Never before in the past century has there been
such an actlvo interost in evangelism, not only in the
English speaking countries but on the Continent and in
some sections of the Per bast. Over ton of the leading
graduate schools of theology in the United States are
in the process of establishing or enlarging t sir
departments of evangelism. One item conspicuous by
Its absence is the lack of material in the field of
church history covering the subject of evangelism.
These schools are handicapped at the very outset by a
lack of research In this field.The following thesis is a study of the life and
work of the one man who, above all others, led the way
in establishing evangelism as a legitimate and necessary
means of propagating the Gospel in Scotland. This work
is neither an apology nor a vindication of this phase
of church history. It Is the product of research - diversified occurrences and facts - presented in narrative
form.The delineation of the material requires more than
a critical spirit; it is Imperative that one possess a
sympathetic understanding to see, in its proper perspective, the contribution of James Haldane to the improvement
of the religious life of Scotland. The subject was
marred by the defects caused by the talents of the
times. Ho was dubbed narrow, purist, fanatic. We,
however, would say after over a century has tried his
works that he was a man of strong conviction, a Christian idealist, a man upon whom the spiritual destitution
of the nation and the world lay heavy.His accomplished work was, and is his best vindication. He possessed no great outstanding talents or
any special privileges but he was a man who believed
that he had a. mission to fulfil in Scotland and a
message for its people. He had a passion for souls;
the sincerity of which can be measured by what he
suffered and what he sacrificed for the sake of proclaiming the GospelJames HaIdane was the father of modern evangelism
in Scotland and the greatest evangelist this country
has produced. His deep insight into the motives and
methods of evangelism placed him a century find a half
in advance of his times, The methods which he set
forth are more advanced and ore comprehensive In some
respects than any system of evangelism in use today.One evangelical denomination in the United States
has adopted three of his four basic principles which
brought a weekly influx of over five thousand new
converts for the past ten years and seven thousand
a week for the year 1954 bringing the year's total to
approximately four hundred thousand. The present
research in this phase of church history Is designed
to bring to light the amazing work of this outstanding
man for the ultimate purpose of improving methods in
use In modern day evangelism.The scarcity of original material makes his work
en excellent subject of research. This sparseness Is
attributed to the strength of the Moderate controlled
Established Church In an age when any kind of evangelism was considered intellectual imbecility, Even
such notable revivals as that under Stewart in the
perish of Moulin did not appear on the Kirk Session
Records.'No history of Christianity can ever do
justice to facts, which shell ignore or pass
lightly by the labours of the Haldane brothers
and their coadjutors in originating that spiritual revival which took place at the opening of
the nineteenth century.''The life work of the HaIdanes .... is
sufficient to commend their history to the study
of every Christian.
