Religion In The Great Awakening

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In the 1730s and 1740s, a spiritual event like nothing that was ever seen before began in the British colonies. Pastors set out to travel to many of the colonies with the plan of giving sermons. These sermons attracted thousands of colonists and taught them to be more conscious of living spiritual lives. Historians now refer to this time period as the Great Awakening, due to the consciousness it spread throughout the colonies. The term “Great Awakening” accurately describes the events of the early 1700s. Smaller revivals were connected by various pastors, forming one giant revival. This revival lead to a huge change in American society, including more divisions and denominations, change of church authoritative hierarchy, and dramatic increase in the number of churches and people attending church. Before the start of the Great Awakening, the colonies had a lack of spiritual commitment. When the first settlers landed from Europe, they hoped to practice their religion freely in the New World. By the second and the third generations, the colonists lost touch with the Anglican Church. In the 1700s, separation of church and state did not exist and the church played a huge part in governing society. The Great Awakening could not have…show more content…
In 1736, William Tennent, the father of Gilbert Tennent, began speaking out against the local Presbyterian Church. He complained that the preachers were not passionate about what they preach and the people were not interested. Soon, the churches members were split by the idea of following Tennent o following the traditional authority. More than once, the traditional pastors attempted to get Tennent kicked out of the church. Ultimately, Tennent decided to split from the Presbyterian Church and start his own. The example of the Presbyterian Church served as a model for numerous other divisions during the Great Awakening, such as the Baptist and the Methodist
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