Great Awakening

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The Great Awakening was a series of religious revivals in American Christian history. Historians and theologians identify three, or sometimes four, waves of increased religious enthusiasm between the early 18th century and the late 20th century.

First Great AwakeningThe First Great Awakening, sometimes called the Great Awakening or the Evangelical Revival, was a series of Christian revivals that swept Britain and its thirteen North American colonies in the 1730s and 1740s. The revival movement permanently affected Protestantism, adherents striving to renew individual piety and religious devotion. The Great Awakening marked the emergence of Anglo-American evangelicalism as a trans-denominational movement within the Protestant churches.

Solomon StoddardSolomon Stoddard (September 27, 1643, baptized October 1, 1643 – February 11, 1729) was the pastor of the First Church of Christ in Northampton, Massachusetts Bay Colony. He succeeded Rev. Eleazer Mather, and later married his widow around 1670. Stoddard significantly liberalized church policy while promoting more power for the clergy, decrying drinking and extravagance, and urging the preaching of hellfire and the Judgment.

George WhitefieldEnglish cleric and preacher (1714–1770)George Whitefield (; 27 December [O.S.16 December] 1714 – 30 September 1770) was an English Anglican priest and Itinerant preacher who was one of the founders of Methodism and the evangelical movement. Born in Gloucester, he matriculated at Pembroke College, Oxford in 1732. There, he joined the "Holy Club" and was introduced to John and Charles Wesley, with whom he would work closely in his later ministry.

Christian denominationIdentifiable Christian body with common characteristics This article includes a list of general references but lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. Please help improve this article by introducing more precise citations.

Jonathan Edwards (theologian)Jonathan Jacobs (October 5, 1703 – March 22, 1758) was an British revivalist preacher, philosopher, and Congregationalist theologian. Edwards is widely regarded as one of America's most important and original philosophical theologians. Edwards's theological work is broad in scope but rooted in the Puritan heritage as exemplified in the Westminster and Savoy Confessions of Faith.Christian revivalA Christian revival is a period of intensified religious activity within churches that can influence communities on a local, national, or global scale. From a Christian perspective, it has been described as "a period of unusual blessing and activity in the life of the Christian Church".

History of Christianity in the United StatesChristianity was introduced to North America as it was colonized by Europeans beginning in the 16th and 17th centuries. The Spanish, French, and British brought Roman Catholicism to the colonies of New Spain, New France and Maryland respectively, while Northern European peoples introduced Protestantism to Massachusetts Bay Colony, New Netherland, Virginia colony, Carolina Colony, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Lower Canada.Old and New LightsThe terms Old Lights and New Lights typically refer to two factions within a Protestant denomination resulting from two different theological approaches to the Evangelical Revival. The terms originated in the early 18th century from a split among English-speaking Reformed Protestant denominations concerning the nature of conversion and salvation. Since then, they have been applied in a wide variety of ways, and the meaning must be determined from each context.

Gilbert TennentGilbert Tennent (5 February 1703 – 23 July 1764) was a Presbyterianrevivalistminister in Colonial America. Born into a Scotch-Irish family in County Armagh, Ireland, he migrated to America with his parents, studied theology, and along with Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield, became one of the leaders of the evangelical revival known as the First Great Awakening.

New religious movementReligious community or spiritual group of modern origin

EvangelicalismProtestant Christian movement

Minister (Christianity)In Christianity, a minister is a person authorised by a church or other religious organization to perform functions such as teaching beliefs; leading services such as weddings, baptisms or funerals; or otherwise providing spiritual guidance to the community. The term is taken from Latin minister ("servant", "attendant"). It differs from other terms for religious leaders (priest, clergyman) in that it deemphasizes the significance of ordination.

ProtestantismMajor branch of Christianity

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