The Great Awakening

New England  Church membership declining  Population spreading Westward  Young men becoming lawyers and businessmen, not preachers  Youth not as serious  People are more prosperous

Age of Faith  Counters Age of Enlightenment  Trust heart not head  Feeling is more important than thinking  Reliance on biblical revelation not human reasoning

Jonathan Edwards  Sinner as a loathsome spider suspended by a slender thread over a pit of seething fire and brimstone.  m_U m_U

George Whitefield English – Sermons were gripping theatrical performances

Results  Churches begin to lobby state not to support any one church  Four-fifths of Americans, both Northerners and Southerners, are united in common understanding of Christian life  Dissent and dissenters are given more respect  Greater emphasis on education

Results  Greater sense of responsibility for Indians and slaves  People no longer victim of predestination; they can do something about their fate  Religion more accessible to people