The Importance Of The Great Awakening

By the mid-18th century, the colonies were seeing the emergence of the Great Awakening. This was an immense religious revival that swept across the Protestant world in the 1730s and 1740s. During this time, England, Scotland, Ulster, New England, the mid-Atlantic colonies, and for some time South Carolina, responded very well to calls for spiritual rebirth. This so called Great Awakening, broke many denominational loyalties in the colonies and allowed the Methodists and the Baptist to rush ahead of all Protestant revivals after the 1780s.
Not all American ministers got caught up in the Age of Reason. Jonathan Edwards was a Yale minister who refused to convert to the Church of England (“The Great Awakening”). He later became concerned that New Englanders were becoming too worried about worldly matters. People seemed to find the pursuit of wealth to be more important than the religious principles of John Calvin. “God was an angry judge, and humans were sinners!” he shouted. Edwards spoke with such fury and conviction that people flocked to listen (“The Great Awakening”). This sparked what is now known as the Great Awakening in the American Colonies.
The Great Awakening made many significant changes to the American
Whitefield, with the help of John Wesley, set the pace in England. In 1740 Whitefield went on a long preaching circuit from New York City to South Carolina. His style of preaching drew in many people from all over, spreading the message of the gospel. In more ways than one Whitefield was, for the first time, gathering together colonists from various colonies to hear one united message. Whitefield was known for having the power to masses of people with a single sermon. His message relied upon the idea of new birth, which meant that individuals must be born again the become followers of Christ. After being banned from many pulpits, Whitefield started preaching in open fields to anyone who would listen to