Mathison describes in very clear terms the uniqueness of Nevin in the 19th century ecclesiastical environment:
In the midst of a church that had been heavily influenced by the new measures of revivalism of Charles Finney, anti-clerical and primitivist restorationism, democratic individualism, Baconianism and Scottish common-sense realism stood this confessional Calvinist with high views of the church, the creeds, and the sacraments.
