Ideological Showdown: Enlightenment vs. Great Awakening

Romanticism vs. Classicism Viewing things as a whole. Emphasis on emotion and religion. There are things you can’t know through reason; there are things that science can’t explain. Viewing things as made up of parts. Emphasis on science and reason. You can know all things by studying them and taking them apart to see how they work.

The Great Awakening The earliest American settlers believed that America would be a “shining city on a hill.” Several generations later, Americans lived comfortably in established cities, in luxury and excess. Religious tolerance had become commonplace. This led more people to flee their European homelands and seek refuge in America.

The Great Awakening Solomon Stoddard of Northampton led a wave of Protestant preachers who, in the early 1700s, were extremely successful in converting these new immigrants to Christianity.

The Great Awakening Stoddard’s grandson, Jonathan Edwards, led even larger revivals than his grandfather. People reported feeling their “hearts were strangely warmed” by his sermons, and reported experiencing a new sense of divine presence. A series of religious revivals began to sweep all of the North American colonies in the late 1730s.

The Great Awakening Edwards sermons were long, rational arguments for the importance of changing one’s life. He considered anti-intellectual preaching “heat without light.” His methods worked – in a short time he reported more than 300 converts.

The Great Awakening Later in the 1730’s, George Whitefield, the “Grand Itinerant,” became the most powerful preacher of the era. From England, he traveled to the colonies several times, touring the Atlantic cities and preaching to huge crowds, including a crowd of 30,000 on Boston Common.

The great Awakening Whitefield said that church membership had been waning because, “dead men preach to them”. His style was described as “beastly brayings” by his opposition. Other resistance existed. The leaders of Harvard and Yale saw the revivalists as emotional and divisive. Churches disagreed over the revivalists. The Presbyterians split in two camps: “New Light” (Pro) and “Old Light” Anti.

The Great Awakening American society was changed by the Awakening. The meetings cut across class, race, and gender. Yale came to accept the revivalists. Revivalists founded Dartmouth and Princeton to support the work of the revivalists and train a new generation of ministers.

The Age of Enlightenment In the 17th century, the scientific revolution began. This movement saw the birth and growth of mathematics, physics, astronomy, biology, and chemistry. These ideas caused a transformation in society about nature. Growing out of France, the Enlightenment came to advance ideals like liberty, progress, tolerance, fraternity, constitutional government and separation of church and state.

The Age of Enlightenment Growing out of the Scientific Revolution, the Enlightenment came to advance ideals like liberty, progress, tolerance, fraternity, constitutional government and separation of church and state. The Enlightenment undermined traditional ideas about authority, challenging the power of the church and the divine right of kings.

The Age of Enlightenment John Locke Social Contract Theory – Individuals have sovereignty over themselves. They look out for themselves. Life is nasty, brutish, and short. Therefore, we give up some of that sovereignty and agree, for example, not to kill people for food. Through surrendering our sovereignty to the state, we work towards the greater good.

The Age of Enlightenment Thomas Hobbes The Leviathan, described the social contract theory, and outlined the structure of society and a legitimate government.