Evangelical Argumentative Essay

Evangelicals were beginning to ask questions concerning the ideas of Christianization and began embracing other ideas and arguments. These new ideas deconstructed the social expectations of those following the paradigms of this new millennial way of thinking with deconstructed expectations, challenging believers to consider the ideas of evangelical marginality. These new ideas lead to new expectations in missions and literal interpretation. Some of these arguments ultimately shattered denominational loyalties. These beliefs eventually fed into a new idea of pan-evangelical identity to welcome all types of evangelicals. The first three quarters of the nineteenth century, were a time of millennial bliss, but it didn’t last long. Not everyone agreed with everything that was established. Many believed that the old way of thinking was still
better. However, this was a time of great change. We had reached the end of an age. It was almost like the end of the first book in a good book series. “The [historic] and post-millenial consensus had been disrupted, and a new faith was on the rise. These were the heady days for the expansion of a evangelical millennial hope.” (Gibben) Previously, we have discussed the work of the men in the books, the scholars. We have discussed the changes noted by the historians and theologians. However, we cannot forget the faces of this great movement, as they are the ones that God directly used to bring people to him.
It was believed that to experience revival, one had to experience despair. It was a time to call for moral reformation. Puritan leaders had been praying for a change in the church and it was coming like no one ever expected. The movement swept across the nation, and the entire continent. The world would soon know everything there was to know about George Whitefield and he would take the world by storm as God used him in ways I’m sure he never expected.
This was a revolution designed by the Lord to bring more people to him in a way that would continue to affect the world for generations to come. There soon came convictions concerning the idea that Jesus died to save both men and women of their sins. These were the changes happening in the place where they least expected it, in the church.
George Whitefield was one to impact the world. He could turn the hardest hearts to mush, and his entire life was one that focused on Christ alone. He was a pioneer in commercializing religion. He wasn’t your typical preacher. He was very loud and dramatic. He was cross-eyed and fun to look at. He saw himself on a stage for God and he took advantage of it. He wasn’t one to stay in place for a long period of time, as one place could never offer a big enough stage for him to reach the number of people that he had hoped to reach.
George Whitefield was born in Gloucester England to Elizabeth and Thomas Whitfield at the Bell Inn, a business owned by his parents, in 1714. Two years after Whitefield was born, he lost his father. This proved to be very hard for the family as Thomas Whitefield held all roles of husband, father, and business manager. When he died, many members of the family had to take on extra chores. This new distribution of duties affected everyone, included George’s nurse. When George contracted the measles, his nurse was unable to properly care for him as she was attending to her other household duties, and before anyone realized it, the muscles in George’s left eye were damaged causing his pupil face slightly inward, toward his nose.
No one really knows what academic aspirations Whitefield’s father had for him, but his mother undoubtedly wanted him to be a preacher. She started pouring into him starting when he was young, as she had high hopes for what he would become. While his brothers worked, and eventually owned the Bell Inn, Whitfield wouldn’t work there. Whitfield grew up to be very sensitive and emotional. It wasn’t long before he developed a love for the dramatics and enjoyed being in the public eye.
When George’s mother entered into a bad marriage, her new husband insisted on running the inn. Eventually, Whitefield’s mother ended the marriage, but the inn had developed such a bad reputation that it caused financial difficulties, forcing Whitefield to drop out of school. However, in 1732, Whitfield would enroll at Pembroke College of Oxford University. Whitefield studied hard at Oxford as not to lose the great opportunity that God had given him.
George Whitefield said that “true religion is a union of the soul with God, and Christ formed within us.” It was at that moment when he realized deciding to follow Christ could be a matter of internal transformation. However, it would take time before he finally understood that there would be parts of his life that he would have to surrender to ultimately follow God.
In 1735 when Whitefield fell sick and was bed ridden for nearly seven weeks, he tried to continue his readings and prayers, but due to the effect it was having on his body, he had to stop. Finally, he cried out to God. “[He] cast himself on the mercy of God.” And said, “a full assurance of faith broke in upon my disconsolate soul” It was at that moment that Whitefield experienced the true peace the he had been missing. This was one of the most pivotal points of his life. (Fish, p.35)
At the age of twenty-one Whitefield became a deacon in the Anglican Church. With great tension between Anglicans and Dissenters, non-conformists subject to discrimination and violence. The nature of Whitefield’s teaching seemed to alleviate some of this tension, as he spoke with great dramatics. The press caught onto his unique style and he soon began touring England in Bristol and London. Whitefield spoke on new birth and spiritual transformation. Soon, denominational standing began to be less of a matter.
In 1738, Whitefield received a letter from John and Charles Wesley in Savannah Georgia, and they quickly convince him to travel across the Ocean to America.
He arrives to find the Wesley brothers gone, and their mission foundation in shambles. Without thinking twice, Whitefield bean to piece it back together. It didn’t take him long to realize the city of Savannah was in need of an orphanage. Although the Charles Wesley had previously considered the idea of an orphanage, it had never come into fruition. Whitefield decided to make the orphanage a central part of his ministry. Soon Whitefield met Johann Martin Bolzius, a Salzburg Lutheran disciple who had founded and orphanage in Ebenezer, Georgia. This was an orphanage of seventeen children, and one widow. Whitefield worked to match the two orphanages, as he believed that great temporal and spiritual blessings were happening in Georgia. Whitefield would pour his heart and soul into this ministry, but he would not stay in Georgia for long. He would establish the Bethseda orphanage in Georgia and return to England to raise money for the project by traveling the British Atlantic
world.
Franklin’s autobiography on promoting the great awakening, discussed Whitefield’s gift of overpowering the hearts and purses of many, including Franklin, when speaking of the orphanage. In his book, Franklin gave his own account of being encouraged to give to the cause,
“I thought it would have been better to have built the House here & brought the Children to it. This I advis'd, but he was resolute in his first Project, and I thereupon resolv'd to con- tribute nothing. Happening however to attend one of his Sermons, in the course of which I perceived he intended to finish with a Collection, I silently resolving he should get nothing from me, I had in my Pocket a Handful of Copper, Money, three or four Dollars, and five Pistoles in Gold. As he proceeded I began to soften, and concluded to give the Coppers. Another Strike of his Oratory made me asham'd of that, and determin'd me to give the Silver; & he finish'd so admirably, that I empty'd my Pocket wholly into the Collector's Dish, Gold and all.” (Franklin)
When Whitefield returned to England, he was welcomed by his Methodist friends, and soon ordained as a Methodist priest. Whitefield quickly began looking for new and innovative ways to preach. He decided that open-air preaching would allow him to reach the most people at one time. He knew of a man from Wales, Howell Harris, who had been successful with this method and he hoped to follow in his footsteps.
In a short period of time, Whitefield attracted over ten thousand listeners to one of his famous sermons. Within less than six months, he would attract over fifty thousand. Some critics believed that Whitefield sometimes over-estimated the number of people in the crowd. However, a skeptic Ben Franklin once estimated over twenty-five thousand in one crowd. He traveled through Europe from Bristol to London, and then came back to the Colonies. With Georgia as his home base, he traveled the east coast from Maryland to Philadelphia to South Carolina. Whitefield was everywhere. By age twenty-six he had established himself as an evangelical superstar. The number of texts sold and printed in America nearly doubled, as every work written by, or about, George Whitefield was flying off the shelves.
In 1741, George Whitefield arrived in Scotland with the intention to marry a woman, Elizabeth James. She was ten years his senior, and widowed, but she was exactly what he had been praying for. He was looking for a God fearing woman who could manage the orphanage. James had a suitor, Howell Harris, a friend of Whitefield’s, but he felt that the two of them would make the perfect pair. James wanted Harris to propose, but knew he wouldn’t. On November 14th, she became Elizabeth Whitefield and Harris gave her away. He was clever with the media, and a powerful preacher.

Because of individuals like George Whitefield the church operate the way it does. Every Sunday, we go to church and we listen to a sermon that is meant to wrack our world. We take part in events that draw in new people this way to show them the great love and promises that they may be missing out on. Depending on the type of church you go to, your church may take part in church plays. This adds more theatrical zest when teaching a lesson, and is most effective when trying to reach young children.
Like Whitefield, churches often raise money for an organization in need of financial assistance. Sometimes it may be an orphanage, but sometimes it may be a family in the church. Sometimes, it’s an organization abroad, but sometimes it’s a need in the local community. The opportunities to offer assistance can go beyond that of finances. Many churches give the opportunity to offer your time to a group, or organization that needs physical, hands-on help. Through church we can be given great opportunities to serve others.
Overall, I believe that on of Whitefield’s greatest impacts was in the way he reached people. While he was often very blunt when discussing what would happen when you do not give your lie to God, he was also very human. He was someone who grew up in a small inn in England. He was someone who had to drop out of school due to financial difficulties. He was, and still is, a living testament of what it means to fight for what you believe God has meant for you. No matter what happened to Whitefield, he never gave up on God. He never stopped listening. Without a doubt he struggled, but he didn’t waver.
Today’s church is not exactly what it was in the eighteenth century; we have over forty-six denominations of churches. This is most clearly the end result of what happened during the millennial, as various groups began to realize their disagreements with each other and began to take action by splitting into their different communities. Many individuals realized that they wanted to continue to adhere to the traditional church culture, while others realized that they wanted to live a new way of life for Jesus. Unfortunately, this is still an act that often happens. Events happen in the world, and when we take a stance on it, we must accept the fact that others will disagree with us. This is how the church splits. It’s something that could be happening in the United Methodist church alone in the very near future, and something that is happening to churches all across the world as political issues are beginning to affect the church more and more. We live in a world where it is not easy to live as a Christ follower, and many different people have different ideas of what following Christ should look like, and as long as we are on earth, we may never see a time when the church s truly united on everything. Being a Christian has never been easy. However, there is an expression when it comes to making a statement, “If you’re not swimming upstream, you’re just following everyone else.” That’s exactly what was happening in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The church was swimming upstream, and they changed everything. It’s time for the church to not just make a difference; it’s time to make a change. Maybe, it’s time for another Revolution to change the world.