There exists a long held belief that the United States of America was founded on the principles and doctrinal views of Protestantism. Modern age Christians have scoured historical documents in an effort to provide evidence for a Judeo-Christian foundation in the nation’s republican framework. Likewise, their opponents have written lengthy dissertations and argued over various media outlets that Christian conclusions are unfounded. Yet despite their endless debate, religion, especially Christianity, has and continues to play a fundamental element of America’s cultural, societal, and political makeup. The Second Great Awakening, the religious revivalist movement of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, ignited not only a …show more content…
The overall objective of the revival movement, which was to win souls for Christ’s Kingdom, was very clear to Charles Grandison Finney. Perhaps the most famous revivalist of the period, Finney struck a chord with the people through his “charismatic personality and intuitive sense of his audience...always [preaching] extemporaneously, never from a prepared script.” More importantly, he deviated from Reformationist thought by insisting that “’a revival of religion is not a miracle’, but a human work, a ‘result of the right use of the constituted means.’” What emerged was a structured system of religion that outlined how to obtain the desired outcome of revivalism through “techniques of persuasion.” This included appealing to the emotions of his audience by asking potential converts to sit on the “anxious bench,” a seat at the front of the meeting hall designed to encourage conversion . Finney formally laid out these measures in his influential work Lectures on Revivals of Religion. His work meticulously details the methodology of how to conduct a revival, provides the framework for reaching sinners, and suggests rightful steps for spiritual growth. Perhaps the most important theme found within his lectures was his focus on the individual. To Finney, an individual, not God, was solely responsible for bringing about salvation; “There are many passages [in Scripture] which represent the conversion of
The Great Awakening differed from the traditional religious activity for two reasons. It differed because of the presence of women and this exhibits differentiation because women were not allowed to participate in the traditional religious activities such as speaking in church. It differed because the setting that the preaching took place . George Whitefield established that to be a good christian did not require practice to be positioned in church, so he gave sermons outside where anyone could participate.
Nathan Hatch compares the Second Great Awakening to the Jacksonian era. He states that the men trying to persuade other people to join their religion was like tyrants trying to get people to follow them. That just like the beginning stages of the revolution, this was a time of power struggle for religious leaders. Hatch writes ‘These movements
The Second Great Awakening laid the foundations of the development of present-day religious beliefs and establishments, moral views, and democratic ideals in the United States. Beginning back in late eighteenth century and lasting until the middle of the nineteenth century,1 this Protestant awakening sought to reach out the un-churched and bring people to a much more personal and vivid experience of Christianity. Starting on the Southern frontier and soon spreading to the Northeast, the Second Great Awakening has also been associated as a response against the growing liberalism in religion - skepticism, deism, and rational Christianity.2 Although the movement is well-known to be
Finney warned of hell vividly who promised salvation to converts. He rejected the notion of man as a sinful creature with a preordained fate. He instated every person had a choice to lead a Christian life and a life of sin.
“On a Christian Mission to the Top” by Laurie Goodstein and David Kirkpatrick deals with the controversial topic of religion, primarily the rise of evangelicals to the top of the social classes and their influence. The essay opens with a description of the differing religious groups in Brown University, originally a Protestant Christian school. After evangelicals surpassed other denominations of Christianity, the societal and political perspectives of America shifted to support Evangelism views. Goodstein and Kirkpatrick examine the attempt to sway colleges to evangelist perspectives. While I wholeheartedly encourage the freedom of religion, I do not support this attempt at mass conversion or the refusal of accepting of other cultures.
Evangelicalism came out of various movements that came in the Protestant church the second Great Awakening” of the 1820s-1840s, resulted in the “Christianization” of young America and the dominance of evangelicalism over the American religious climate ”.The Second Great Awakening marked a fundamental transition in American religious life. Many early American religious groups in the CALVINIST tradition had emphasized the deep depravity of human beings and believed they could only be saved through the grace of God. The new evangelical movement, however, placed greater emphasis on humans' ability to change their situation for the better. By stressing that individuals could assert their "FREE WILL" in choosing to be saved and by suggesting that
Between 1820 and 1860, Americans constructed 40,000 new churches compared to the 10,000 they constructed in the 40 years before 1820. At the end of the revival period, ”one-third of all Americans attended church regularly.”(P.400) Many of the early revival preachers embraced Christian evangelicalism, the established groups sought to take advantage of the popular enthusiasm to build their particular denominations. Methodists and the Baptists established themselves as leading American denominations as a result of the Second Great Awakening. The two faiths had a mutual sense of affinity with regard to doctrine, but the Baptists created a radically decentralized hierarchy that empowered local ministers and individual churches.
Finney believed that revivals were human creations. Finney believed that sin was voluntary and people can live perfectly.
The Second Great Awakening was a religious movement that took place in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century. Around the same time, the concepts of Jacksonian democracy was becoming increasingly more well known. This idea stressed the importance of the common individual. It focused on the ordinary people and what they thought about government. Jacksonian democracy also clarified that slavery is an issue. Religiously, The Second Great Awakening strongly The religious concept of earning salvation that grew popular as a result of the Second Great Awakening impacted social reforms such as the temperance and abolitionist movements, prison and education reform, and the formation of Utopian societies. The Second Great Awakening
The Protestant reformers believed the Pope was the “antichrist” and wanted to correct the errors of the Papacy. These ideals were brought to New England in the Colonial era by predominately British Puritans who were fleeing persecution from the Church of England. The new settlers disseminated their anti-clericalism beliefs through written and spoken propaganda, cementing the anti-Catholic movement with a serious of laws that imposed specific proscriptions. Religion played a far greater role in people’s lives, which made religious differences a matter of great concern. U.S. culture and Protestantism had evolved along parallel lines, stressing individualism and self–reliance, whether in making one’s fortune or in gaining salvation through the teachings of the bible (Parrillo, 2014, p. 391). U.S. Protestants feared the Catholic Church because of their structured practices and bureaucratic operations that extended back to the Pope in Rome. Many Protestants believed that Catholicism was enigmatic and also felt that if a Catholic loyalist gained any political power, they would take control of the country and Rome would gain complete
During the 19th century there was the Second Great Awakening. This was Christian revival movement that started in the year 1790 and gained momentum in 1800. It taught the Arminian theology that everyone could be saved through religious revivals. It gained millions of new members and was even responsible for many new denominations. It was an important event, that effects even today’s society in many ways.
During the Second great Awakening, new ethics and morals in the U.S were formed which molded the changes in our government and beliefs in the Antebellum Period. The Second Great Awakening created Protestant based religions that were the main influences that shaped the Antebellum Period. Slavery reforms, sobriety, women's rights, and Temperance in the Antebellum Period, between the War of 1812 in the Civil War, all descended from the Second Great Awakening.
Religion has been around since the discovery of America. Many European immigrants came to America to escape the traditions of the Church of England. The people wanted religious freedom. Most, however, tried to force their religious beliefs on the people who came to settle in their colonies creating a divide. It wasn’t until The Great Awakening, which started in the New England colonies, occurred that people rose up and revolted against the norms of religion and began to worship the way they wanted to. This divisive time period greatly impacted the American colonies by allowing true religious freedom to all the people.
Mr. Hooper had the reputation of a good preacher, but not an energetic one: he strove to win his people heavenward by mild, persuasive influences, rather than to drive them thither by the
In Finney’s belief revival is the renewal of the first love of Christians that results in the awakening and conversion of sinners to God. He states, “Revival presupposes that the church is mired in a backslidden state.” Furthermore, he argues that revival makes backslidden Christians convicted of their sins, repent and renewed. The world and sin will have no power over the revived Christians. Finney also believed that when the churches are revived, they impact the lives of non-believers so much that they would go through the same states of conviction, repentance, and reformation as Christians to their salvation. He also taught that God, the preacher, and the sinner are three agents that carry forward a revival. Unlike Jonathan Edwards who believed