Introduction
Upon arrival to the new world, there were many different sets of beliefs among
Christianity. Shortly after the Protestant reformation, the “New World” was discovered, and
many protestant groups sought freedom to grow their group in the new area. Among those groups
were the Puritans, Baptists, Lutherans, and many more. However, the growth of various
protestant groups had begun to plateau by the early eighteenth century. “The descendants of the
initial settlers began to generate wealth. Communities flourished and the sense of distinct
religious identity diminished. Christian belief was under attack as more rational thinking became
popular.”1 Something needed to happen and change if Protestant Christianity was going to
continue in America.
That change came about in what is called “The (First) Great Awakening.” This awakening
took place during the 1730’s and 1740’s and consisted of a series of revivals among the
American colonies. The revivals, many times were led by preachers who would travel and preach
fiery sermons. A few leaders of The Great Awakening are Jonathan Edwards and George
Whitefield. There were a couple more leaders as well, but these were the most influential during
the awakening.
Many new ideas came about through God’s work during the Great Awakening. One of
those was evangelicalism. Evangelicalism rose as the Awakening swept through the colonies of
America.
Understanding the Great Awakening starts by understanding the main people that were
involved in preaching and leading the Awakening. The first of those being Jonathan Edwards.
Jonathan Edwards
1 “The First Great Awakening: Lesson Plan.” n.d. Www.ushistory.org.
https://www.ushistory.org/declaration/lessonplan/firstgreatawakening.html.
A biography of Jonathan Edwards starts with a brief history of his parents. Edwards’ dad
was a pastor of a church in East Windsor, Connecticut. His mother was the daughter of a pastor
as well. Edwards had pastoral genes running through him. At the young age of thirteen, Edwards
started college at Yale. By 1720, he had graduated but continued to study divinity for two years.
He pastored a church in New York for a few years, then tutored at Yale, until 1727 when he
became pastor of the Church at Northampton, Massachusetts. That same year, he married his
wife, Sarah.
Edwards enjoyed observing nature and enjoyed analyzing various theories. One theory
that he analyzed from a young age was the doctrine of predestination. It wasn’t until after he was
saved that he began to agree with that doctrine, after much analysis. “This became the centre of
Edwards’s piety: a direct, intuitive apprehension of God in all his glory, a sight and taste of
Christ’s majesty and beauty far beyond all notional understanding, immediately imparted to the
soul by a divine and supernatural light.”2
Edwards began to preach in his church about his findings and beliefs in 1934. This
sparked a small awakening in the Connecticut River Valley. Edwards wrote about this in his first
book entitled A Faithful Narrative of the Surprising Work of God in the Conversion of Many
Hundred Souls in Northampton and in the Neighboring Towns. Edwards wanted to let the world
know about the Grace of God and how awesome it was that the Holy Spirit was moving. A few
years later, on July 8, 1741, Edwards gave his most famous sermon. It was called Sinners in the
Hands of an Angry God.
2 Melissa Petruzello, “George Whitefield,” Encyclopædia Britannica (Encyclopædia Britannica, inc., n.d.), accessed
May 1, 2023, https://www.britannica.com/biography/George-Whitefield.
Edwards was a very smart man and his theology led the Great Awakening. His sermons
and books created ripples of new belief. However, Edwards was a great theologian during this
time, there was another man who was a great evangelist.
George Whitefield
The other main proponent of the Great awakening was a man who was a little bit younger
than Edwards. This man was George Whitefield. Whitefield was born in Gloucester in 1714. He
grew up as a poor boy, not raised in the faith. According to his own account, Whitefield
“confesses that he was addicted to lying, filthy talking, and foolish jesting.”3 While not being a
Christian, Whitefield had a gift of public speaking. His school would often times ask him to
recite speeches in front of people because of how talented he was. This would only help him
when he came to faith in Jesus. That came when he was attending college. Whitefield had an
awakening of his own which he named a new birth.
After that he became very close to John and Charles Wesley. He began to preach and in
1738, made the long commute from England to the America’s. While in America, Whitefield
began preaching in Georgia. He wanted everyone to know Jesus in a personal way. He began
travelling throughout the colonies and preaching this good news. He was a skilled communicator
and used those skills to deliver fiery messages to the colonists in the new world.
George Whitefield was very important in the Great Awakening. He is known as the most
influential evangelist of that time!
Other Leaders
3 “George Whitefield Author Biography,” Banner of Truth USA, last modified September 26, 2018, accessed May 1,
2023, https://banneroftruth.org/us/about/banner-authors/george-whitefield/.
Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield were the two main leaders of the Awakening.
The colonies of America were a large area and too much ground for just two men to cover. John
and Charles Wesley, Gilbert Tennent, and James Davenport were other key figures.
John Wesley and Charles Wesley were very prominent in England. They were brothers
and they are credited with starting the Awakening in England. As the Christian history Institute
writes, “Both preached, both wrote hymns. But John is more noted for his sermons and Charles
for his hymns.”4
James Davenport was important because he was different than other revivalists.
Davenport was a very controversial speaker. He would often put down other pastors so that he
could gain popularity.
Gilbert Tennent was known as a fiery preacher. He was a little bit different than the others
because he went against many other preachers and pastors. He even called people who didn’t
believe the same thing as him, hypocrites. Many people were a part of the Awakening, these are
just a few!
Evangelicalism
One of the biggest ideas and themes that came about during the great awakening was
evangelicalism. According to Dr. Nickens, a definition for evangelicalism during the time of the
Great Awakening is, “a concern for one’s salvation with a resulting new birth—also known as
conversion or a salvation experience—a longing for a personal relationship with God, a desire
for others to come to a salvation experience with God through missions and evangelism, and
possible emotional release in a variety of forms.”5 This idea covered the entire awakening. New
4 “John and Charles Wesley,” Christian History Institute, accessed May 1, 2023,
https://christianhistoryinstitute.org/study/module/wesleys.
5 Mark Nickens, A Survey of the History of Global Christianity, Second Edition. (Nashville, TN: B&H Academic, 2020),
162.
converts were beginning to see change in themselves, and they wanted other people to have that
change to.
The first Great Awakening was unique in that it was all about people’s personal
relationship with Jesus. For the first time in a while, people weren’t as concerned with
denominations, with religions, they were just concerned with people coming to know Jesus as
their savior. That is what brought along evangelicalism. To Christians nowadays, that seems so
normal, but before the awakening, many people were concerned about religion more than
relationship. That is why evangelicalism was born during the First Great Awakening.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the Great Awakening was such an epic time in the history of Christianity.
So many new members were added to the kingdom of God. Christianity really began to take hold
of an emerging nation. This awakening sparked a pattern that would ultimately create a nation
around a motto of “In God we trust.” In short, “Great Awakening preachers transformed the
religious landscape of England and the American colonies.”6 As Christians, we can be thankful
that this awakening happened.
Bibliography
6 Randy Pollard, “Take Online Courses. Earn College Credit. Research Schools, Degrees & Careers,” Study.com |
Take Online Courses. Earn College Credit. Research Schools, Degrees & Careers, accessed May 1, 2023,
https://study.com/learn/lesson/first-great-awakening-leaders-religious-revival.html.
“The First Great Awakening: Lesson Plan.” Ushistory.org. Independence Hall Association, n.d.
Accessed May 1, 2023.
https://www.ushistory.org/declaration/lessonplan/firstgreatawakening.html.
“George Whitefield Author Biography.” Banner of Truth USA. Last modified September 26,
2018. Accessed May 1, 2023. https://banneroftruth.org/us/about/banner-authors/george-
whitefield/.
“John and Charles Wesley.” Christian History Institute. Accessed May 1, 2023.
https://christianhistoryinstitute.org/study/module/wesleys.
Mark Nickens, A Survey of the History of Global Christianity, Second Edition. (Nashville, TN:
B&H Academic, 2020), 162.
Petruzello, Melissa. “George Whitefield.” Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica,
inc., n.d. Accessed May 1, 2023. https://www.britannica.com/biography/George-
Whitefield.
Pollard, Randy. “Take Online Courses. Earn College Credit. Research Schools, Degrees &
Careers.” Study.com | Take Online Courses. Earn College Credit. Research Schools,
Degrees & Careers. Accessed May 1, 2023. https://study.com/learn/lesson/first-great-
awakening-leaders-religious-revival.html.
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