Theology beacon dictionary of theology
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- For Further Reading: Pederson, Israel, 2:378-92; de Vaux, Ancient Israel, 1:160-64.
- For Further Reading: IDB, 4:71; Miley, Systematic Theology, 1:254; Vine, ED, 3:293; Wiley, CT, 3:38, 94.
- REVIVALISM, EVANGELISM.
- REVIVAL, EVANGELISM, MISSION (MISSIONS, MISSIOLOGY), SOUL WINNING, SOCIAL ETHICS. For Further Reading: Sweet, Revivalism in America; Townsend
- The Burning Heart; On, The Light of the Nations. TIMOTHY L. SMITH REWARDS.
- HDNT
- ISBE
- EXALTATION OF CHRIST, ASCENSION (THE), ADVOCATE, MEDIATION (MEDIATOR). For Further Reading: Vine, ED, 3:296.
- CITIZENSHIP, MONEY, STEWARDSHIP, PROPERTY RIGHTS, CIVIL RIGHTS.
REVENGE. This refers, in a technical sense, to a practice among Semitic people whereby a person avenges any hurt or breach of honor. In the case of murder, the next of kin must take vengeance. This was a basic part of the primitive form of justice practiced at a time when there was no recourse to public courts of law. The Hebrew word for revenge or vengeance is nagam, which represents an ethical demand and connotes justice. It refers to restoration, a balancing of honor, and is something "taken" by the offended party. It does REVERENCE—REVIVAL 457
not necessarily carry the derogatory overtones of our English term "revenge." Thus we must read of its OT occurrences in this context. An indication of the human nature of Israel's practice of vengeance is seen in its application to manslaughter. If a man unwittingly killed another, he could flee to one of the six cities of refuge designated for this purpose, where he would be safe from the avenging kinsman. Here he must remain until the death of the current high priest, at which time he could return to his home (Joshua 20). A further restraint placed upon the expression of revenge is set forth in the familiar words of the law of retaliation found in Lev. 24:19-20: "When a man causes a disfigurement in his neighbor, as he has done it shall be done to him, fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth; as he has disfigured a. man, he shall be disfigured" (rsv; see also Exod. 21:24 and Deut. 19:21). This restraint is unique in Israel, indicating that the punishment or revenge must fit the crime and stands in contrast to other ancient law statements outside Israel where revenge usually exceeded the crime. The NT standard of Christian love completely excludes the taking of personal revenge (Matt. 5:38-42; Rom. 12:19-21). See love. forgiveness, justice.
In the KJV the verb "reverence" occurs seven times in the OT and six times in the NT. In each instance it is a command or call to pay respect to or to venerate a person or an object, as in Lev. 19:30: "Ye shall keep my sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary: I am the Lord." Wiley defines the noun "reverence" as a "profound respect mingled with fear and affection," or "a strong sentiment of respect and esteem, sometimes with traces of fear" (CT, 3:38). Coleridge, the great poet and philosopher, defined it as a "synthesis of love and fear." Reverence therefore may be said to be fear tempered by love. Reverence extends to all things that are considered as divine; in the Judean and the Christian contexts, it relates primarily to God. It is also used in reference to the Word of God and His ordinances, name, day, house in which we worship, and people. In the NT it has reference to the names of God the Father, Christ the Son, and the Holy Spirit. In Eastern tradition, reverence was given to the aged, to superiors, and to parents. Reverence is conceived of as respect and deference due to the aged, especially to parents (Eph. 6:1; Heb. 12:9). Reverence for, and the worship of, Christ was the distinguishing peculiarity of the NT saints. His followers gave Him such worship as could not be given to any other being but God. Many texts show that He received such supreme worship as could not be given to any but God without idolatry. Jesus claimed it and received it, and God honored it and blessed those who rendered it (Luke 24:52; Acts 7:59; 1 Thess. 3:11-13). Christ is to be worshipped by every creature in the universe (Phil. 2:10). See worship, respect, fear, love. For Further Reading: IDB, 4:71; Miley, Systematic Theology, 1:254; Vine, ED, 3:293; Wiley, CT, 3:38, 94. Donald R. Peterman REVIVAL This may be defined as a religious awakening, prompted by the Holy Spirit, that (1) restores in the church a vivid awareness of God's holiness and love, and (2) revitalizes its comprehension of what love for and obedience to God actually mean. Through the Holy Spirit's activity the church in revival is brought to intense reflection on the central themes of its faith, to repentance and renewal, and to expanded realization of the dimensions of discipleship. Although the social, political, ecclesiastical, and individual factors that form the context in which revival occurs are important and cannot be ignored, they do not finally account for its occurrence. The factors that accompany revivals in the church are diverse and cannot be reduced to a formula. Additionally, since only the Holy Spirit adequately understands the church, the world, and the mind of the Father, no formula can ever circumscribe His activity. But this does not exclude the church's responsibility to seek and prepare for revival. Appropriate preparation for revival gives serious attention to prayer, is sensitive to the state of the church and the community at large, learns from the history of revivals, and seeks biblical guidance. Revivals normally result in renewed evangelism, a revitalized missionary impulse, and in expanded circulation of religious literature. They often result in the formation of educational institutions, and reform of existing social, political, and economic institutions. In sum, they open all aspects of life to the power and meaning of the gospel.
Among the great revivals in the Christian church may be listed the Cluniac Reform in the 10th century; the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century; the Pietist movement in the 17th and 18th centuries; the Evangelical Revival in the 18th century; and the First and Second Great Awakenings in 18th- and 19th-century America. See REVIVALISM, EVANGELISM. For Further Reading: Autrey, Revivals of the Old Testa-
Occasional religious awakenings, guided by human agents, took place during the long centuries following the establishment of the papacy and the Eastern patriarchate, especially in the conversion of the Slavs, in the founding of the Cistercian and Franciscan monastic orders, in the preaching that inspired the Crusades to wrest Jerusalem from the Turkish Empire, and in the popular preaching of Savonarola in Renaissance Florence. During the Reformation, the Anabaptists used both revivalism and evangelism in small groups to spread their intensely spiritual version of the gospel. The more radical preachers of the Puritan revolution in 17th-century England and the Quakers that emerged in succeeding decades, followed studied practices of preaching and witness intended to bring about large-scale awakenings. So did the Presbyterian ministers who accompanied the first Scottish settlers in northern Ireland. The origins of modern Protestant revivalism, however, lie more clearly in the evangelical awakening that George Whitefield and John and Charles Wesley led in England and America during the 18th century, and which Pietists meanwhile promoted in Germany and among the German-speaking settlers of America. The major elements of those revivals have remained central to this day: preaching which affirmed the work of the Holy Spirit in regeneration and sanctification, as at Pentecost; reliance upon the authority and inspiration of Scripture to communicate unerringly all the truth necessary for Christian faith and ethical conduct; and a call to fulfill the Great Commission of evangelizing all peoples. Modern missions and revivalism have, accordingly, gone hand in hand, from the times of the Wesleys and of William Carey and Adoniram Judson, right down to the present moment of mass awakenings in Korea, Indonesia, and central Africa, and the mixed African and Indian population of northeastern Brazil. During the 19 th century—the great century of Christian expansion—the theory and practice of revivalism was greatly enriched. In North America, Charles G. Finney and many Arminianized Presbyterians and Congregationalists joined Methodists and Baptists in measures that they believed were scriptural to promote revivals. Among these were camp meetings, which early in the century became as important to eastern and urban congregations in the United States as to the religious life of the midwestern frontier; interchurch concerts of prayer; protracted meetings; calling of repentant persons forward to a "mourner's bench" or the Communion rail, thereafter called the "altar"; encouraging exhortation by women; and, later, city-wide campaigns such as Dwight L. Moody made famous on both sides of the Atlantic. In the decades preceding the Civil War, Finney, the Methodists, and a growing number of Congregational, Baptist, and Presbyterian revivalists in both America and England made devotion to such social reforms as anti-slavery, temperance, and justice to the poor and oppressed to be indispensable marks of biblical conversion. A considerable reaction set in, however, when conservative Calvinists charged that reliance upon such allegedly human measures demeaned God's sovereign and electing grace. That resistance became especially strong in the American South before the Civil War, and among antimission Baptists in the Mississippi Valley. It fortified the growing opposition to efforts to eliminate social evils, especially slavery. And it generated a contrary theory of revivals that allowed only "spiritual" efforts, namely, prayer, the preaching of the Word, the administration of the sacraments, and the renewal of discipline within the believing community. These would prepare human hearts to receive the salvation that must come by divine initiative and election. The doctrine of the "spiritual" church, set out by James H. Thornwell and other Southern Presbyterians, maintained that whatever efforts revivals might have in eliminating social injustice or oppression were incidental to the purification of the church, and not properly the concern of the ministry. Little known until recently was the rebirth of
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revivalism among Roman Catholics in the 19th century, first in Germany and elsewhere on the Continent, then, through the work of the Re-demptorist Fathers and other immigrant priests, in the parish missions of Catholic congregations in America. Following closely prescribed formats, traveling evangelists preached with as much passion as possible the model sermons provided for them, and helped to win many of the wandering immigrants back to the church. The sermons moved step by step from warnings of future damnation to descriptions of the loving heart of the Crucified Lord and the Blessed Virgin. The aim was to bring people back to the confession and to regular participation in the Mass. Among Protestant evangelicals, preoccupation with the restoration of the power of primitive Christianity to convict and convert the masses and so to sanctify a culture increased steadily in both the Old World and the New, despite the arguments against preaching social reform. Mille-narian doctrines, stressing the imminence of the Second Coming and emphasizing the promise of an outpouring of the Spirit in the last days, won a following on three continents, especially in the Niagara Bible conferences that Plymouth Brethren sponsored. The use of Pentecostal language, passed down from John Fletcher, to describe and define the Wesleyan doctrine of entire sanctification as the "baptism of the Holy Ghost" spread widely during the last decades of the 19th century, especially in the Keswick conferences in England and the National Holiness Association in America. And, in the early years of the 20th century, the Pentecostal movement was born in what were at first tiny revivals where Christians believed they had received the baptism of the Holy Spirit attested by the experience of speaking in an "unknown" language. In the 20th century, therefore, revivalism has remained a dominant note in Protestant Christianity and a significant one in the Catholic religion as well. All the major evangelical movements, save the most conservative of the Calvinists, affirm a theory and practice of revivalism suited to their theological traditions and forms of ecclesiastical organization. All tend to support, most of them heartily, the continuing tradition of city-wide revival campaigns, represented by the names of Billy Sunday in the first part, and Billy Graham in the last part of the century. And all, however much they may reject the politics of social reform or the confrontation of particular social evils, affirm the power of religious awakenings to reorder a society's social and political priorities, renew devotion to the law of the Lord, and place a revitalized Christian faith at the center of cultural life. See REVIVAL, EVANGELISM, MISSION (MISSIONS, MISSIOLOGY), SOUL WINNING, SOCIAL ETHICS. For Further Reading: Sweet, Revivalism in America; Townsend, The Supernatural Factor in Revivals; Mal- lalieu, The Why, When, and How of Revivals; Finney, Revival Lectures; Wood, The Burning Heart; On, The Light of the Nations. TIMOTHY L. SMITH REWARDS. A reward is generally thought of as a boon, recognition, or prize given because of a specific achievement or good deed. It may also be a consequence, such as an inner feeling of well-being or an assurance of divine approval. The term usually denotes pleasing consequences, but may also be used as a synonym for punishment, as "the reward of unrighteousness" (2 Pet. 2:13; cf. Matt. 16:27; 2 Tim. 4:14; Rev. 18:6; 22:12). There can be no doubt that both Jesus and the apostles held out the prospect of rewards as an incentive to works of righteousness (Matt. 5:12; 6:4, 6, 18; 10:41-42; 1 Cor. 3:14; 1 Tim. 5:18; 2 John 8). This fact creates two theological problems. One is the question of motive. Moral philosophy says we are to do well not for the sake of reward but to please God, or at least simply because it is right. How can any concern whatsoever for rewards be reconciled with pure love, which sings, "I will serve Thee because I love Thee"? How can the promise of rewards escape the odium of bribery? This objection loses its weight when we remember that love itself desires appropriate response, and the Christian views rewards, not materialistically, certainly not as bribes, but as the self-giving of God himself in His own special forms of approval and blessing. What greater reward could a child of God have than to hear the Master say, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant: ... enter thou into the joy of thy lord" (Matt. 25:21)? In his struggle on earth he is sustained by the joy of receiving what God desires to give him. Many of these recompensing blessings he will enjoy now (cf. 6:6); others are incentives from the other side. The power of incentives cannot be scorned when God himself provides them; and perhaps in providing them, God displays a truer view of human nature and of virtue itself than the moral philosopher. The other theological problem suggested by the concept of rewards is the lurking implication of salvation by works. But nowhere is eternal life held out as a reward for good deeds; rewards are additional blessings promised to those whose 460 RICHES—RIGHT HAND salvation is by grace through faith. Paul affirms the principle: "Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt" (Rom. 4:4). The basis of reward is merit; the basis of salvation is entirely different—it is grace alone. Therefore, while "the wages of sin is death," eternal life is "the gift of God . .. through Jesus Christ our Lord" (6:23). Divine rewards in this life are analogous to reaping (Gal. 6:7-8). They are the blessings of consequences—a clear conscience, a sense of God's smile, a sense of achievement, souls won, prayers answered. As to the nature of rewards at the Judgment and in heaven we can only speculate. The distinct impression gathered from the Scripture is that sacrificial service in this life, beyond the call of duty, will have some bearing on the privileges and responsibilities bestowed upon us in the next. At any rate, the conclusion of Dawson Walker is appropriate: "The idea of reward accompanies, almost of necessity, belief in a personal God. Viewed as the apostolic writers were taught by our Lord to view it, it is the loftiest and most potent incentive to holiness of life" (HDNT). See sowing and reaping, work (works). For Further Reading: HDNT, 3:368; Smith, The Biblical Doctrine of Heaven, 171-89.
God is righteous, and thus possesses righteousness. He "is the fountain of justice so everything that He does may be relied upon as just" (Baker's DT, 461; cf. Gen. 18:25; Rom. 9:14). God is under obligation to do right, whether that means He saves or punishes (Isa. 42:6; 10:20-21). Since God is righteous, He will deal with man in accordance to His character. For that reason sin must be punished. However, God has provided a way by which man may be forgiven, declared righteous, and made right in God's eyes. This is the meaning and purpose of Christ's death for all men—the righteous One dying to make righteous the sinner. This must not be seen as a transfer on legal terms of God's righteousness to the sinner. The sinner is no longer reckoned a sinner because he has placed his faith in Christ, who is God's righteousness, and has accepted the obligation entailed in such faith to act righteously. His faith is counted for righteousness (Rom. 4:5-8), because it is a turning from self-righteousness (which is always an illusion) to Christ's death as the only adequate basis for pardon and source of moral power (Exploring Our Christian Faith, 290-92). Thus it can be said that a forgiven man is a righteous man in relation to God and His law, but this man "is under moral obligation to proceed from that point to be righteous in heart and life (cf. Rom. 6:12-16)." He has not been given a "non-forfeitable legal title of a standing of innocence on the basis of an objective transaction in his behalf, the benefits of which are imputed to him unconditionally" (GMS, 457). Man's righteousness, then, is his conforming through grace to the image of God in childlike innocence and simplicity. It is a positive inclination to goodness which is more than just outward, although inward righteousness manifests itself outwardly. See justification, imputed righteousness, holiness. For Further Reading: ISBE, 4:2591 -93; The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, 10:37-38; The New Westminster Dictionary of the Bible, 805. Leo G. Cox RIGHT HAND. This is one word in Greek, dexios. It means "right hand" or "right side." It indicates the place of honor. In the NT it is used for the exaltation of Jesus at the right hand of God. The "right hand" of the Father is more than the place of honor; it is delegated power and authority (Acts 2:33). Psalm 110 is probably the OT chapter most frequently quoted in the NT. The first verse reads (NIV): The LORD says to my Lord: "Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet." In the first line "LORD" represts the Hebrew Yahweh, while "Lord" represents adon. We interpret this as meaning here: "The Father said to the Son." Jesus quoted this passage and applied it to the Messiah, who was both David's Son and David's Lord (Matt. 22:44; Mark 12:36; Luke 20:42). On the Day of Pentecost Peter quoted it as proof that Jesus was the Messiah (Acts 2:34-36). The writer of Hebrews does the same (Heb. 1:13). Jesus also asserted His Messiahship before the Sanhedrin by saying: '"But from now on, the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the mighty
RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD—RIGHTS 461
God'" (Luke 22:69, niv). And that is where He is today (Eph. 1:20; Col. 3:1; 1 Pet. 3:22). See EXALTATION OF CHRIST, ASCENSION (THE), ADVOCATE, MEDIATION (MEDIATOR). For Further Reading: Vine, ED, 3:296. Ralph Earle RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD. See attributes, divine. RIGHTS. In and of itself, the word right refers to that which is correct, legal, and equitable. A derivative meaning is a right, i.e., a privilege which may properly be claimed. The question of "rights" thus becomes the question of personal privileges and legal claims The question covers civil rights, property rights, domestic rights, and other categories. Problems arise from three sources: (1) a failure to understand the philosophical basis for determining a right; (2) the apparent conflict of rights; and (3) the tendency of people to claim rights which do not exist. Problems arising from (2) and (3) can be more readily resolved if the basis for determining a right is clearly understood. The democratic principle is the assumption that rights are defined from below, by the people. The constitutional principle saves the democratic principle from anarchy by adopting a common law, in the form of a constitution and its expanding and supporting legislation, as the ground for determining individual rights—a constitution adopted by the people themselves. The statist principle assumes that rights are determined not from below but from above. This may be the monarchial form ("the divine right of kings"); the party form (communism); the dictatorship form (fascism); or the power form which supposes that the ability to enforce a claimed right validates the right itself (e.g., the neighborhood bully). It is easy for theorists to declare the prior claim of the utilitarian principle, viz., that personal rights are to be determined by the highest good and happiness of the largest number of people. But this is an abstract principle which always tends to get lost in the concrete systems of power actually operating. The basic selfishness of sinful man is such that in the practical situation special interest groups as well as individuals always tend to define rights in terms of what is in their favor. This keeps the whole question of rights ambiguous, and private notions of "my rights" almost invariably warped. The results are claims—often loud and vehement—to "rights" which are purely imaginary. The fault lies in failing to see that God is the Source of human rights, and that God's law is the sole basis for defining them. The fundamental rights presupposed by the American constitution, for example— the "unalienable Rights [to] Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness"— were ascribed in the Declaration of Independence directly to God the Creator. History shows that the rights themselves have tended to be lost when God has been forgotten as their Source and Basis. However, the Christian is bound to penetrate to the very core of the entire question by perceiving that only God's rights are absolute. All human rights are subordinate to His. More specifically, the central claim of fallen human nature—"my right to myself"—is itself the grand delusion. As Millard Reed says, the very essence of the carnal mind is the delusion of self-sovereignty. When one has enthroned himself as lord, he will be touchy about his rights and forever fighting for them. On the other hand, when once the Lordship of Christ is established, the question of personal rights falls back to proper size and perspective. From then on the question of rights is handled, not from the perspective of "my rights," but of their relationship to the advancement of the Kingdom. The apostle Paul is the perfect example of what the Christian attitude toward rights should be. He was inwardly free either to use his rights or to forego them. Luke records three times that he exercised his civil rights as a Roman citizen (Acts 16:37; 22:25-29; 25:10-11). But other rights he chose not to claim in order that he "might win the more" (1 Cor. 9:1-19, nasb). The Spirit-filled, self-crucified believer can more readily resolve the problems created by the seeming conflict of rights. Two principles will be operative here: Lesser rights will be set aside in order to realize higher rights; and personal rights will be secondary to the rights of others. At the same time the Spirit-filled Christian will more readily recognize phony "right" claims. He may at times refuse what another claims as a right because he sees it is a false claim, and harm rather than good would result from conceding it. The distorted, often upside-down perception of rights common in today's society is a serious sickness. An exaggerated emphasis on individual and minority rights has resulted in the crippling abridgement of proprietary rights. Pupils claim not only the rights of students, but the rights of teachers and administrators. Employees claim not only the rights of employees but the rights of ownership and management. Examples could be multiplied. And in the confusion one seldom
462 RITSCHLIANISM—ROGERIAN COUNSELING hears a reminder that all rights carry corresponding responsibilities. Christians, at least, should endeavor to think clearly in this vexed and complex area of human life. See CITIZENSHIP, MONEY, STEWARDSHIP, PROPERTY RIGHTS, CIVIL RIGHTS. For Further Reading: Wiley, CT, 3:68-100.
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