부흥과 교회성장은 분명 다른 개념이지만, 많은 한국 기독교인들은 부흥과 교회성장을 동의어로 사용하고 있다. 예를 들어, ‘교회가 부흥했는가?’라고 질문을 할 때, 사람들이 알고 싶어 하는 내용은 대부분 교회의 숫자적 성장 여부이다. 이러한 경향은 1903년부터 1907년까지 지속된 초기 한국 대부흥의 시기에 있었던 교회성장 경험으로부터 시작되었다고 볼 수 있다. 이 논문은 부흥과 교회성장 간의 차이와 관계를 부흥의 의미, 목적, 결과를 중심으로 연구하고 있다. 만일 진정한 부흥이 일어난다면, 그 부흥의 결과는 교회성장으로 이어진다. 하지만 부흥 없이도 교회성장이 있을 수 있다는 점에서 교회성장과 부흥은 다르다. 그러므로 부흥과 교회성장이 매우 밀접한 관계에 있음에도 불구하고 이 둘은 서로 다르다고 볼 수 있다.

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.