Bill DeArteaga's latest book is his most enjoyable to date. In a comfortable narrative supported by copious endnotes he reviews the ebb and flow of revival in history, making a persuasive case that the spiritual results of revival are likely to be both richer and more enduring when sacramental content, especially Holy Communion, is included. The point is illustrated by detailed descriptions of the Scottish communion cycles, echoed on this side of the Atlantic by the Great Awakenings . In modern times the altar call seems to have displaced the Lord's Supper in revival, which marginalizes the sacramental dimension of faith for new Christians.

The book is full of historical minutiae and portraits of some of our more colorful past preachers. The mid-eighteenth century comes alive with the likes of William "Mad" Grimshaw of Haworth, England, contemporary of the Wesley brothers, whose church experienced such growth that he devised a scaffold at a window so that preaching could be heard not only by a thousand people inside, but two thousand more in the courtyard outside. The account of a famous sermon by George Whitefield at this church and the effect that it had on the multitude that came to hear him preach is worth the price of the book.

Forgotten Power is entertaining, but a more serious thrust of the book is to prod the reader to imagine ways that the twenty-first century revival (the Third Great Awakening) will benefit by becoming more intentionally sacramental. Mass communication is accelerating the pace of the spread of the Great Commission, but absent the nurturing that derives from sacramental practices today's Christianity promises to become a river that may be miles wide but inches in depth. This book suggests ways to prevent such a dilution of our faith.

Typical experiential charismatic [material]. Keep it simple and try to read the Bible for what it says instead of making it say what you want it to.

William DeArteaga (henceforth, Bill) has written what many consider the "definitive" work on the charismatic movement. The many, however, are sincerely wrong to put it mildly.

Bill is supposedly a historian, but he misses the mark BADLY. His entire thesis is this: there are two groups of people in the church, charismatics and Pharisees. He then rips everyone who holds to cessationist theology (of which I am NOT one by the way) as being a Pharisee and destroying the works of Jesus going back 20 centuries. He proceeds to attack the ministries of John MacArthur and Dave Hunt after spending several chapters arguing that that is precisely what a brother should NOT do. He dismisses both as Pharisees.

But read what he says about the Pharisees on page 18: "The Pharisees' real problem came from two sources: First, they drastically overvalued the role of theology in spiritual life; they made theological correctness the chief religious virtue."

The problem for Bill is that Jesus NEVER rebuked the Pharisees for "theological correctness;" instead, He rebuked them for not being CORRECT ENOUGH!! He also makes the claim that the nemesis of Jonathan Edwards, a pastor named Charles Chauncy, killed the Great Awakening by "using the assumptions of Calvinist theology" (p.52). Yet just seven pages earlier, DeArteaga argues that Chauncy leaned towards Arminianism (p. 45). So he's left with the question of HOW an Arminian ended a revival by utilizing doctrine that he abhorred?

Finally, this book is friendly towards Catholicism but despises Calvinism, a strange fact given that Roman Catholicism has MUCH more in common with Rome than does historic Calvinism.

For all those who truly desire to examine the biblical and historical roots of the healing issue, this is one of the best books available. In a non-biased fashion, the author meticulously provides references and observations which help to clarify why so many sincere Christians have both embraced and rejected the supernatural manifestations of God's power. The result is an opportunity to prayerfully decide for oneself what the Lord's will is in this regard. Personally, it was both edifying and spiritually challenging. In short: a must read!