The major shift from calvinism to a more self involved salvation process germinated at the beginning of the nineteenth century. The spirit of independence clashed with calvinism and gave way to evangelicalism. North America was in between the great awakenings, especially the great metropolis in the northeast. Great preachers from the northeast influence reached almost every corner of America. According to the textbook Experience History Volume one, The United States to 1877, James West Davidson et. al, 2010, McGraw-Hill, the transformation was altering for life in that age. The single reason the change occurred was because of the new ways of thought found in the heirs of the Revolution. Which explains why they could no longer believe in a …show more content…
Which resulted in making the churches dedicated powerful forces to be reckoned with in the United States. Thus making some Evangelicals delighted with the heavy influence they had over people through their …show more content…
When changes like urbanization and industrialization brought about new ideas of theology that weakened the power of evangelicalism. However, Evangelical Protestantism stayed as a powerful presence within American culture. “Evangelicalism as a Social Movement” (Donald Scott, 2000, National humanities center/Queens college) explains the transformation of American Evangelicalism not only as a religious movement but also as a social movement. The sole cause the transformation occurred was because of a deep need in American families for structure and direction in their lives. Which explains the need for changes that accommodated to their ever changing styles of living. The events that arose to achieve the movement began with institutional organizations meant to structure American lives. Firstly The Second Great Awakening became an extremely successful organization procedure. On the ground for religious recruitment which was locally based dew people only to local congregations. Then if the people decide to adhere to a specific denomination they will become connected to a wider network of evangelical campaign. Next came the printing of a wide variety of papers, newspapers, and new print media that were taken for the use of evangelism.Then missionaries, preachers, and religious agents all came to distributing religious materials. Finally, the new
It created an attitude that went against the intensely contrasting thinking that was deep rooted within English politics and religion. Instead of believing that God’s will was somewhat interpreted by the monarch, the colonists thought it would be more efficient to view themselves as being capable of performing the task themselves. According to an article titled, The Significance of the Great Awakening, “The youth of revivalism later echoed this radicalism and popular self-righteousness in the American Revolution.” It was through the revivalism of the very beginning of the Eighteenth Century that colonists were finally able to free themselves from the rules of the Christian churches and begin to confidently state their own religious control over the destiny of their
In the essay, “The Second Great Awakening” by Sean Wilentz explains the simultaneous events at the Cane Ridge and Yale which their inequality was one-sided origins, worship, and social surroundings exceeded more through their connections that was called The Second Great Awakening also these revivals were omen that lasted in the 1840s a movement that influences the impulsive and doctrines to hold any management. Wilentz wraps up of the politics and the evangelizing that come from proceeding from the start, but had astounding momentum during 1825.The advantage of the Americans was churched as the evangelizing Methodists or Baptists from the South called the New School revivalist and the Presbyterians or Congregationalists from the North that had a nation of theoretical Christians in a mutual culture created more of the Enlightenment rationalism than the Protestant nation on the world. The northerners focused more on the Second Great Awakening than the South on the main plan of the organization.
This event changed the role of American religion during the early nineteenth century. Non-traditional religions such as Mormonism resulted from this religious revival movement as well. The religious revivals that emphasized individual choice of humans over predestination of God continuously shook New England Calvinism. The “cult of Matthias” was unlike any other religious groups during the time period.
The Great Awakening was before the American Revolution, therefore the forefront in the minds of many colonists was religion. But, it also caused some tensions between religious ideologies. The American Revolutionary era was a period where the nation was finding an identity to unify with. Both George Washington and Jonathon Edwards, believed that religion was necessary for the stability of a nation. However, the way how Washington and Edwards accomplished their plans with religion were different. The differences between the two men show varying degrees of religious acceptance. Both men wanted religion in America, but only by their own definition of religious acceptance.
There are three historical, Christian milestones. One being after the death of Christ where an evangelical movement of Christ's disciples, friends and brothers preached on how Jesus Christ was the Messiah and the Son of God. The second milestone was when the Pilgrims came to America for religious freedom, and many ministers guided and directed the pilgrims toward the "City of God". One of the last historical Christian movements seen is the Great Awakening. This movement was to trade deistic notions of reason and rationality to faith, God, and Divine Providence. Among the apostles of Biblical times, the most influential were Apostles James and Paul. One of the great writers and speakers of his time, John Winthrop represents the second mark, leaving Jonathan Edwards as one of the most remembered preacher of the Great Awakening.
The Great Awakening was a spiritual movement that began in the 1730’s in the middle colonies. It was mostly led by these people; Jonathan Edwards, a congregational pastor in Massachusetts, Theodore J. Frelinghuysen, a Dutch Byterian Pastor in New Jersey; Gilbert Tennent, a Presbyterian Pastor in New Jersey; and George Whitefield, a traveling Methodist Preacher from New England. The most widely known leader was George Whitefield. At the beginning of the very first Great Awakening appeared mostly among Presbyterians in Pennsylvania and in New Jersey. The Presbyterians initiated religious revivals during these times. During this time, they also started a seminary to train clergyman. The seminary’s original name was Log College, now it is known as Princeton University. In the 1740s the clergymen of these churches were conducting revivals throughout that area. The Great Awakening spread from the Presbyterians of the middle colonies to the Congregationalist (puritans) and Baptist of New England.
The Second Great Awakening swept through the United States during the end of the 18th Century. Charles Grandson Finney was one of the major reasons the Second Great Awakening was such a success. Finney and his contemporaries rejected the Calvinistic belief that one was predetermined by go God to go to heaven or hell, and rather preached to people that they need to seek salvation from God themselves, which will eventually improve society has a whole. Finney would preach at Revivals, which were emotional religious meetings constructed to awaken the religious faith of people. These meetings were very emotional and lasted upwards of five days. Revivalism had swept through most of the United States by the beginning of the 19th Century. One of the most profound revivals took place in New York. After the great revival in New York Charles Finney was known ...
People of all groups, social status, and gender realized that they all had voice and they can speak out through their emotional feels of religion. Johnathan Edwards was the first one to initiate this new level of religion tolerance and he states that, “Our people do not so much need to have their heads filled than, as much as have their hearts touched.” Johnathan Edwards first preach led to more individuals to come together and listen. Than after that individual got a sense that you do not need to be a preacher to preach nor you do not need to preach in a church, you can preach wherever you want to. For the first time, you have different people coming together to preach the gospel. You had African American preaching on the roads, Indian preachers preaching and you had women who began to preach. The Great Awakening challenged individuals to find what church meets their needs spiritually and it also let them know about optional choices instead of one. The Great Awakening helped the American colonies come together in growth of a democratic
Prior to Enlightenment the colonists, like the Europeans, were guided by their fear of God and rulers. They followed their church’s teachings blindly, as many of them could not read the scripture themselves. As the colonists began to educate themselves, they found that their interpretation of the readings did not always match what was preached to them in Sunday’s sermon. Even with the vamped up services and revivals during the Awakening many continued to question organized religion and separate from the Catholic Church. Many smaller denominations resulted from these breaks caused by the Awakening, leading to the Protestant Reformation. Martin Luther even wrote entire doctrines based on his differences of opinion which would eventually form the basis for the Lutheran Church. The colonists also questioned the authority of their European rulers. Many believed that God himself had put their rulers in charge, but with all the political disasters and condemnation they were seeing they began to question their...
...ing shattered denominational loyalties and allowed Presbyterians, Baptists, and Methodists to leap ahead of all other Protestant rivals after 1780. It also destroyed the systems of established churches and recognized hierarchies, and replaced them with Evangelicalism, which mainly consisted of missionary work and reporting conversion experiences to others. The Great Awakening and westward expansion provided the American colonies with a few characteristics that led to the development of an American culture that distinguished it from British culture.
Religion of the protestant church was an important factor in the pre-war timeline culture. The Second great awakening, which occurred in the 19th century, greatly impacted American society. This new point of view in terms and matters of faith led northerners to cherish the theory of Christian perfection, a theory that in fact was applied to society in an attempt to eliminate social imperfection. On the other hand, southerners reacted by cherishing a faith of personal piety, which focused mainly on a reading of the Bible; however, it expressed very little concern in addressing society’s problems.1
In essence, the Great Awakening was a religious awakening. It started in the South. Tent camps were set up that revolve around high spirited meetings that would last for days. These camp meetings were highly emotional and multitudes of people were filled with the Spirit of God. These meeting, were sponsored mainly by Methodist, Baptist, and Presbyterians, and met social needs as well as spiritual needs on the frontier. Since it was hard for the Baptist and Methodist to sustain local churches, they solved the problem by recruiting the non educated to spread the word of God to their neighbors. The camp meetings eventually favored "protracted meetings" in local churches.
Reform movements including religion, temperance, abolition, and women's rights sought to expand democratic ideals in the years 1825 to 1850. However, certain movements, such as nativism and utopias, failed to show the American emphasis on a democratic society. The reform movements were spurred by the Second Great Awakening, which began in New England in the late 1790's, and would eventually spread throughout the country. The Second Great Awakening differed from the First in that people were now believed to be able to choose whether or not to believe in God, as opposed to previous ideals based on Calvinism and predestination.
Second Great Awakening (1790-1840): The Baptist and Methodist denominations grew and it helped form many reform movements that would come in the future. It led to the Adventist and Restoration movement.
Evangelicalism carried a strong emphasis on the Word of God. Which is in its own right a positive to the movement. Bible is used as the center of the Christian faith, however where they went wrong was saying that God is not moving anymore and what we have in this book is all that there is. There is no need for any more revelation because the Bible is complete. Actions will be based on the foundations of the Scriptures and things that do not directly align with this scriptures will not be tolerated. The evangelical movement held to the truth that the Bible is the authoritative Word of God. However, aloud no room for experiential or cultural relevance of the Bible. They did believe that the Bible was “the only infallible, authoritative Word of God” (qtd. in “Church History”) the evangelical movement joined people together out of other random religions and formed a cohesive bond between churches.