Revival: The First Great Awakening (part 3)

Chelsea and I continue our series about the Christian revivals in American history.

George Whitefield was an Anglican deacon in Oxford, England. He met John and Charles Wesley in college and joined their Methodist movement. With his Bachelor of Arts degree, booming voice, and supreme acting ability, Whitefield would become a young traveling preacher who could command crowds of up to 20,000 people in one occasion.

Whitefield would become America's first celebrity as he traveled to the colonies seven times and toured up from Georgia to Massachusetts preaching the gospel freely to all sorts of people. He is credited for starting two orphanages mostly for African-American children. In the face of violent opposition and mockery, Whitefield would see thousands of converts, including two unexpected instances.

We address the fact that Whitefield wasn't an abolitionist like his friend John Wesley, but we try to understand his reasoning in light of the time he lived as well as how he was leaps and bounds better than the respectable opinion of his time. In fact, this Englishman was instrumental to preparing the colonies for independence and later for emancipation.

Sources Consulted:

"George Whitefield," Banner of Truth, Accessed March 5, 2023.

"Whitefield, George." Colonial America Reference Library. . Encyclopedia.com. (February 23, 2023).

Mills, Frederick. "George Whitefield." New Georgia Encyclopedia, last modified Jun 6, 2017.

George Whitefield, "Of Justification By Christ," ed., Bible Hub, Accessed March 5, 2023.

"George Whitefield Quotes," AZ Quotes, Access March 5, 2023.

"52 George Whitefield Quotes," ChristianQuotes.info, Updated July 24, 2015 by Pastor Jack Wellman.

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