Many scholars and church leaders, both Korean and Western, have usually considered Hardie’s repentance as the main reason for the Wonsan great revival from 1903. Therefore, during the centennial anniversary of the Pyongyang great revival in 2007 ‘revival by repentance’ was a popular formular for a resurgence of the great revival among Korean churches. However, Hardie’s repentance was not the cause but the effect of the Wonsan great revival. After experiencing baptism of the Holy Spirit or revival, Hardie confessed his sins. Thus, his repentance was not the main cause of the Korean revival. If it was not contingent on Hardie’s personal repentance, it could be asked why God allowed the great revival to occur in Korea and chose to use Hardie for that work. There may be four possible explanations that can be posed: (1) Hardie’s knowledge of revival, (2) his prayer for revival with devotional Bible study, (3) his pursuit of a high ideal, and (4) his lofty motivation. In other words, Hardie regarded baptism of the Holy Spirit as revival and he had been praying for Spirit baptism with Bible study along with his Canadian supporters and some missionary colleagues. Also, like most early Methodist missionaries in Korea, Hardie tried to gain real Christians instead of nominal or professing Christians, which was defined as ‘a high idea’ by a Presbyterian missionary (Robert E. Speer, 18671947). The main purpose of Hardie's life and missionary work was Jesus Christ. In order to maintain loving Jesus Christ, Hardie remained sincere toward people, and followed not money but God’s will. In short, because Hardie understood the true meaning of revival or Spirit baptism, he prayed for revival with sincere Bible study, pursued a high ideal making real Christians, and kept lofty motivation based on loving Jesus Christ. Thus, God not only allowed the early Korean great revival, but also utilized Hardie to do it. In this writing, the writer mainly deals with whether ‘revival by repentance’ is a biblical idea or not, and why God chose Dr. Hardie as one of the main figures for the early Korean great revival.

• 김칠성(목원대학교, 선교학) | ChilSung Kim