The Great Awakening Bill of Rights Institute Narrative Reading

Many historians believe the Great Awakening helped set the stage for the American Revolution. Which of these ideas best supports that argument?

• Evangelical teaching during the Great Awakening proposed that each individual believer was equal before God, which made it easier to accept the radical implications of democracy.

• 1. Many Great Awakening preachers were political radicals.

• 1. Churches under the Great Awakening were much more democratic than earlier churches had been.

• 1. Great Awakening theology argued that only those who were among God’s “elect” would go to Heaven when they died.

How did local ministers feel about George Whitefield and other traveling preachers coming to their towns uninvited?

• 1. They welcomed these popular preachers, who brought more people into their church.

• 1. They worried that revivalists threatened their spiritual authority.

• 1. They appreciated the chance to study the techniques of the traveling preachers.

• They were indifferent to the Great Awakening preachers.

Which of these was NOT a way in which the ministry of the Great Awakening challenged social conventions?

• 1. Following their beliefs that all believers were equal before God, some evangelicals allowed women to “exhort,” or preach informally during meetings.

• 1. White evangelicals ordained converted African Americans and American Indians to preach or be missionaries

• 1. Some evangelicals began to argue that, in light of the Gospel’s implications, enslaving people was sinful.

• 1. Sometimes children were allowed to preach from the pulpit.

Who were the “Old Lights”?

• People who read books from the Enlightenment and did not attend church or meeting on Sundays

• 1. Jewish residents of Newport, Rhode Island

• 1. Elderly people admired for their knowledge of the Bible and scripture

• 1. Ministers and their parishioners who insisted upon sober and rational religious practices and rejected the style of the evangelical preachers

Who were the “New Lights”?

• 1. Critics who thought the emotional appeal of the evangelical ministers was foolish and led to social chaos

• 1. Followers of Great Awakening evangelical preachers whose sermons were notable for their emotion and dramatic appeal

• 1. People interested in Enlightenment interpretations of the Bible

• 1. Enlightenment preachers who wanted to introduce their parishioners to concepts such as deism

It has been argued that the Great Awakening contributed to a decline in the importance of established religion during the second part of the eighteenth century, because

• 1. people were alienated by the anti-intellectual quality of the sermons they had to listen to

• 1. many ministers simply quit the profession and denounced any form of Christianity

• 1. the revivals had weakened the hold of established churches in colonial America

• 1. many Americans converted to Judaism or Islam

George Whitefield was immensely popular as a preacher in the colonies because

• 1. he explained the intricacies of Christian doctrine with great precision and erudition

• 1. he preached to small groups so he could get to know his audience

• 1. he appealed to the emotions of his listeners, many of whom experienced the “new birth” of evangelical conversion

• 1. he made his listeners feel good about themselves and reassured them that they would be admitted to Heaven

What was the significance of Massachusetts' preacher Jonathan Edwards and his 1741 sermon titled Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God?

• His preachings on human sinfulness and the need for god's forgiveness caused a town-wide religious revival

• It advocated for the separation of church and state
• It focused on the importance of individualism and self-reliance

• It was a pivotal work in promoting Enlightenment ideals of reason and scientific inquiry in religious practice

How did the Great Awakening affect laws in those states that supported an official religion through taxation?

• 1. Members of the “new” religions did not like having to pay taxes for a church they did not attend, so they called for an end to the practice.

• The Great Awakening had little effect because members of these new religions took little interest in money, which they regarded as the invention of the Devil

• Members of new churches began demanding that they also be supported in proportion to their population in the colony

• 1. Baptists were able to get support, but Presbyterians were regarded as too radical and out of the mainstream.