Old Words, Contemporary Significance

His words sound all to contemporary. Speaking against one who advocated the new methods so rapidly catching on in the 19th century R.L. Dabney wrote,

Since the question is raised why the church does not grow faster, we are persuaded that the real answer that needs looking to is the one our author dismisses most hastily. The cause is not ecclesiastical. It is spiritual. The real need is not new methods, but fidelity to the old [ones]. [The real need is] a true revival in the hearts of ministers and Christians themselves, a fear of the power of the world to come and deep love for souls. What we most need is repentance, not innovation.