HE

The First Great Awakening & Its Legacy

Context & Definition
  • The First Great Awakening = a series of Protestant religious revivals that swept the British North-American colonies, primarily from the 1730s to the 1740s.
  • It was characterized by widespread evangelical fervor, emphasizing personal conversion, emotional religious experiences, and a direct, unmediated relationship with God.
  • This spiritual renewal sought to revitalize religious commitment in a period perceived as one of growing intellectualism and spiritual apathy.
Key Figures
  1. Jonathan Edwards
    • A Congregationalist minister from Northampton, Massachusetts, known for his intense, theological sermons.
    • His most famous sermon, "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God," delivered in 1741, emphasized divine wrath and the need for immediate repentance.
    • Focused on a return to Calvinist doctrines, highlighting human depravity and God's absolute sovereignty.
  2. George Whitefield
    • An English Anglican itinerant preacher with a powerful, dramatic oratorical style.
    • Traversed the American colonies on multiple tours, delivering outdoor sermons to massive interdenominational crowds.
    • Emphasized the concept of "new birth" or spiritual regeneration as essential for salvation, appealing to emotions rather than strict theological intellect.
Causes and Origins
  • Response to spiritual decline: A reaction against the perceived decrease in religious piety and church attendance among existing denominations.
  • Challenge to established order: A backlash against the perceived coldness and formality of established churches and traditional clergy.
  • Enlightenment Rationalism: While seemingly contradictory, the Awakening also emerged in a context where Enlightenment ideas questioned traditional religious authority, leading some to seek more personal and experiential faith.
  • Increased literacy and print culture: The wider availability of printed sermons, pamphlets, and Bibles facilitated the spread of revivalist ideas.
Characteristics
  • Itinerant Preaching: Ministers traveled widely across geographical boundaries, breaking from traditional parish models.
  • Emotionalism: Sermons often evoked strong emotional responses, including crying, shouting, and physical manifestations of spiritual conviction.
  • Personal Conversion: Emphasis shifted from communal piety to the individual's direct, heartfelt experience of conversion.
  • Lay Exhortation: Encouraged common people to participate in religious discourse and even preach, challenging clerical authority.
  • Large Revival Meetings: Outdoor gatherings and tent meetings became common, drawing diverse crowds from various social strata.
Impact and Effects
  1. Religious Pluralism and Denominational Growth
    • Led to the growth of new Protestant denominations, particularly Baptists and Methodists, and strengthened existing ones like Presbyterianism.
    • Challenged the dominance of established state churches (e.g., Congregationalists in New England, Anglicans in the South).
  2. Democratic Impulse and Individualism
    • Fostered a sense of individual empowerment by emphasizing that each person could have a direct relationship with God, regardless of social status or education.
    • Contributed to a questioning of traditional authority, both religious and secular, which is often seen as a precursor to revolutionary ideas.
  3. Social and Cultural Impact
    • Education: Led to the founding of new educational institutions (e.g., Princeton, Brown, Rutgers, Dartmouth) to train "New Light" ministers.
    • Inclusion: While complex and often problematic, it made attempts to minister to enslaved Africans and Native Americans, sometimes leading to the formation of African American churches.
    • Cross-Colonial Unity: Fostered a broad sense of shared experience among colonists across different regions, laying groundwork for inter-colonial communication and identity.
Challenges and Criticisms
  • Divisions within Churches: Led to schisms between "New Lights" (supporters of the revival) and "Old Lights" (traditionalists who opposed the emotional excesses and challenge to ministerial authority).
  • Anti-Intellectualism: Critics argued that the Awakening's emphasis on emotion and personal experience undermined the importance of theological training and reasoned discourse.
  • Social Disruption: The itinerant preaching and large public gatherings sometimes challenged established social order and local authority, leading to accusations of disorder and fanaticism.