The multitudes of all sects and denominations that attended his sermons were enormous, and it was matter of speculation to me, who was one of the number, to observe the extraordinary influence of his oratory on his hearers (Brannan 1998).
Franklin, a signatory of the Declaration of Independence and a true Democrat, saw both Whitefield's democratic tendencies and the threat that he posed to the Established Church. He noted that "some of Mr. Whitefield's enemies affected to suppose that he would apply those collections (of money) to his own private emolument...," but Franklin would have none of it.
The established Puritan churches in Massachusetts had assumed the role of the official churches of Europe, asserting that they represented God in the matters of government. Like modern-day theology-based governments, they believed that God's laws, interpreted through the Puritan church, were also the laws for the community. In 1635, the Reverend John Cotton proposed a set of laws and a General Court based on Moses' laws, with capital punishment as indicated in Leviticus.
Jonathan Edwards, another Great Awakening star, wrote that this religious influence on the governance of the community led to a cynicism and a distancing from God. He was concerned that Many of our young people (are) indecent in their carriage at meeting, which doubtless would not had prevailed to such a degree, had it not been that my grandfather...was not able to observe them. There had also prevailed in the town a spirit of contention between two parties, into which they had for many years been divided, by which was maintained a jealousy one of the other (Thompson 1861).
Thus Edwards found not only that the Congregation was drifting and cynical about God, but the community had failed to use godly principles in countering petty disputes. In Edwards' mind, the church-state combination failed both in its secular and its religious mission. Edwards, who had been the Congregational minister in Northhampton, Massachusetts, had seen that the church membership was declining. His religious beliefs would not let him accept that his parishioners were falling away from the faith. Finally, in 1734, he changed his message, telling the parishioners that they must make a personal covenant with God, or risk losing their immortal souls. Edwards' change of message resonated with the community,...
Great Awakening in America The Great Awakenings refer to several waves of interest in religion in America. These waves have coincided with increases in economic prosperity and materialism that have caused people to view religion with less interest. It began in the 1930s as disunited attempts at religious revival and in the 1940s had matured into "the remarkable Revival of Religion" (Lambert, p. 6). During the 1740 sThe Great Awakenings aimed
American History The Battle over Political Influence: Dominance of the 'New Lights' (Evangelist) Movement in the Great Awakening After the England colonies have established themselves in their newfound territory, New England, they started establishing a new society that will be governed under the Puritanist moral code. This is vital in understanding New England society, whose step towards self-governance is implementing laws and norms in the society adherent to the teachings of Puritanism,
One of the founding concepts for the country was ignored completely by the tens of thousands of preachers sweeping the country. This reneging of a fundamental right to practice religion as an individual saw fit, resulted in increased control without representation for the average citizen. Only a few decades earlier, Americans had fought and died for the principle centering on someone having control over the country, without the country having
Indeed, the Eastern awakening caused groups and societies to spring up that were characterized by their desire to do missionary work in the United States ("Second Great"). In the Appalachian region, however, the antecedent of the Second Great Awakening was the first and other revivals that had occurred since then. The tone taken in this region was the same evangelistic, camp meeting gospel preached at such events in the past,
John Wesley, who in May 1738 had his history-changing experience of having his "heart strangely warmed," was much impressed by Edwards' Faithful Narrative, which he read in October of that same year and which provided one of the models for the revivals he hoped to promote. A few years later, when his own Methodist movement was soaring, he published his own abridgement of Edwards' work, making it standard reading
Gender and Sex after World War I We usually assume that great changes in American sexual behavior began just after World War I; however, Maurer (1976) argues that there was foreshadowing as far back as the 19th century. The woman's rights movement, a tendency to violate sexual taboos (called free love), and a preoccupation with blander forms of Marxism dramatically came together in the United States at the end of the
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