First Great Awakening - George Whitefield

George Whitefield

The arrival of the young Anglican preacher George Whitefield probably sparked the religious conflagration. Whitefield, whose reputation as a great pulpit and open-air orator had preceded his visit, traveled through the colonies in 1739 and 1740. Everywhere he attracted large and emotional crowds, eliciting countless conversions as well as considerable controversy. The English minister George Whitefield, who declared the whole world his "parish," sparked the Great Awakening. God, Whitefield proclaimed, was merciful. Rather than being predestined for damnation, men and women could be saved by repenting of their sins. Whitefield appealed to the passions of his listeners, powerfully sketching the boundless joy of salvation and the horrors of damnation. Critics condemned his "enthusiasm", his censoriousness, and his extempotraneous and itinerant preaching. His techniques were copied by numerous imitators both lay and clerical. They became itinerant preachers themselves, spreading the Great Awakening from New England to Georgia, among rich and poor, educated and illiterate, and in the back-country as well as in seaboard towns and cities. The first new Congregational church worship building in Massachusetts in the Great Awakening period of 1730–1760, was at the newly incorporated town of Uxbridge. It was pastored by the newly called Pastor Rev. Nathan Webb, a native of Braintree, who remained in the ministry here for the next 41 years. His student, Samuel Spring, served as an American Revolutionary war chaplain, and started the Andover Seminary and the Massachusetts Missionary Society.

Benjamin Franklin became an enthusiastic supporter of Whitefield. Franklin, a Deist who rarely attended church, did not subscribe to Whitefield’s theology, but he admired Whitefield for exhorting people to worship God through good works. Franklin printed Whitefield’s sermons on the front page of his Gazette, devoting 45 issues to Whitefield's activities. Franklin used the power of his press to spread Whitefield's fame by publishing all of Whitefield’s sermons and journals. Much of Franklin’s publications between 1739-1741 contained information about Whitefield's work, and helped promote the evangelical movement in America. Franklin was a lifelong friend and supporter of Whitefield, until Whitefield's death in 1770.