin that hated a missionary, and the missionary also made peace with him. Thus the wall and confliction between Korean believers and missionaries was tumbled down.
On the evening meeting of the 14th, after Mr. Hunt's sermon Graham Lee took charge of the meeting and called for prayers. So many began praying that Mr. Lee said, "If you want to pray like that, all pray." And immediately the room full of men was filled with voices lifted to God in prayer.
As prayer continued, a spirit of heaviness and sorrow for sin came down upon the audience. Over on one side, someone began to weep, and in a moment the whole audience was weeping. Man after man would rise, confess his sins, break down and weep, and then throw himself to the floor and beat the floor with his fists in perfect agony of conviction. The prayer went on until two o'clock a.m. the next morning.
The conference ended with the meeting of Tuesday night. The conference was really a great awakening movement that heralded the spiritual rebirth of the Korean Church. As soon as the conference ended, the good news of the cross and grace began to spread all over the country. Many churches in various districts earnestly yearned for revival, and missionaries and church leaders went around the country and carried out the powerful ministry of Holy Spirit. For instance, S. F. Moore, a Northern Presbyterian missionary, reported the revival at the Bible conference of JeingDong Methodist Church in January, 1906 as below:
"The presence of the Spirit of God was manifest in the hearty confessions of sin, the preacher being stopped one evening by a woman rising and saying that in listening to the Word she saw her sins as she had not before, and there were also many testimonies to a quickened spiritual life. In response to the invitation men and women arose night after night to express their desire to follow Christ. A few times the inquiry room was quite full." (S. F. Moore, "The Revival in Seoul", KMF, 2-6 (1906.4), p. 116).
It was true that only after the Great Revival the Korean Church was for the first time equipped with spiritual power. It was important that the Revival did not only make the Korean Church grow rapidly but also that it would bring nationwide moral awakening and social reform. The results of Pyongyang Great Revival in 1907 can be estimated as below:
(1) The Great Revival gave the Korean Church the joyous forgiveness of sins and the assurance of salvation, and after was connected with the evangelism campaign that delivered the gospel of salvation. In 1907, when the Pyongyang Great Revival took place, the Presbyterian Church gained 16,000, and the Methodist Church 10,000 new believers.
(2) The evangelical faith took root in Korean Christianity. Since then, Korean Church has grown on the foundation of evangelical experiences; the righteousness and love of God, the confession and forgiveness of sins, the faith in the redemption of Christ, the assurance of the presence of Holy Spirit, the experience of answered prayer, the coming judgement, and hope for the next world, etc.
(3) Since the Revival, the Church has earnestly advanced Bible study and prayer life. When people were regenerated by the grace of Christ, the Church invited them to the Bible class or prayer group so they could be nurtured and strengthened by God's Word and prayer.
(4) The Revival made a great contribution to the moral improvement of Korean people. By the effect of the Revival, the believers could confess their inner hidden sins and have purity in faith. Though the missionaries had stressed the purity of heart from the first time, many church members were not aware of it. Since the Revival touched the moral weakness of the early Korean Church, it has laid the groundwork for the piety of the Church.
(5) The character of Korean Church as the racial church was weakened by the expression of depoliticalization between the church and the state. The type of Korean Church could be characterized as a 'revivalist passion' with this revival meeting as the dynamic power, and rooted in belief based on the eschatological otherworldliness. And, in the revival meetings, they laid stress on the spiritual repentance and the community life which based on forgiveness, love and reconciliation.
(6) A deeper and mutual understanding between Korean believers and missionaries was developed. It was difficult to understand their different traditions and thoughts each other, now they all came to a realization that they were all redeemed brothers and sisters in Christ -- a realization became the band of love that bound together.
Rev. Dr. Bonjour Bay (BonChul Bae) has been a professor of Historical Theology at SungKyul University, Korea since 1989. He also serves as Researcher on Spiritual Movement and as English Ministry Director. He studied at Canadian Thelogical Seminary (M. Div.) and Seoul Theological University (Th. M., Ph. D.). He wrote more than 20 books on Church History and on Pneumatology including History of Pneumatological Perspective.
