But his words miffed many established clergymen in the American colonies. Licensed to preach by Philadelphia Presbytery, 1725. [9][10] In England, the major leaders of the Evangelical Revival were three Anglican priests, the brothers John and Charles Wesley and their friend George Whitefield. While engaging divisively via pamphlets early in this period, Tennent would later work "feverishly" for reunion of the various synods involved. His father, William Tennent, founded the so-called "Log College" to train backwoods ministers. [6], Pietism prepared Europe for revival, and it usually occurred in areas where pietism was strong. Sometimes revival would be initiated by regular preaching or the customary pulpit exchanges between two ministers. ", Coalter, Milton J. Whitefield met Gilbert Tennent on Staten Island and asked him to preach in Boston to continue the revival there. Mr. Frelinghuysen, of the Dutch Reformed Church, had been much blessed, especially about the time of his first settlement over that people in the year 1720. Wesley recounted that "I felt my heart strangely warmed. [47], Whitefield then traveled to Northampton at the invitation of Jonathan Edwards. [1], The frontier of Pennsylvania was unsettled in the 1760s, and in the aftermath of the French and Indian War, new Scots-Irish immigrants encroached on Native American land, later claiming Indian raids and killings; Reverend John Elder, a parson from Paxtang, known as the "Fighting Parson,"[5] helped organize the Scots-Irish frontiersmen into a mounted militia and was named Captain of the group, known as the "Pextony boys,"[6] later the "Paxton Boys." [82] This introspection led many women to keep diaries or write memoirs. In the Middle Colonies, he was popular in the Dutch and German communities as well as among the British. Gilbert became a zealous evangelical preacher himself and was ordained in 1726. preached in western Virginia and North Carolina. [9], The origins of revivalism in Scotland stretch back to the 1620s. Due to the fall of man, humans are naturally inclined to rebel against God and unable to initiate or merit salvation, according to the doctrine of original sin. Tennent accepted and in December began a three-month long preaching tour throughout New England. Born in a Presbyterian Scots-Irish family in County Armagh, Ireland, he migrated to America as a teenager, trained for pastoral ministry, and became one of the leaders of the Great Awakening of religious feeling in Colonial America, along with Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield. Known as the Great Schism, it lasted for 17 years, created bitterness which lasted much longer, and destroyed much that was good. Some were enslaved at their time of conversion while others were free. William and Gilbert Tennent were Irish-born Presbyterians who preached that people should renounce their ministers and pursue salvation on their own. [78] Converts were encouraged to seek assurance through self-examination of their own spiritual progress. Significantly, the pietists placed less emphasis on traditional doctrinal divisions between Protestant churches, focusing rather on religious experience and affections. [35] These early revivals remained local affairs due to the lack of coverage in print media. [68], The conviction stage lasted so long because potential converts were waiting to find evidence of regeneration within their lives. This process generally took place over an extended time. William Tennent, Sr., Presbyterian clergymen and educator, was born either in Ireland or Scotland in 1673. [89][page needed], George Whitefield's sermons reiterated an egalitarian message, but only translated into a spiritual equality for Africans in the colonies who mostly remained enslaved. It is Christ formed within us. The first stage was conviction of sin, which was spiritual preparation for faith by God's law and the means of grace. [8] In February 1764, Gilbert Tennent was one of a group of clergymen sent as an emissary by John Penn, Governor of Pennsylvania, to the marching frontiersmen. Whitefield was known to criticize slaveholders who treated their slaves cruelly and those who did not educate them, but he had no intention to abolish slavery. From the Speer Library Collection. "The First Great Awakening: Whose interpretive fiction?". [19] In May 1738, Wesley attended a Moravian meeting on Aldersgate Street where he felt spiritually transformed during a reading of Martin Luther's preface to the Epistle to the Romans. Scougal wrote that many people mistakenly understood Christianity to be "Orthodox Notions and Opinions" or "external Duties" or "rapturous Heats and extatic Devotion". [26] By the time of John Wesley's death in 1791, there were over 71,668 Methodists in England and 43,265 in America. [12] On April 2, 1739, Wesley preached to about 3,000 people near Bristol. 1740–1766," in, Sprague (1858), "John Elder. They mocked revivalists as being ignorant, heterodox or con artists. Extemporaneous preaching gave listeners a sense of deep personal conviction of their need of salvation by Jesus Christ and fostered introspection and commitment to a new standard of personal morality. At issue was the place of revivalism in American Presbyterianism, specifically the "relation between doctrinal orthodoxy and experimental knowledge of Christ. Lutheran pastor Henry Muhlenberg told of a German woman who heard Whitefield preach and, though she spoke no English, later said she had never before been so edified. [52] The Awakening aroused a wave of separatist feeling within the Congregational churches of New England. Education Master of Arts (honorary), Yale, 1725. He ignited a fire in these young revivalists which they carried as far west as Ohio and south into Virginia and North Carolina. William Tennent and Gilbert Tennent. Edwards cautiously defended these experiences as long as they led individuals to a greater belief in God's glory rather than in self-glorification. His father, William Tennent, founded the so-called "Log College" to train backwoods ministers. Many pulpits were closed to him, and he had to struggle against Anglicans who opposed the Methodists and the "doctrine of the New Birth". Early life. Tennent était un homme d'église presbytérien américain d'origine irlandaise, fils et frère de trois autres hommes d'église presbytériens. tennent, gilbert (1703–1764) Premier Presbyterian revivalist of the First Great Awakening, Tennent preached a three–step conversion adapted from the Dutch Reformed pietist Theodore Frelinghuysen. ", Butler, Jon. Early life. [90] Whitefield shared a common belief held among evangelicals that, after conversion, slaves would be granted true equality in Heaven. [30] At the same time, church membership was low from having failed to keep up with population growth, and the influence of Enlightenment rationalism was leading many people to turn to atheism, Deism, Unitarianism and Universalism. 5. Tennent, Gilbert was born on February 5, 1703 in County Armagh, Ireland. Accepted call to New Brunswick, New Jersey, 1726, … It was this “controversial” theology that Tennent imparted to his students. This was a violent denunciation of ministers who had criticized the extreme emotionalism of the revival. George Whitefield, close friend of Gilbert Tennent. "[22] In February 1739, rectors in Bath and Bristol refused to let him preach in their churches on the grounds that he was a religious enthusiast. He wrote in his journal, "I who went to America to convert others was never myself converted to God. The revival movement permanently affected Protestantism as adherents strove to renew individual piety and religious devotion. [41], At a time when Enlightenment rationalism and Arminian theology was popular among some Congregational clergy, Edwards held to traditional Calvinist doctrine. The Moravians came to Herrnhut as refugees, but under Zinzendorf's guidance, the group enjoyed a religious revival. Revivalists distinguished true conversion (which was motivated by love of God and hatred of sin) from false conversion (which was motivated by fear of hell). At times, he wept or impersonated Bible characters. These figures paved the way for the establishment of the first black congregations and churches in the American colonies. (If the author links in this post are broken, please visit our Free PDF Library and click on the author’s page directly.). [47] On September 20, Whitefield preached in First Church and then outside of it to about 8,000 people who could not gain entrance. Edwards wrote to Boston minister Benjamin Colman that the town "never was so full of Love, nor so full of Joy, nor so full of distress as it has lately been. "[47], Whitefield met Gilbert Tennent on Staten Island and asked him to preach in Boston to continue the revival there. "[32], In response to these trends, ministers influenced by New England Puritanism, Scots-Irish Presbyterianism, and European Pietism began calling for a revival of religion and piety. It had little impact on most Lutherans, Quakers, and non-Protestants. [65], The major figures of the Great Awakening, such as George Whitefield, Jonathan Edwards, Gilbert Tennent, Jonathan Dickinson and Samuel Davies, were moderate evangelicals who preached a pietistic form of Calvinism heavily influenced by the Puritan tradition, which held that religion was not only an intellectual exercise but also had to be felt and experienced in the heart. And the Reason why Congregations have been so dead, is because dead Men preach to them. [19], John Wesley returned to England in September 1738. [31], The Great Awakening aggravated existing conflicts within the Protestant churches, often leading to schisms between supporters of revival, known as "New Lights", and opponents of revival, known as "Old Lights". The revivalists use of "indiscriminate" evangelism—the "practice of extending the gospel promises to everyone in their audiences, without stressing that God redeems only those elected for salvation"—was contrary to these notions. By May, he was preaching to London crowds of 50,000. [87], The message of spiritual equality appealed to many slaves, and, as African religious traditions continued to decline in North America, black people accepted Christianity in large numbers for the first time. Old, , “Gilbert Tennent,” p. 137. Many Africans were finally provided with some sort of education. William Tennent was born in 1759 in County Antrim, Kingdom of Ireland the eldest son of Reverend John Tennant a Scottish Presbyterian minister who settled in Ulster in the mid 18th century and was associated with the seceding faction of Ulster Presbyterians. [14][15] In 1736, he began preaching in Bristol and London. V. 20. There were prayers at King's Chapel (at the time an Anglican church) and preaching at Brattle Street Church and South Church. An Elegiac Poem On the Death of that celebrated Divine, and eminent Servant of Jesus Christ, the Reverend and Learned Mr. George Whitefield. [36], In the 1720s and 1730s, an evangelical party took shape in the Presbyterian churches of the Middle Colonies led by William Tennent, Sr. Services became more emotional and some people had visions and mystical experiences. [37] A pietist, Frelinghuysen believed in the necessity of personal conversion and living a holy life. Unconditional election relates to the doctrine of predestination—that before the creation of the world God determined who would be saved (the elect) on the basis of his own choosing. They believe only an outward Christ, we further believe that He must be inwardly formed in our hearts also. Because they threatened Congregationalist uniformity, the Separatists were persecuted and in Connecticut they were denied the same legal toleration enjoyed by Baptists, Quakers and Anglicans. "[13] Whitefield wrote that "though I had fasted, watched and prayed, and received the Sacrament long, yet I never knew what true religion was" until he read Scougal. His rants and attacks against "unconverted" ministers inspired much opposition, and he was arrested in Connecticut for violating a law against itinerant preaching. [73], Another issue that had to be addressed were the intense physical and emotional reactions to conviction experienced during the Awakening. Gilbert Tennent (1703-1764), American Presbyterian clergyman and evangelist, participated in the revival movement, the Great Awakening, in the Middle colonies and New England. [15] A substantial number of Church of Scotland ministers held evangelical views. As a young man he served as an apprentice with John Campbell, a Belfast merchant and banker. From Tennent’s preaching and teaching they learned to emphasize personal conversion—an inner work of grace in the heart—a doctrine they would preach during the Awakening. Gilbert Tennent arrived in America as a young boy. Through their efforts, New England experienced a "great and general Awakening" between 1740 and 1743 characterized by a greater interest in religious experience, widespread emotional preaching, and intense emotional reactions accompanying conversion, including fainting and weeping. Preach'd at the evening-lecture in Boston, January 27, 1740 (Sermon)", "Gilbert Tennent | American Presbyterian clergyman". This page was last edited on 5 December 2020, at 21:04. [46], In 1740, Whitefield began touring New England. In 1746, New Side Presbyterians founded what would become Princeton University. Gilbert Tennent preached a sermon that warned of a deadly danger. [7] After further such incidents, the Paxton Boys marched on Philadelphia in early 1764 to express grievance that their concerns for safety were not being met by the government, and while doing so further threatened the lives of about 200 Moravian Indians. 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