John Kennedy, Horatius Bonar and the Moody Mission of 1873-1874
John Kennedy of Dingwall, “Hyper-Evangelism. ‘Another Gospel’”, published in 1874 and reprinted in The Banner of Truth, May, 1957
Was a criticism of D.L. Moody’s 1874 campaign in Scotland
https://www.evangelical-times.org/d-l-moody/
https://christianhistoryinstitute.org/magazine/article/how-moody-changed-revivalism
Horatius Bonar published a response defending Moody the same year; “The Old Gospel: Not ‘Another Gospel’ but the Power of God Unto Salvation”. Bonar was a friend of Moody & Ira Sankey and supported the evangelistic efforts in Scotland.
Kennedy responded in 1875 in “A Reply to Dr Bonar’s Defense of Hyper-Evangelism”. (unfortunately neither is digitized)
“Calvinists in Controversy: John Kennedy, Horatius Bonar and the Moody Mission of 1873-1874” “Scottish Bulletin of Evangelical Theology”
https://biblicalstudies.org.uk/pdf/sbet/09-1_051.pdf
To Bonar the Moody mission was a 'revival' comparable with the notable times of blessing recorded in the past. To Kennedy all the excitement was delusory, no lasting benefit could be expected and the innovations brought by the campaign were subversive of the true Calvinist tradition.
From “Hyper-Evangelism. ‘Another Gospel’”
No pains are taken to present the character and claims of God as Lawgiver and Judge, and no indication given of a desire to bring souls in self-condemnation…
It should be an aim of preaching to bring sinners to plead guilty before God; to feel themselves, in excuseless guilt, shut up to the sovereign mercy of Him against whom they have sinned…thus the necessity of the new birth would have to be faced as well as that of atonement.
There can be no faith in Christ without some sense of sin, some knowledge of Christ, such as never was possessed before, and willingness, resulting from renewal, to receive Him as Saviour from sin.
It ignores the sovereignty and power of God in the dispensation of His grace.
In the teaching, there is no exposure of the total depravity and the utter spiritual impotence of souls “dead in trespasses and sins.” To face this reality in the light of God’s word, would be to discover the necessity of the Almighty agency of the Holy Ghost.
The same teacher said “God would not call men to believe, unless they had the power to do so.” How would he expound the words “The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God…neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned’? (1 Corinthians 2:14)
The speaker states “You believe, and then you are regenerated” referring to John 1:12, forgetting verse 13 “…born of God” (and John 3:3)
True faith is the act of a soul who, up to that hour, was a lover of sin and an enemy to holiness, but who now cordially receives the Saviour in order to the destruction of what he loved, and to the attainment of what he hated before. Can a man thus believe who has not been regenerated?
C.H. Spurgeon's defense of Moody in The Sword and the Trowel, March-July, 1875
https://www.romans45.org/spurgeon/s_and_t/moody75.htm
We are very sorry that our esteemed friend, Dr. Kennedy, issued a pamphlet severely criticizing the labors of Messrs. Moody and Sankey, whom we judge to be sent of God to bless our land in an unusual degree. Dr. Bonar's reply strikes us, as amply meeting Dr. Kennedy's strictures, and needing no supplement. But we are sorry to read every now and then the most bitter reflections on Dr. Kennedy, as though he were an enemy of the gospel. Now, we know him to be one of the best and holiest of men, and quite undeserving of severe upbraiding. Nothing but zeal for the truth has moved him, we are quite sure. He is fearful lest the doctrines of grace should be forgotten, and he is jealous for divine sovereignty. He is also fearful that the work owes more to music than to the force of truth, and is more the work of fleshly excitement than of the Holy Spirit, Is it altogether an unpardonable sin to feel such a sacred anxiety? We think not. At the same time we do not feel as Dr. Kennedy does. Had the revival under our American friends been what he thinks it to be, and what most similar ones have been, his remarks would have been timely and useful, although they would even in that case have been fiercely resented. As it is, there are many things suggested by his pamphlet which it will be well for the people of God to ponder, and in so doing they may be saved from grievous disappointments. We feel sure that Mr. Moody does not count Dr. Kennedy an enemy, nor wish to silence him, and we trust that others will learn the same moderation of temper and speech. Convince Dr. Kennedy that the Lord's hand is in the work, and his powerful voice and pen will be secured, and he will not be slow to issue a retraction: but to denounce him as an opposer of the Spirit's work is unchristian, and to those who know the man it is a monstrous libel. We cannot expect all men to see alike, and we ought to admire the courage which enters an honest protest, even though it be a mistaken one. We wish that the religion of this age had more in it of the deep, heart-searching, devoted, and unflinching piety of our Highland brethren; while we also wish that some of our northern friends were more joyous in heart, and less severe in their judgment of other servants of the Lord. The matter ought to end in both sides quietly learning something from each other, and resolving that if they cannot agree in each other's views they will at least abstain from ungenerous judgments and angry replies. The work which God is doing is so great and manifest that it cannot be injured by any man's comments upon it; those engaged in it can afford to turn such things to profitable account.
On Moody's Great Britain campaign
https://www.romans45.org/spurgeon/s_and_t/moody.htm
https://christianhistoryinstitute.org/magazine/article/charles-spurgeon-gallery
In spite of Moody’s Arminian views, Calvinistic Baptist Spurgeon preached for Moody and Sankey at Bow Road Hall in London. And Moody was invited to preach in the Tabernacle on Spurgeon’s Jubilee (50th birthday celebrations in 1884). Spurgeon wrote of Moody that year, “He is a king of men; commanding and finding everybody eager to obey; and all the while utterly lost in his work, and as devoid of self-importance as a new—born babe.”
D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones had reservations regarding Moody's view of conversion; "I don’t try to reconcile God’s sovereignty and man’s free agency.”
https://christianhistoryinstitute.org/magazine/article/questions-about-moodys-theology
that faith preceded regeneration
https://christianhistoryinstitute.org/magazine/article/moodys-theology
and his method of giving a public "invitation".
https://www.mljtrust.org/sermon/decisions/
He did however regarded Moody as an example of "power evangelism" and personal transformation by the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
https://www.the-highway.com/HSauthority_Lloyd-Jones.html
"Dwight L. Moody is also a special instance of this matter. It was after that experience while he was walking down Wall Street in New York City, when the Holy Ghost came upon him, that Moody received his authority. He preached the sermons he had preached before, but they were transformed. Why? He now had the authority of the Spirit."