Being Born Again-and Again, And Again: Conversion, Revivalism, And Baptist Spirituality (Essay‪)‬

Introduction My title refers not to rebaptized converts, but to Baptist conversion itself being transformed again and again as it evolves over time. Now would be a good time for the next transformation, for academics agree: Revivalism is dead, or at least on life support, among the Baptists of Britain and North America and the territory they evangelized, which is a lot of territory. On Christian revivalism in general, conversion researchers John Lofland and Norman Skonovd noted in the 1980s that since WWII several good studies have debunked the notion that revivalism produced long lasting conversions, and declared, "We have thus become cynical about the existence of true revival conversions." (1) Revival conversions among Baptists with the Great Awakenings heritage are becoming rare as rented pews.