College Life: Where Revival Begins

In 1863 at New College (the divinity college of the University of Edinburgh) a prominent Biblical scholar, Dr. Garden Blaikie, told a new professor of the Bible, Dr. Andrew B. Davidson, at his induction, “It is a solemn truth, it is almost overpowering, to think of all the influence, for good or evil, that goes out from a theological classroom. The influence you exert may tell upon numberless persons in numberless ways.” Dr. Blaikie was more right than he may have expected, Dr. Davidson would later teach a form of biblical textual criticism that would kill the life of the Free Church of Scotland by teaching its future ministers to question the reliability and relevance of the Bible. Therefore, the power of the Cross and new life in Christ was destroyed.
This evil and injustice continues at New College today, where young impressionable 17 to 21 year old Christians come to be trained to do ministry, but instead their faith is questioned, challenged, and even at times ridiculed by highly trained and renowned scholars. After four years of confusing, contradictory, cross denying training they go out and serve numerous people in the church, which only perpetuates further the deadly false Gospel they’ve learned. The people in Scotland, as a result, are not hostile to God, but are oblivious and think Christianity is all about to doing good things and being good people, love for Christ has little do to with it.
Dave, as postgraduate, is in a perfect position to come along these vulnerable college students to equip and support them not only to survive but to thrive in this situation. The hope of UCCF and TheologyNetwork.org is to end the cycle of the false Gospel by equipping the future leaders of the church in Scotland. By doing so we hope see a Scottish revival like there was just the decade before Dr. Blaikie’s words to Dr. Davidson. Only by impacting the future generation of ministers and leaders of the church can we end the injustice of twisted lies and mistruths that have killed the very life of the church—that is to say, that people who appear to have the needs of daily life but in all reality are still completely dead in their sins and yet have no idea they have a need.
Lastly, the greatest potential of having a large impacting movement in the world usually begins with college student movements. You can look to the 60s in America, the student uprisings in China and Iran, and countless others. How amazing would it be to see student movement begin that would spread God’s goodness to the places that desperately need it. A key place for all this to happen is Scotland, and its most influential divinity college is ripe for the picking.