Let There Be Light!
The Enlightenment and Great
Awakening
Objective: SWBAT explain the effects of the
Great Awakening.
The enlightenment
 The Enlightenment: challenges predestination; belief in
rational thought,
 In Europe there was a Scientific Revolution and a birth of
rational thought called the Enlightenment.
 John Locke—individuals should be guaranteed the rights
to life, liberty, and property; who should make sure they
get it?
 1) With rational thought in place, what 17th century
religious ideas might be challenged?
 2) What social class would be able to access
Enlightenment thought?
The Great Awakening
 Arminianism: people are rational beings that can
shape their destinies; against Predestination.
1. If all you
have
inherited is a
corrupt
nature, how
can you save
yourself from
damnation?
God = loving;
not a hater
The Great Awakening
 Great Awakening: revival of religious fervor; appeals
to poor; leads to religious divisions.
 The Great Awakening burst onto the scene
 Fiery ministers like Jonathan Edwards
 Infusion of emotion into religious sermons
 The movement spread as thousands of people
experienced emotional conversions.
 Colleges like Brown and William and Mary w
 In 1738, George Whitefield toured America,
further fueling the movement.
The Great Awakening
 Great Awakening: relied on strong emotional
experiences during worship.
 1) Have you ever been in a boring church service?
The Great Awakening
 Effects Great Awakening: divisions in New England;
Old Lights v. New Lights.
 Conflicts developed between Old and New Lights—
accused each other of heresy
 1) Old Lights prediction?
 OL  condemned emotional enthusiasm and
individual relationship with God. Shunned
revivalists and the New Lights.
 NL  Challenged the leadership and authority of the
Old lights n the church.
 New Schools, Colleges, Brown and Princeton.
The Great Awakening
 Great Awakening In South: introduction of
Christianity to AA population; Baptist and Methodist
sects increase.
 In the South, the Great Awakening introduced
Christianity to slaves.
 Brief period of integration
 1) How can you see the Awakening style reflected
in many modern African American services?
 Baptists and Methodists
The Enlightenment Challenge
 The British colonies were more open to intellectual and
religious challenges than the French and Spanish.
 Enlightenment ideas emphasized rationality, harmony,
and order.
 The state existed to provide for happiness and security of
individuals who were endowed with rights of life, liberty,
and property.
 Widespread literacy helped spread Enlightenment ideas.
 Traditional views also had strong popular appeal.
 Colleges held to a mixture of traditional and enlightened
views.
A Decline in Religious Devotion
 The spread of new ideas occurred during a
period of religious decline.
 The Puritan Church experienced falling
membership and attendance at services.
 The change from a congregational to an
established church contributed to the Puritan
decline.
 The belief in predestination was weakening as
Arminianism became more popular.
The Great Awakening
 In the 1730s, the Great Awakening began with Jonathan
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Edwards calling for a return to Puritan traditions that
appealed to dissatisfied young people.
The movement spread as thousands of people experienced
emotional conversions.
In 1738, George Whitefield toured America, further fueling
the movement.
Conflicts developed between Old and New Lights.
In the South, the Great Awakening introduced Christianity to
slaves.
The Great Awakening greatly increased church membership,
led to the growth of the Methodist and Baptist churches, and
paved the way for future political change.
George Whitefield, an
evangelical preacher from
England who toured the colonies
in the late 1730s and 1740s, had
a powerful impact and helped
spark the Great Awakening.
SOURCE:John Wollaston,George Whitefield,ca.1742.
Baptism by Full Immersion in the Schuylkill River of Pennsylvania, an engraving by Henry
Dawkins illustrating events in the history of American Baptists, was published in Philadelphia
in 1770. With calls for renewed piety and purity, the Great Awakening reinvigorated American
Protestantism. The Baptists preached an egalitarian message, and their congregations in the
South often included both white and black Protestants. SOURCE:John Carter Brown Library at Brown University.