Great Awakening Dbq Essay
Before the Great Awakening, religious authority was very bias which lead to many uproars. Religion was very strict back then and it shaped the way people lived their lives. It had total control over everything, including government. Acceptance into heaven wasn’t even a privilege because many believed that God decided who was going into heaven no matter what. However, by the 1700s, colonists believed that communities were beginning to take their religion a little less seriously. In order to bring religion back into the lives of the citizens, new discoveries needed to be made first. In the 1730s and 40s, the lack of interest in following a faith revived the belief of religion which became the Great Awakening. This eventually led to new
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ways of thinking, propaganda techniques, and ways of preaching.
With the new age came new ways of preaching. Many people were hearing unique ways of preaching that they never hear before. One of the most famous preachers was George Whitefield. He felt as if he can make anyone feel “reborn” as a new and better person of faith (written document 1). While many would agree at the time that what Whitefield was doing was controversial, a group of New England pastors ensured that all of the public would feel a “spiritual renewal” for anybody who followed the revivals. Many Protestants believed that God had already decided if they were going into heaven which made people act like good Christians. This made an abundance of people very thankful for the preachers. This drew in a larger crowd and added a following of many that some criticized. Visual document three portrays Whitefield reaching to the public as the devil is placing money into a bag which implies that Whitefield worked with the devil. Although this picture criticizes Whitefield’s work, it also showed its growing popularity amongst the members of the colonies. As more and more people joined, the more they were prepared for the political revolution to come.
As people began to diverse from their religion, new ways of thinking started to appear. The New Light preachers gave more enthusiastic ways to approach religion. The Old Lights were losing power due the fact that the followers of the New Lights enjoyed listening to the new form of preaching rather than the old sermons. This lead to the Old Lights speaking out against them. Written Document two states that George Whitefield’s new way of preaching was a detriment to religion itself and could possibly destroy the order of the churches of Christ. This, however, wasn’t true because the New Lights form of preaching apparently brought people closer to Christ with “such sweet tastes of redeeming love” (written document 1). Itinerants would travel place to place to give sermons and often left people dissatisfied with their pastors who weren’t as exciting to listen to. With this in mind, some saw these new ideas more effective which is why they began to follow them. This helped shape the way the Great Awakening will eventually form.
With the new ideas spreading controversy with the Old Lights ways of preaching, religion, and etc, forms of propaganda was brought up to ensure that the community would fall back into the old ways of religion.
As mentioned before, visual document three showed George Whitefield conspiring with the devil and was making a profit off of the devils ideas and plans. However, the propaganda wasn’t only against the New Lights and their ideas. Visual document one shows Whitefield preaching in his “usual style”. I depict him to be in the center of attention with his arms raised showing that he has power over all. Visual document two shows the interest that hundreds of people had about Jonathan Edwards sermon. His preaching style was strict and he even warned of God's lack of ability to save their souls. Even so, it still sparked a great revival in his community proving that the New Light’s preaching styles and ideas were superior to those of the Old Light’s at that time.
With the new ideas brought up in the Great Awakening, many uproars occurred throughout the nation. Everyone was reacting differently to the New Light’s ways of preaching. Many testified against their ways because of how many people started to follow. This gave people the courage to go against the standard ways of religion which helped them prepare for the political revolution to come. The Great Awakening itself paved the way for how people will challenge authority. This is shown in many events over the years and even in today's
world.
ways of thinking, propaganda techniques, and ways of preaching.
With the new age came new ways of preaching. Many people were hearing unique ways of preaching that they never hear before. One of the most famous preachers was George Whitefield. He felt as if he can make anyone feel “reborn” as a new and better person of faith (written document 1). While many would agree at the time that what Whitefield was doing was controversial, a group of New England pastors ensured that all of the public would feel a “spiritual renewal” for anybody who followed the revivals. Many Protestants believed that God had already decided if they were going into heaven which made people act like good Christians. This made an abundance of people very thankful for the preachers. This drew in a larger crowd and added a following of many that some criticized. Visual document three portrays Whitefield reaching to the public as the devil is placing money into a bag which implies that Whitefield worked with the devil. Although this picture criticizes Whitefield’s work, it also showed its growing popularity amongst the members of the colonies. As more and more people joined, the more they were prepared for the political revolution to come.
As people began to diverse from their religion, new ways of thinking started to appear. The New Light preachers gave more enthusiastic ways to approach religion. The Old Lights were losing power due the fact that the followers of the New Lights enjoyed listening to the new form of preaching rather than the old sermons. This lead to the Old Lights speaking out against them. Written Document two states that George Whitefield’s new way of preaching was a detriment to religion itself and could possibly destroy the order of the churches of Christ. This, however, wasn’t true because the New Lights form of preaching apparently brought people closer to Christ with “such sweet tastes of redeeming love” (written document 1). Itinerants would travel place to place to give sermons and often left people dissatisfied with their pastors who weren’t as exciting to listen to. With this in mind, some saw these new ideas more effective which is why they began to follow them. This helped shape the way the Great Awakening will eventually form.
With the new ideas spreading controversy with the Old Lights ways of preaching, religion, and etc, forms of propaganda was brought up to ensure that the community would fall back into the old ways of religion.
As mentioned before, visual document three showed George Whitefield conspiring with the devil and was making a profit off of the devils ideas and plans. However, the propaganda wasn’t only against the New Lights and their ideas. Visual document one shows Whitefield preaching in his “usual style”. I depict him to be in the center of attention with his arms raised showing that he has power over all. Visual document two shows the interest that hundreds of people had about Jonathan Edwards sermon. His preaching style was strict and he even warned of God's lack of ability to save their souls. Even so, it still sparked a great revival in his community proving that the New Light’s preaching styles and ideas were superior to those of the Old Light’s at that time.
With the new ideas brought up in the Great Awakening, many uproars occurred throughout the nation. Everyone was reacting differently to the New Light’s ways of preaching. Many testified against their ways because of how many people started to follow. This gave people the courage to go against the standard ways of religion which helped them prepare for the political revolution to come. The Great Awakening itself paved the way for how people will challenge authority. This is shown in many events over the years and even in today's
world.