{{Short description|Northern Ireland-born minister and author (1912–1987)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} '''James Edwin Orr''' (January 15, 1912 – April 22, 1987)<ref name="asa3.org">[http://www.asa3.org/asa/topics/NewsLetter80s/FEBMAR88.html Newsletter of the American Scientific Affiliation-Canadian Scientific & Christian Affiliation, Volume 30 Number 1, February/March 1988] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100628212409/http://www.asa3.org/ASA/topics/NewsLetter80s/FEBMAR88.html |date=28 June 2010 }}-retrieved 2009-08-15</ref> was an Irish-born American Baptist [[Minister (Christianity)|Christian minister]], hymnwriter, professor, author<ref name=contemporaryauthors>Contemporary Authors Online, Gale, 2004, document H1000075036</ref> and promoter of [[Christian revival|church revival]] and renewal.
==Biography== James Edwin Orr was born on 15 January 1912 in [[Belfast]] in Ireland (present-day Northern Ireland), of American-British parentage. He was one of the five children of William Stewart Orr and Rose Orr (nee Wright). He studied at the College of Technology, Belfast.
In 1930 or 1931, after spending some years as a baker, Orr began [[evangelism|evangelising]], not only in Britain but also elsewhere in Europe, as well as North America, Australia and South Africa. During these years he also wrote several accounts of his tours of preaching. On 15 January 1937 he married Ivy Muriel Carol Carlson; they would have four children. The Orrs evangelised in Australia (1939), China, Canada and the United States of America. In 1939 Orr enrolled at Northwest University. On 15 January 1940 he was ordained at [[Newark, New Jersey]], into the [[Baptists|Baptist]] Christian ministry. He received his MA from Northwest University in 1941, and his Th.D. from [[Northern Baptist Seminary]] in 1943.
During World War II he served as a chaplain in the [[United States Army Air Forces|US Army Air Forces]] in the [[Pacific War|Pacific]]. After the war he continued his studies and took his D.Phil at [[University of Oxford|Oxford University]] in 1948, with a thesis on the [[evangelical awakening]] of 1859<ref name=evans/> in Britain. In 1949 he and his wife made the United States their permanent base, while continuing to travel the world promoting church revival and renewal. They eventually travelled to 150 countries.<ref name="asa3.org"/>
Orr was influential in [[Campus Crusade for Christ]] from its founding in 1951,<ref name=wheaton/> serving as one of the five original board members of the organization.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Original Five |url=http://www.seekgod.ca/fuller1.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070711155115/http://www.seekgod.ca/fuller1.htm |archive-date=2007-07-11 |access-date=2007-04-06}} (The other board members were Henrietta Mears, Billy Graham, Dawson Trotman and Dan Fuller)</ref>{{Self-published inline|date=July 2010}} In 1966 or 1967 Orr became a professor at the School of World Missions, in [[Fuller Theological Seminary]], Pasadena, California. He remained a professor there until 1981, and was a professor emeritus thereafter. Of him [[Billy Graham]] wrote, "Dr. J. Edwin Orr, in my opinion, is one of the greatest authorities on the history of religious revivals in the Protestant world."<ref>{{cite book|author=Orr, J. Edwin|year=1951|title=Full Surrender|publisher=Marshall, Morgan, and Scott|location=Edinburgh}}; introduction by "William Frankland[sic] Graham", p. 3, subscribed "Billy Graham" at end, p. 4 [http://www.jedwinorr.com/Full_Surrender.pdf Online pdf] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071012213353/http://www.jedwinorr.com/Full_Surrender.pdf |date=2007-10-12 }}</ref>
Orr wrote numerous books, many of them histories of evangelical revivals, and a number of hymns. One of the hymns—"Cleanse Me"—was selected for inclusion in ''Amazing Grace: 366 Inspiring Hymn Stories for Daily Devotions''<ref>{{cite book|title=Amazing Grace: 366 Inspiring Hymn Stories for Daily Devotions|author=Kenneth W. Osbeck|publisher=Kregel Publications|isbn=0825434483|year=2002}}</ref> and ''The One Year Great Songs of Faith''.<ref>{{cite book|title=The One Year Great Songs of Faith|author=Robert Kevin Brown|author2=Mark R. Norton |author3=William J. Petersen |author4=Randy Petersen |isbn=0842350721|year=2005|publisher=Tyndale House Publishers}} p. 271</ref> The words of "Cleanse Me" are based on Psalm 139:23-24 and Psalm 51:2; it is set to the [[Māori people|Maori]] folk tune "Po Ata Rau" (translated as "[[Now Is the Hour (song)|Now Is the Hour]]"). "Cleanse Me" was written in 1936 when Orr was at an [[Easter]] revival meeting in [[Ngāruawāhia]], New Zealand, where he heard and was enchanted by the Maori Song of Farewell.<ref>{{cite book|title=101 More Hymn Stories|author=Kenneth W. Osbeck|publisher=Kregel Publications|year=1985|isbn=0825434203|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/101morehymnstori0000osbe}}, [https://archive.org/details/101morehymnstori0000osbe/page/60 <!-- quote="Cleanse Me" "J. Edwin Orr". --> p. 59]</ref> "Cleanse Me" has been recorded numerous times, including performances by [[Bill Gaither|Bill and Gloria Gaither]], [[Irene Bridger]], Kenon D. Renfrow, Lloyd Williams, the El Paso Wind Symphony, and Nick Reynolds and Tom Parsons.<ref>The Apple iTunes Store.</ref> Nowadays "Cleanse Me" is commonly referred to as "Search Me, O God", and the "Po Ata Rau" tune attributed as "Maori" in hymnals.<ref>[http://hymntime.com/tch/htm/s/e/searchme.htm “Search Me, O God”] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130518164434/http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/s/e/searchme.htm |date=18 May 2013 }} at the Cyber Hymnal. The “Search Me” wording ties the hymn more closely to the biblical reference Psalm 139:23 (“Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts”).</ref>
Orr was a Fellow of the [[Royal Geographical Society]], the [[American Geographical Society]], the [[Royal Historical Society]] and the [[Royal Society of Literature]].<ref name=contemporaryauthors/>
He died on 22 April 1987 after preaching at [[Ridgecrest, North Carolina]], United States.
==Works== * ''Can God?: 10,000 Miles of Miracle in Britain'', 1934. * ''Prove Me Now! (saith the Lord): 10,000 Miles of Miracle – to Moscow'', 1935. * ''The Promise Is to You: 10,000 Miles of Miracle – to Palestine'', 1935. * ''Times of Refreshing: 10,000 Miles of Miracle Through Canada'', 1936. * ''This is the Victory: 10,000 Miles of Miracle in America'', 1936. * ''All Your Need: 10,000 Miles of Miracle Through Australia and New Zealand'', 1936. * ''If Ye Abide: 10,000 Miles of Miracle in South Africa'', 1936. * ''Such Things Happen: 100,000 Miles Around the Globe'', 1937 (combined volume). * ''The Church Must First Repent'', 1937. * ''Telling Australia'', 1939 (with other authors). * ''Through Blood and Fire in China'', 1939. * ''Always Abounding: An Intimate Sketch of [[Oswald J. Smith]] of Toronto'' (biography). * ''Can God?'', revised edition of the 1934 publication, published in 1946 and 1951. Combines excerpts from his first three books ''Can God?'', ''Prove Me Now!'' and ''The Promise is to You''. Includes a new preface from the publisher describing the author. * ''I Saw No Tears'', 1948 (New Guinea to Tokyo). * ''The Second Evangelical Awakening in Britain'', 1949. * ''Full Surrender'', 1951. * ''The Second Evangelical Awakening in America'', 1952. * ''Good News in Bad Times'', 1953. * ''The Inside Story of the Hollywood Christian Group'', 1955. * ''The Second Evangelical Awakening'', 1955. Abridgment of his two previous works on the subject. * ''Faith That Makes Sense'', 1960 (abridgment). * ''The Light of the Nations: Progress and Achievement in the Nineteenth Century'', 1965. The Paternoster Church History, Volume 8. * ''100 Questions About God'', 1966. * ''Evangelical Awakenings in India'', 1970.<ref>Masihi Sahitya Sanstha, 70 Janpath, New Delhi, India.</ref> * ''Campus Aflame: Dynamic of Student Religious Revolution'', 1971. * ''The Flaming Tongue: The Impact of 20th Century Revivals'', 1973. * ''The Fervent Prayer: The Worldwide Impact of the Great Awakening of 1858'', 1974. * ''The Eager Feet: Evangelical Awakenings. 1790 – 1830'', 1975. * ''Evangelical Awakenings 1900- Worldwide'', 1975. Update 2nd edition of ''The Fervent Prayer''. * ''Evangelical Awakenings in Africa'', 1975. * ''Evangelical Awakenings in Southern Asia'', 1975. * ''Evangelical Awakenings in Eastern Asia'', 1975. * ''Evangelical Awakenings in the South Seas'', 1976. * ''The Faith that Persuades'', Harper & Rowe, 1977. * ''Evangelical Awakenings in Latin America'', 1978. * ''Candid Questions about Morality'', 1979. * ''The Re-study of Revival and Revivalism'', 1981. * ''Revival is Like Judgment Day'', published sermon from 1987.
==Posthumous publications== * ''My All, His All'' (an upgrading of ''Full Surrender''), 1989. * ''The Event of the Century: The 1857–1864 Revival in the U.S.A.'', 1989. * ''An Apprenticeship of Faith'', 1993. * ''Campus Aflame'' (revised edition), 1994.
==References== {{Reflist||refs= <ref name=evans>The Rev. Robert Evans (2014). [https://revivalsresearch.net/docs/TheLaterMinistryOfDrJEdwinOrr.pdf "The Later Ministry of Dr. J. Edwin Orr"], p. 3. ''Research in Evangelical Revivals''. Retrieved 2022-09-05.</ref> <ref name=wheaton>[https://archives.wheaton.edu/repositories/4/resources/1173 "Subseries ID: Individual (Boxes 30-31)", ''Collection 355: Papers of J. Edwin Orr''], Archives of Wheaton College. Retrieved 2022-08-23.</ref> }}
==External links== * [http://www.jedwinorr.com/ Presenting the Ministry of J. Edwin Orr], website with much material about Orr, including [https://web.archive.org/web/20070429175213/http://www.jedwinorr.com/audio.htm audio] and video clips * [https://archives.wheaton.edu/repositories/4/resources/1173 ''Collection 355: Papers of J. Edwin Orr'', Archives of Wheaton College]. Biographical information as well as a catalog of several dozen boxes of primary source material about Orr * [http://homeschoolblogger.com/hymnstudies/522612/ Hymn Studies - "Cleanse Me"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120202141206/http://homeschoolblogger.com/hymnstudies/522612/ |date=2 February 2012 }} * {{Librivox author |id=11411}}
{{Fuller Theological Seminary}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Orr, J. Edwin}} [[Category:1912 births]] [[Category:1987 deaths]] [[Category:20th-century American male writers]] [[Category:20th-century American non-fiction writers]] [[Category:20th-century Baptist ministers from the United States]] [[Category:20th-century British historians]] [[Category:20th-century British male writers]] [[Category:20th-century British non-fiction writers]] [[Category:Alumni of the University of Oxford]] [[Category:American evangelicals]] [[Category:American male non-fiction writers]] [[Category:American religious writers]] [[Category:Baptist ministers from Northern Ireland]] [[Category:Baptist writers]] [[Category:British evangelicals]] [[Category:British male non-fiction writers]] [[Category:British people of American descent]] [[Category:British religious writers]] [[Category:Christian clergy from Belfast]] [[Category:Christian revivalists]] [[Category:Fellows of the Royal Geographical Society]] [[Category:Fellows of the Royal Historical Society]] [[Category:Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature]] [[Category:Fuller Theological Seminary faculty]] [[Category:University of California, Los Angeles alumni]] [[Category:Writers from Belfast]]