The Patriots Daily Bites of American History Series 2: The Great Awakening Continues

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PEARL LEONA STURGIS·FRIDAY, Febuary 19, 2016

The Patriots Daily Bites of American History Series # 2

 US History teacher Gregory Dixon at Baptist College (no date but manuscript ends with President Eisenhower’s election 1956) The Great Awakening:

Religion and relationship to government:

The relationship of religion to government was a major issue in the formation and foundation of the various colonies. In almost every case people left England with beliefs they tried to perpetuate in the new world. God did see fit to send a revival in the early days of the 18th century that shook the colonies from New Hampshire to Georgia and forever changed the course of history in America. The two greatest and influential preachers of the Great Awakening were George Whitfield, a methodist who had gone to Georgia to start an orphanage and Jonathan Edwards who became the pastor of the Congregational Church in Northampton, Massachusetts. Eventually Edwards left the Church in Northampton and for seven years he ministered among the Indians where he did a tremendous amount of writing.

 In 1758 he had been called to be the president of what is now Princeton University where he contracted small pox and died. George Whitfield was born in England and attended Oxford University. he was 23 when he began preaching and was extremely popular in England. He made 7 trips to the colonies to preach. When he first arrived the pulpits of the colonies were open unto him but in time he was no longer asked to preach in pulpits. He moved into the fields where tremendous crowds of up to 20,000 people. In a day when there were no microphones his ability to be heard by such numbers is in itself remarkable! There can be no doubt that the Great Awakening was the most important turning point in American History just in terms of the spiritual impact.

 The thousands of people who were saved as the result of the preaching and testimonies is amazing. Once people began to realize what the grace of God had done in their own lives they were not only changed but began to have a burden for others as well. Missionaries were sent to the Indians. David Brainerd only lived to age 29 but saw hundreds of Indians trust Christ as Savior and became a model for later missionaries who went all over the world. He was engaged to Jonathan Edwards’ daughter, Jerusha. She died shortly after David and they were buried side by side at Northampton, Massachusetts.

 (to be continued The Great Awakening)

 

To be Continued in the Next Daily Bites of History Series

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