The Great Awakening is a very good title to describe the religious awakening that occured during the 1730s through 1740s in the colonies. The colonies had been ravaged by the liberalist ideas and heresies including the doctrines of the Arminians. Some churches decided that church membership did not require spiritual conversion. The Great Awakening was, in essense, a break from the old religious ways and a step in the direction of new and somewhat frightening ways. When I say frightening, I mean the sermons given by the much fabled Johnathan Edwards, an accomplished and strong speaking preacher.
The Great Awakening started in Northampton, MA by the great preacher, Johnathan Edwards. He would preach with the thought that everyone was a God's mercy and that sinners were to die eternally in hell. Contrasting to Johnathan Edwards was George Whitefield who took up a different style of preaching. He preached about heaven, the need for the conversion and to be saved. Whitefield would have thousands of people weeping at his sermons and many people converted spiritually. These were the men the greatly ignited the Great Awakening.
The Great Awakening, in my opinion, contributed in a big way to the idea of separation of church and state. First, people were tired of the government having control over what people believe, who they should worship, and what religious denomination they belong to. The Great Awakening was a period of time where religion was everything and government came in second. People were starting to have different ideas about religion and in this process, the separation of church and state was blown out of proportion. Just think, people had these inspirational preachers who preached about the importance of good works and converting spiritually. Do you think that these people wanted government(of all things) interfering with their worship. This is evident in clergymen not being able to hold political office. If religion cannot interfere with government, then government cannot interfere with religion. The people knew this when they worshiped and if the government tried to make them become part of a certain religion, what do you think the people will be thinking...That the government should not have any control of which religion they belong to, because people pick their religion, religion does not pick them.
Thanks Michael. You draw an important distinction between Edwards and Whitefield's approach -- that new dynamic of enthusiasm for religion, including voluntary $$$ support for traveling preachers like Whitefield, was important in shaping the new view of a relationships between church and state. It's also good that you pointed out the earlier ban on clergy serving in political roles reminds us that this was already an issue in their minds -- so the Great Awakening was part of a continuing progression, rather than a total break with the past.
ReplyDelete