These are a few of the things I've recently found of interest, but don't have the time to properly blog on. I don't necessarily like or agree with the links here, I just think they're interesting. And just in case you do, too, enjoy.

(You can view past Del.icio.us links here or subscribe to my Del.icio.us feed here. )

As a farm boy in Connecticut was affected by the Great Awakening and repented while mowing a field without emotion or ecstasy, but with great clarity. Soon after joined the ranks of the revivalists and eventually formed the First Baptist Church of Middlesborough, Massachusetts.

[tags]BlogRodent, church-history, ChurchRodent, Great-Awakening, history, Isaac-Backus[/tags]

Shortly after the dawn of the eighteenth century, two types of Puritan heirs were visible. The spiritual heritage (as opposed to the worldly) fell to the children of the Great Awakening. The call for personal conversion as the basis of church membership soon echoed throughout the Connecticut River valley through the preaching of Jonathan Edwards. In Northampton, Massachusetts Jonathan had spiritual charge of two hundred families, suffering an extraordinary dulness in religion. Yet, in 1734 revival broke out in this little community. Soon Edwards and other ministers began to visit neighboring towns to deliver "revival sermons." When Edwards spoke at Enfield, Connecticut, about "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God," he was merciless. He described god holding men over the flames in the way that one held a loathsome spider over a candle. He speculated on how it would feel to have the searing agony of a burn drawn

A dramatic spiritual renewal in Western Christianity during the Age of Reason. The movement was interlaced by the personal ties of its leaders, but three regions were significantly changed: Germany by the rise of Pietism, the British Isles by the preaching of the Methodists, and the American colonies by the impact of the Great Awakening.

[tags]BlogRodent, church-history, ChurchRodent, Evangelical-Awakening, Great-Awakening, history, Western-Christianity[/tags]

The first in the long history of American revivals. One of the three major revival movements comprising the Evangelical Awakening in the early 1700's. It was a key influence on the beginnings of the Wesleyan revival back in England due to its affect on a young John Wesley. The Great Awakening restored both the "tears of repentance and the joy of salvation" to colonial Christianity. Theodore J. Frelinghuysen is credited by George Whitefield as the beginner of the great work. Other leaders included Jonathon Edwards and Isaac Backus.

[tags]BlogRodent, church-history, ChurchRodent, Evangelical, George-Whitefield, Great-Awakening, history, Isaac-Backus, John-Wesley[/tags]

An instrument the evangelicals used to subdue the frontier wilderness was the revival. The Second Great Awakening provided the next generation with skilled and dedicated leaders for the western crusade. The great western frontier revival took place in newly settled regions between the Alleghenies and the Mississippi and centered in Kentucky and Tennessee. This awakening was rugged, wild, and boisterous. The camp meeting was an effective tool used by the rough and ready circuit preachers to spread revival.

[tags]BlogRodent, church-history, ChurchRodent, Great-Awakening, history, Revival[/tags]

In 1790, evangelicals faced a dual evangelistic challenge: to regain the East and to win the West. In the East, especially in a number of colleges, a fresh enthusiasm for the life of the Spirit was apparent before 1800. This revival came to be know as the Second Great Awakening. This awakening in the East provided the next generation the skilled and dedicated leaders to win the West.

[tags]BlogRodent, church-history, ChurchRodent, Great-Awakening, history, Second-Great-Awakening[/tags]