History of the Church II: Week Ten

Why denominations?  One of the unintended consequences of the Reformation was the end of the state run church or Christendom.  What arose were strong national princes which used an alliance of church and state for what they thought was the good of their subjects.  These churches tended to be either reactionary and persecuted dissenters or so lax the truth was ignored while a single state church remained.  By 1646 in America, there were 18 languages along the banks of the Hudson River.  Each of these people wanted one right: freedom of religion. 

Why denominations?  The only way churches could have that freedom was to allow all to have that same freedom.  As a result, the state got out of the church business.  Individual churches were then responsible for evangelism including covering the cost.  This meant that people were free to accept or reject the gospel.  The Great Awakening convinced Americans that churches could operate on a voluntary basis which didn’t need state support. 

The Great Awakening

 History of the Great Awakening ( ):  The first period of the awakening was  According to George Whitefield, the revival began under a Dutch Reformed minister named Theodore J. Frelinghuysen in New Jersey.  It spread to a little log cabin named the “Log College” under the leadership of William Tennent.  Tennent produced many educated ministers over the next decade.  The revival produced it first controversy: educated vs. uneducated.

The Great Awakening  Second period of the Great Awakening ( )  The educated ministers stayed in the northern part of the colonies while the converted ministers of the Presbyterian Church went south.  In Virginia, Samuel Davies evangelized while the Baptists under Shubael Steams went into southern Virginia and the Carolinas.  The First Great Awakening was characterized by two great evangelists: Jonathan Edwards in Massachusetts and the great orator from England George Whitefield.

The Great Awakening  Edwards was a Yale educated preacher whose sermons and writings became some of the first serious works of religious scholarship in America.  It was from Edward’s writings that John Wesley gained his resolve to start preaching boldly in England and Scotland.  According to Edward’s own writings, the revival started suddenly and without warning in  After 150 years in the New World many had fallen away from the Scriptures.

The Great Awakening  Edwards had noticed how “licentiousness…night walking, and frequenting of taverns, and lewd practices” had increased during his two years as a young preacher.  He embarked on a series of sermons and personal prayer to address these issues in his congregation.  What happened next can only be explained as an outpouring of the Holy Spirit.  Read bottom of p. 345 to top 346.  This spread to many towns in New England and lasted for two years.

The Great Awakening  In 1739, Whitefield took his legendary orator skills to the colonies.  In a series of six trips to the colonies covering some 25 years, Whitefield invented the outdoor revival meeting.  Ben Franklin listened to Whitefield many times and estimated his voice could be heard over 10 miles away through the winds of the woods.  Whitefield became the “rock star” of his age. It is estimated over the 25 years he preached in the colonies that every man, woman and child had heard at least one of his sermons.  His sermons were famous for making people actually feel hell’s fire.

The Results of the Great Awakening  In 1741, Isaac Backus was in his field moving when he knelt down and accepted Christ as his Savior. His “born-again” experience sharply contrasted with many who were converted during the time period. However, he had a profound influence on American history.  After founding the First Baptist Church of Middleborough, Massachusetts, Backus formed the Warren Association.  The Association through it’s many writings, letters and articles published all throughout New England advocated a complete separation between church and state.  In other words, the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.

The Results of the Great Awakening  This thinking fit in with many of the founders who believed government coercion of any kind served only “to make one half of the world fools, and the other half hypocrites”.  Religious freedom was the foundation of all liberties concerning the individual.  During the Great Awakening, the colonists first called themselves “Americans”.  Preachers such as the Black Robed Regiment urged members to fight the British during the Revolutionary War. (Religion and Founding of American Republic – see in materials section)