First Great Awakening And Jonathan Edwards
The colonies that were established across North America were made of people that came from different countries. There was nothing to keep the people together and there was no sense of national unity. In fact, they had different religious beliefs and this is what kept them apart besides their love for their mother country. Also, they were constantly fighting the Native Americans. Many of the colonists took solace in drinking and other vices as a result, and this led to a decline in religious beliefs. The early Puritans, who came to the New World to build a nation based on Christian beliefs, would have been shocked at the decay of the moral fabric of the people. |
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Hence, it is but natural that the religious people, who were in minority, must have been dismayed at the way the society was living its life. The churches that were established were no longer able to control the people and their moral beliefs. It was perhaps the lowest point for morality in the New World. Hence, when the Half Way Covenant opened in the year 1662, it started working to convert people to Christianity and Christian beliefs. It was this that laid the seeds of the revivalist movement in the New World which ultimately led to the famous Great Awakening.
The revival started with the Dutch when a minister named Theodore Frelinghuysen started seeing increased number of conversions in 1727 at his ministry situated in New Jersey. Slowly, the revival began spreading; first to the Presbyterians and then the Baptists. However, the First Great Awakening started in Northampton, Massachusetts, in December 1734 in the ministry of Jonathan Edwards when 2 rather well known men died suddenly. This led the people of the town to start questioning life, its meaning, death and life after death. Jonathan Edwards was able to decipher the mood of the people and used it to his advantage.
He began preaching the Gospel in his ministry and by the time December came, he had managed to convert six youth. Out of these, one was a woman, who was known across the town to love men and their company. After converting, the woman changed so dramatically that people across the town started speaking about it. It was proof to them that God's grace had favored her. They too wanted to be in His grace, and within the next 6 months 300 people in the town converted. This number may not sound very large, but when it is taken against the population of the town, which was 1,100, it is definitely quite substantial. With these conversions, the First Great Awakening made its mark felt and it was in the ministry of Jonathan Edwards that it occurred.
Edwards took advantage of the mass conversions and labeled it as the work of god. Jonathan Edwards, who was initially a preacher and missionary for the Native Americans became a sensation overnight. He ended up being regarded as the most important theologian in the New World. In addition, he wrote many books on theology which have helped other missionaries to spread the word of God in other countries during the 19th century.
Slowly, from Northampton, the Great Awakening spread to other colonies and more and more people started converting. This also led to the establishment of Christian universities in the colonies. The First Great Awakening managed to change the entire moral fabric of the colonies and this was even seen at the Frontier. The credit for this no doubt goes to Jonathan Edwards, who was instrumental in preaching the Gospel awakening lost morality in the people. After this, Gospel preaching became part of life and it revitalized the society.
More Articles :
Revival Library: The First Great Awakening - Jonathan Edwards
http://www.revival-library.org/pensketches/revivals/1st_edwards.html
Wikipedia: Jonathan Edwards
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Edwards_%28theologian%29
Wikipedia: First Great Awakening
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Great_Awakening
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When the colonies were formed by the British in the New World, many people went there to look for religious freedom, economic success or to start a new life altogether. Even convicts were sent there to start life afresh. The colonies were quite independent and self-reliant. They did not get any help from the British government and did not have a say in the British parliament. This policy, which lasted from 1607 to 1763, is referred to as the salutary neglect. 