Before the American revolution that set America free from tyranny, there was the first great awakening:
The First Great Awakening: A Pre-Revolutionary Religious Revival
The Christian spiritual awakening you're referring to is known as the First Great Awakening, a widespread religious revival that swept through the British American colonies from roughly the 1720s to the 1740s (with echoes into the 1770s). It was a reaction to perceived spiritual decline and marked a shift toward evangelicalism, personal conversion experiences, and emotional preaching that emphasized individual salvation over institutional religion. This movement not only revitalized Protestant Christianity but also laid cultural and ideological groundwork that influenced the American Revolution by fostering ideas of personal liberty, resistance to authority, and colonial unity.
Causes and Context
By the early 18th century, many colonists felt that established churches—such as Congregationalists in New England, Presbyterians in the Middle Colonies, and Anglicans in the South—had grown too formal, rationalistic, and materialistic. Puritan zeal from the 17th century had waned, leading to "arid rationalism" and neglect of pastoral care. Broader European influences, like Pietism (a focus on personal piety) and early Methodism, crossed the Atlantic, creating fertile ground for revival. The Awakening primarily affected Calvinist denominations (e.g., Dutch Reformed, Baptists) but spread trans-denominationally, democratizing faith by making it accessible beyond elite clergy.
Key Figures and Major Events
The revival was driven by itinerant preachers who traveled widely, drawing massive crowds—sometimes tens of thousands—to outdoor "field preaching" since churches couldn't hold them. Central figures included:
- Jonathan Edwards (1703–1758): A brilliant theologian and pastor in Northampton, Massachusetts, Edwards ignited the Awakening in New England with sermons like "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" (1741), which vividly depicted hellfire to spur conversions. He emphasized the "new birth"—a profound, emotional transformation—and used Enlightenment thinkers like John Locke to rationalize spiritual experiences. His revivals in the 1730s led to widespread conversions but also divisions, as critics like Boston's Charles Chauncy decried the "excessive emotion."
- George Whitefield (1714–1770): Often called the "Grand Itinerant," this Anglican evangelist from England arrived in 1739 and became the movement's superstar. A master orator with a booming voice, he preached to enormous open-air audiences from Georgia to Massachusetts, raising funds for an orphanage in Savannah and converting thousands. Influenced by John Wesley (Methodism's founder) but staunchly Calvinist, Whitefield's tours in 1739–1740 and later visits amplified the revival but sparked controversy for bypassing church hierarchies and stirring "enthusiasm" (emotional fervor).
Other notables included Gilbert Tennent, a Presbyterian who preached fiery "jeremiads" against "dead" ministers, and Samuel Davies, who extended the revival to Virginia's enslaved and free Black populations. Events peaked in the 1740s with "camp meetings"—prolonged gatherings of prayer, singing, and preaching that foreshadowed later frontier revivals. By mid-decade, however, enthusiasm waned; Edwards himself noted the Holy Spirit's "withdrawal" from Northampton around 1745.
Impacts and Legacy, Including Ties to the Revolution
The Great Awakening transformed American religion by boosting evangelical denominations (Baptists and Methodists grew rapidly) and promoting religious toleration amid church splits ("New Lights" supporters vs. "Old Lights" opponents). It spurred education, founding colleges like Princeton (1746), Rutgers (1766), and Dartmouth (1769) to train ministers. Socially, it empowered women, the poor, and enslaved people through direct access to scripture, challenging hierarchies.
Its influence on the American Revolution (1775–1783) was profound but indirect: By emphasizing personal accountability to God over human authority, it cultivated a rhetoric of liberty and moral resistance that echoed in revolutionary pamphlets. Revivals fostered inter-colonial networks (e.g., shared preaching circuits) and a sense of unified American identity against British "corruption," much like the later push for independence. Historians argue it stemmed Enlightenment skepticism among the masses, blending faith with democratic ideals that made colonists more receptive to ideas of self-governance. In Virginia, for instance, it disrupted Anglican dominance, sowing seeds of dissent.
Overall, the First Great Awakening wasn't just a spiritual event—it was a cultural earthquake that made religion more experiential and egalitarian, setting the stage for the political upheavals to come.
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The first great awakening set the stage for the American Revolution, shedding the shackles of tyranny. We have been called by the Almighty for another great awakening across America. Awakening, repentance and revival. This spiritual movement is to move and shake both inside and outside the Church. Alot needs to happen over the next 329 days. 2026 is going to be a very big deal and we the Church stand directly in the center of it.
We have been given a very big "heads up" before it happens. The Church needs to get its work boots on and hustle. If the Church were to keep its feet up on the table, whistling tunes of apathy and complacency, the results will be worse that Joey Diapers and Cackling Hyena Harris-much worse. The Islamic Communist elected to office in New York was/is the harbinger of that danger.
The Lord has set before us both life and death:
Deut 30
11Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach. 12It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, “Who will ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?” 13Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you have to ask, “Who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?” 14No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it.
15See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. 16For I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.
17But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, 18I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess.
19This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live 20and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
This is no less serious than the election of Trump 2.0. The job is not over, its just begun. Trump cannot do everything on his own. The Christian Body of Christ which is the Church must stand in the gap, support and assist, pray and fast, cheerlead, motivate, encourage, uplift and inspire. We must yield our body, soul, and spirit to the Spirit of the Most High God so He can shine through our vessels to light up this world and drive the darkness out. We are to do all this together, us with Him (our Lord God) and with each other.
Time to work
Please join with your brother in praying over the prayer targets today.
Glory to God
grace and peace