The Great Awakening (In The Colonial States)
Bodie Hodge, M.Sc., B.Sc., PEI
Biblical Authority Ministries, October 16, 2025 (Donate)
During the 1730s and 1740s, New England witnessed “a
surprising work of God”. It was a season of extraordinary religious thought.
Ministers, as well as the average person in the pew, spoke
of a spiritual awakening from blandness to a lively sense of what sin was
and the solution via salvation through Christ. The movement arose primarily
within the Congregational churches of Massachusetts and Connecticut and then
burst throughout the colonies.
That Great Revival
According to printed accounts in the 1730s-1740s, the Awakening
was marked by powerful preaching, deep conviction of sin, public crying, and a
renewed zeal to be holy and live godly lives. Jonathan Edwards described it in
his book, A Faithful Narrative of the Surprising Work of God (1737) as:
“a great and earnest concern about
the things of religion, a remarkable increase of seriousness, and a great
alteration in the public behaviour of the people.”
Edwards and others viewed it as a genuine outpouring of the work
of the Holy Spirit producing repentance, faith, and moral reform.
Opponents, such as Charles Chauncy, complained that much of
it was empty emotion, enthusiasm, and disorder. In pamphlets and sermons collected
in Seasonable Thoughts on the State of Religion in New England (1743),
Chauncy warned that bodily agitations, crying out, and supposed visions were
“no certain signs of grace” and that religion must be tested by its bonds of
charity and obedience.
Thus, there arose divisions between the New Lights,
who favored the Great Awakening’s revivalism, and the Old Lights,
who feared its outward excesses and stayed with traditional Protestant worship.
What neither side realized is that both routes were drawing people closer to
God and His Word!
Primary Figures
The most renowned names connected to the Awakening in
New England were Jonathan Edwards and George Whitfiled. But there were other significant
players and many, many smaller players whose names we may never know.
Out of them all, perhaps the leading voice in the Great
Awakening was Jonathan Edwards (1703–1758). He was a pastor of Northampton,
Massachusetts, whose careful theology and powerfully insightful sermons gave
the Awakening its intellectual foundation. His sermons such as Sinners in
the Hands of an Angry God (1741) were intended to awaken the unconverted to
flee from the wrath to come. Even today, his sermons are still read and
studied.
Next there is Joseph Bellamy (1719–1790). He was a student
of Jonathan Edwards who later systematized this form of revival theology in
Connecticut and whose early sermons circulated widely. His influence is not to
go unnoticed.
Probably the next most influential person of the Great
Awakening was George Whitefield (1714–1770). Unlike Edwards, he wasn’t from
the colonies. He was the English evangelist of the Church of England, who,
traveling through the colonies in 1739–1741, preached in the open fields to
tens of thousands. His journal entries and printed sermons show his famous “thunderous
oratory” and the necessity of the new birth in Christ. Like Edwards, his
sermons are still used and studied today.
Finally, we have Gilbert Tennent (1703–1764). He was a
Presbyterian minister from New Jersey whose sermon The Danger of an
Unconverted Ministry (1740) challenged many clergy of being strangers to
the grace they professed.
His words, directed at the leaders in the church, stirred pastors,
elders, and deacons, to get right with God themselves and stop going through
the motions. Basically, he helped call church leaders back to a proper
Christian life—and…it fired them up which fueled the Great Awakening
further.
Standing against these was Charles Chauncy (1705–1787). He
was actually the second president of Harvard University. He was also a congregationalist
pastor of the First Church of Boston and leading opponent of the
revivalists. His writings argued that being good Christians would be to restore
sober, reasonable religion against over-emotional enthusiasm.
Great Awakening Legacy
Contemporary reports, such as those printed in the Christian
History journal (1743–1745), amassed reports from ministers across New
England describing hundreds of conversions, renewed family worship, and a “moral
reformation” in towns and villages.
Even so, the same reports also note divisions in churches, firings
of ministers, and new separations into “New Light” congregations. So, the church
was growing, spiritually they were doing better, but local church splits and ministerial
havoc still abounded!
By the latter 1740s, the fervor cooled. Nevertheless, Edwards
wrote in Some Thoughts Concerning the Present Revival of Religion in New
England (1742) that, despite the good and bad, the Awakening was “a
glorious work of God’s infinite power and grace.”
Even critics conceded that it had rekindled public attention
to the “things of God” on a scale unseen since the first settlements. There
were some influential books that came out of that era that still speak hundreds
of years later.
Jonathan Edwards, A Faithful Narrative of the Surprising
Work of God (1737) was printed in London and Boston. This work recounted
the revival at Northampton and was reprinted throughout the colonies and
England. It persuaded many that God was again “visiting” His people with power
through His Word.
Gilbert Tennent’s book, The Danger of an Unconverted
Ministry (1740) is based on a fiery sermon that denounced formal,
spiritually dead pastors and demanded that ministers themselves experience the
new birth. It fanned the flames of revival but also deepened the schism with
more traditional clergy.
Another book was by Jonathan Edwards called, Some
Thoughts Concerning the Present Revival of Religion in New England (1742).
It presents a balanced defense and pastoral guide to the revival. Edwards
admitted there were excesses but insisted the essential work was of God,
providing theological grounding for the movement.
On the flip side was Charles Chauncy’s Seasonable
Thoughts on the State of Religion in New England (1743) who staunchly
argued for worship to return to form.
Conclusion
By the testimony of its own century, the Great Awakening
in New England was an incredible spiritual time—a mixture of divine grace and
human passion—stirring towns and colleges, uniting some believers and dividing
others.
Leaders of the Awakening like Edwards, Whitefield,
and Tennent, called for heartfelt conversion and holiness; its critics, like
Chauncy, argued for reason and order. The era’s sermons and literature show
that the controversy itself, conducted through print, pulpit, and open field
left an enduring mark on American religion as a precursor to the War of Independence
in the USA.
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Bodie Hodge, Ken Ham's son in law, has been an apologist
since 1998 helping out in various churches and running an apologetics website.
He spent 21 years working at Answers in Genesis as a speaker, writer, and
researcher as well as a founding news anchor for Answers News. He was also head
of the Oversight Council.
Bodie launched Biblical Authority Ministries in 2015 as a
personal website and it was organized officially in 2025 as a 501(c)(3). He has
spoken on multiple continents and hosts of US states in churches, colleges, and
universities. He is married with four children.
