The American Evangelical Movement Summary

Introduction The American Evangelical Story, A History of the Movement written by Douglas A. Sweeney offers an outline that better defines evangelicals while the author explores the roots of the Great Awakening and the Gospel. Sweeney presents the history of theology within the evangelical movement. Currently, Douglas Sweeney serves as the associate professor of Church history and is the Director of the Carl F. H. Center for Theological Understanding at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. [1] Sweeney begins by addressing the word, meaning, and definition of “evangelicalism, Sweeney states, “I tell the story of its birth of in the transatlantic Great Awakening and its development in the United States through many challenges and cultural changes.” [2] This short book is written primarily for those who maintain an interest in the role of the evangelical movement throughout history. Defining “the evangelical movement is something the author states is quite diverse, he writes, “we are a people more remarkable for our differences than our

The Great Awakening for Sweeney was a great success to the advancement of Evangelicalism. “This new spiritual renewal began with people like the Wesley brothers and George Whitefield in England and crossed over to the American Colonies during the first half of the 18th Century.” [15] “Unlike the somber, largely Puritan spirituality of the early 1700s, the revivalism ushered in by the Awakening allowed people to express their emotions more overtly in order to feel a greater intimacy with God.” [16] It is in this sense the Author is conveying the movement and its spread that gives us our religious freedom that we have today. He shows the great preaching of this movement who took the responsibility of conversion to save the