The First Great Awakening (implying there was to be a 2nd G.A. later) occurred in the decades leading up to the French/Indian War. Preachers like Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield drew massive crowds and attention to spiritual matters.
For this week's blog, you are going to visit this website which gives a brief overview of the importance of the First Great Awakening. Be sure to read not only the main page but also the extra links on the right-hand side of the screen.
Then please read Jonathan Edwards' most famous sermon: Sinners In The Hands of an Angry God. This message is considered the most important primary source from this era.
For the comment section, write your reaction to this period of colonial history. What did you think of the sermon? What was your favorite line/phrase?
My reaction to the Great Awakening is that it was a good time for the Americans. Everybody could read, which means that they could read the Bible, unlike the Dark Ages. Most people came to America for money, or gold, but most came for religious freedom. There were different denominations, and in the Great Awakening, all of them came together as one. The Great Awakening also led to the stopping of worldwide slave trade. This movement would allow for a greater intimacy with God, which in my mind, is good. I liked the sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”. My favorite line is where it says “ They deserve to be cast into hell; so that divine justice never stands in the way. This means that all of us deserve to go to hell, but the only way we don’t go through, is through divine justice.(149)
ReplyDeleteMy reaction to this part of colonial history, is that it was very interesting how the whole Great Awakening happened. The Great Awakening was a spiritual renewal that swept the American Colonies, during the 18th century. That was very cool to read about how the fighting between religious and political groups just came to a stop during the Glorious Revolution of 1688. I also thought it was cool to see how the effect of the Great Awakening was preparing them for their War of Independence. I also thought it was cool to see how the Great Awakening brought about a climate which made the American Revolution happen. Now, about the sermon, I liked hearing his point of view on everything, but thought the whole sermon was hard to understand. I read lots of parts over again to understand what he was saying, but over all,I thought the whole thing was quite interesting! I had a lot of favorite quotes from his sermon, but this was one of my favorites, “Another thing implied is, that they are liable to fall of themselves, without being thrown down by the hand of another; as he that stands or walks on slippery ground needs nothing but his own weight to throw him down.” I like how he says that we all are able to fall of our selves, without anyone there to push us down. He also says this, “God certainly has made no promises either of eternal life,” Now, that is not one of my favorite quotes, but was confused on why he would think that. In John 3:16 it talks about he sent his son, so that we may believe and have eternal life. If we believe, we will have eternal life and he promises that, he is not just joking! Him thinking that he has made no promises of eternal life, is crazy because throughout the bible we can see how he has made many promises of eternal life! So, over all I was confused on some of the sermon and some of the points he made, but liked hearing his point of view, and his opinions on what he had to say. (362)
ReplyDeleteThe Great Awakening was a spiritual renewal that happened in the first half of the 18th century in the American Colonies mainly New England. In 1688 the political and religious arguments came to a halt, and the Church of England was established as the reigning church of the country. This actually really helped the colonists from a political standpoint because they became more stable since they were all practicing the same religion. But from a religious standpoint it messed everyone up. People started "going through the motions" and religion wasn't as important. Therefore my reaction to the Great Awakening is that it only helped certain people. Meaning it really helped politicians, but religious people not so much. I really liked the "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" sermon. My favorite line was actually a quote he used: "There is nothing that keeps wicked men at any one moment out of hell, but the mere pleasure of God." This is so true because we are all sinners and deserve hell, but Jesus gave us a way out by dying on the cross (John 14:6). My point is that the Great Awakening was a very interesting time, and the sermon was very accurate as to what I would depict was preached during those times. (215)
ReplyDeleteI thought that the Great awakening was a good time for the Americans because in the dark ages witch they had just came out of they were not allowed to worship Jesus, and now during the Great Awakening they could. Another thing I like about it is that people use to only come to America for gold and silver but now people come for religious freedom. And since we became a more religious country we saw what God had to say about slaves and eventually that helped put a stop to the slave trade. This is my favorite quote "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" because we are all sinners and later in that sermon it talks about Gods mercy for us and I know that we all need his mercy (133)
ReplyDeleteI think that the great awakening was a good thing because unlike the dark ages the people could finally read. This was good because they could get news and important information but also could read the bible. This played into developing different denominations because people could decide what it meant for themselves. I though the sermon was good and had some very interesting this in it although my favorite phrase was “they are liable to fall of themselves, without being thrown down by the hand of another”. This means that even though we don’t like to look at it this way we trip our selves up. Most of the time we want to play the blame game and say well he did this or he did that and that’s why I did what I did. The truth is that we decided to do it and that is the end of it. (151)
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ReplyDeleteThe sermon Sinners In The Hands Of An Angry God was a very good sermon but Jonathan Edwards the man who preached it preached without any emotion, he just did it "mono-tone." But this message was so greatly done that it started a revival cross-country. The thing that I liked about this message was that even though he said it with no emotion he still put hours upon hours of work and researching for this message. The man preached the message did all of his messages just as he did this one. The line that I liked the most of the sermon There is nothing that keeps wicked men at any one moment out of hell, but the mere pleasure of God." That line is so true but very confusing. That is what I enjoyed about this message.
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DeleteI have a positive reaction to this time period in Colonial history called the Great Awakening. I have this kind of reaction because it provided the people with a one on one relationship with God. I think this time period in Colonial history gave the people a trust in God which could have pushed them through the war. This was also a great revival for the people to help them throughout the rough times of the harsh war. I also have a positive attitude toward the sermon of Johnathan Edwards. This sermon gave a powerful impact when I read it and all I did was read it. The only thing I disagree with including this sermon is that he says in the hands of an angry God, but I don't think God is actually angry with us. My favorite phrase in this sermon is when he says, '' their foot shall slide in due time.'' I like this phrase because some people have slipped and fallen. And some are just one bad decision away. So I think we should try our hardest not to judge others because one decision away and we could be where they are. 192
ReplyDeleteThe reaction I had to the Great Awakening was that it was a spiritual renal that swept across American colonies and particularly in New England during the first half of 18th century. Certain Christians began to separate themselves with establish approach to worship by allowing people to express their emotions more openly in order to fill a greater relationship with God. In the late 17th century England fighting between religious and the political group came to a halt. The biggest significant was the way it prepared America for its war of independents. The sermon Sinners in the hand of an Angry God was very good the person who peach it did a very good job. My favorite line in it was He is not only able to cast wicked men into hell, but he can most easily do it.(139)
ReplyDeleteThe fact that the title of this era is 'Great Awakening' says a lot about the time period. It was a time when people in the colonies decided to do something. But not just any people. People who wanted TRUE religious freedom. It was a spiritual renewal era mainly focusing on one thing. People wanted a one-on-one relationship with God. They were tired of being, say, forced to practice the same religion. For some, most actually, having to be a part of the Church of England was not enough to have a deep relationship with God because they were just doing it to, well, do it.
ReplyDeleteSo there was only one solution. Take matters into their own hands. The colonists decided to take a stand against England's ruling over America. This is what makes my reaction feel positive about this era because it was about doing whatever it takes for what you believe in. How? By forming their own denominations and not letting anyone stop them. The colonists went from city to city getting people to join them to stand up against the religious powers of England in the 17-18th Century.
Jonathan Edwards was an--and still is today--an amazing example of preachers who wanted, you might even say, allies. He spoke a sermon titled "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" in Connecticut during the Great Awakening. His sermon's main message was that people need to fear God because He has the power to send anyone He wants to hell.
Being a Puritan Preachers, of course Edwards was going to want to make other people paranoid that God will zap-you-off-the-face-of-the-earth if you don't do His will, but one of the lines--my favorite--in his sermon held a lot of truth. Jonathan said, " Unconverted men walk over the pit of hell on a rotten covering, and there are innumerable places in this covering so weak that they will not bear their weight, and these places are not seen."
When you look at this statement, it basically sums up what the people were trying not to get into. They didn't want to be going-through-the-motions. They wanted a genuine relationship with God, and salvation is the only way to go about it.
In conclusion, the Great Awakening was a time when people wanted a spiritual revival. My reaction to that is a fist-bump to whoever felt the need to cry out for freedom.
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DeleteThe Great Awakening prepared America for the War of Independence. Before the war the revivalism taught people to be bold when facing religious authority. It helped people if they didn’t like the church they were at so they could break off and form new ones. It brought the climate which made the American Revolution possible. I really liked the sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”. My favorite line in the sermon is where it says “You are probably not sensible of this; you find you are kept out of hell, but do not see the hand of God in it; but look at other things, as the good state of your bodily constitution, your care of your own life, and the mean you use for your own preservation. But indeed these things are nothing; if God should withdraw his hand, they would avail no more to keep you from failing, than the thin air to hold up a person that is suspended in it.” Which whatever you do even when you’re a Christian but do not see God’s hand you will have nothing. (187)
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