First and Second Great Awakening

        The two awakenings, in response to the liberalization, emphasized beliefs different from the past and the liberal present.  The First Great Awakening, led by Jonathan Edwards and Gilbert Tennet, reflected a shift in religious beliefs, and the ministers became to be known as the “New Lights” while the orthodox clergymen were the “Old Lights.”  The New Lights emphasized emotionalism, in which they encouraged religious experience “from the heart than the head,” while the Old Lights emphasized the opposite.  Thus, the sermons of the New Lights were full of enthusiasm and emotion, unlike the Old Lights’.  Not only that, the New Lights believed in individual religious experience and that individuals didn’t need the Church ministers as a mediator, but only needed the Bible, unlike the Old Lights.  In addition, the New Lights declared that salvation through good works (the beliefs of the followers of the liberalized religions) was foolish, as individuals had to completely depend on God’s grace.  This idea can be reflected by Edward’s most famous sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”: “The God that holds you over the pit of hell much as one holds a spider or some loathsome insect over the fire.”  By contrast, in the Second Great Awakening, led by Charles Finney and Peter Carthwright, the ministers believed that free will did play a role in the “road” towards salvation.  For example, Finney preached that through faith and hard work, everyone could be saved.  This reflected a shift away from the strong Calvinist teachings of predestination of the past.  Not only that, the awakening reflected a shift away from the liberalized “environment”: with the fire-and-brimstone sermons observable in the first awakening, the preachers converted, with new methods such as anxious benches, thousands of people deemed sinners (for example, those who denied the divinity of the Christ and rejected the Bible).  Indeed, the two reflected changes in beliefs.

        The two awakenings also increased religious fervor in American society, which resulted in numerous social changes.  Due to the First Great Awakening, church participation increased and so did missionary works among Indians and some Blacks.  Also, it led to the emergence of new religious “New Lights” sects, such as the Methodists and the Baptists, and new “New Light” educational centers, such Princeton, Brown, and Darthmouth.  In addition, for the first time in US history, the people participated in a spontaneous mass movement, which decreased sectionalism.  After the Second Great Awakening, church participation and missionary works increased.  For example, the American Bible Society was established.  Also, it led to the emergence of new religious sects, such as the Adventists and the Mormons, and the division between the Northern Methodists with its Southern counterpart.  Most importantly, the second awakening led to significant social reforms, such as women’s rights, temperance, and abolition.  These reforms were at many times headed by important females, whose participation in religion increased due to the awakening (Finney encouraged it), and gradually so did their participation in society: the females tried to save society from sins.  Without doubt, the two awakenings resulted in significant social changes.

        The two Great Awakenings similarly reflected the shifts in religious beliefs, as the ministers preached those different from the past and their liberal present, in order to bring about significant social changes, mainly caused by the increase of religious fervor in America.