Many Korean and Western church historians and church leaders regarded the Pyongyang revival in 1907 was the first great revival in Korea, so that many events that celebrated the centennial anniversary of the Pyongyang great revival were held in Korea in 2007. However, the first great revival in Korea started not in Pyongyang but Wonsan in 1903. In this paper, the writer points out some misunderstandings in terms of the early Korean revivals and then investigates why the Wonsan revival in 1903 was a great revival with two standards of Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758). Even though Yong-Kyu Park’s book, The Great Revivalism in Korea: Its History, Character, and Impact 1901-1910 was often evaluated as a fine work for the Korean revival study, some points of Park should be reconsidered for the better study for the early Korean revivals. First of all, Park used “undong” which means “movement” for the early Korean revivals. However, the early revivals in Wonsan and Pyongyang from 1903 to 1907 were not movements because they occurred not by people’s activities, but by the strong work of the Holy Spirit. Second, the Million Souls Movement from 1909 to 1910 was not a revival but an evangelical campaign. Third, rapid church growth phenomenons were not revivals. Last, but by no means least, Park made a decisive mistake by regarding the Wonsan revival as a general revival after separating it from the Pyongyang revival without any sufficient proof. For the reliable as well as persuadable criteria of great revival, two elements of the great awakening by Jonathan Edwards are significant. In his 1737 work, A Faithful Narrative of the Surprising Work of God, Edwards described the First Great Awakening in Northampton in 1734-1735, and offered two reasons why this awakening may be considered great: 1) all kinds of people, and 2) diffusing to other places. When we evaluate the Wonsan revival with the two standards, people can understand the Wonsan revival was a great revival. It is not only because various kinds of people (e.g., missionaries, missionary kids, old and young Koreans, and Korean men and women) explained the baptism of the Holy Spirit or revival, but also because the Wonsan revival fire swept over almost all places in the Korean peninsula. Therefore, the Wonsan revival from 1903 was a great revival.

• 김칠성(목원대학교, 선교역사) | Kim, Chil Sung