Comparing The Book Preachers In The Time Period Of The Great Awakening

The Great Awakening was the most important event of American religion in the eighteenth century, it was a series of emotionally based religious revivals that swept across the American colonies in the 1730s and 1740s with the first awakening and again from the 1790s to the 1830s in the second. This awakening allowed for a new breed of preachers to step forth, one that was dynamic in speech with the ability to excite the masses in the colonies, spreading the Word of God through the colonies preaching fire and brimstone. The preaching style of fire and brimstone was a revivalist form that used fiery and highly descriptive language, thundering that people that did not establish a personal relationship with God would be damned to hell.

The book

The style of preaching brought about by the awakening would transition into modern times, taking on many forms, but still holding the dynamic style that excited large crowds and called for a close knit church group that would be supported by tithes and offerings. A modern day example of a preacher along the lines of Jonathan Edwards would be the evangelist Billy Graham. While Jonathan Edwards used a fiery preaching style warning against the fire and brimstone of Hell, Billy Graham focused on God’s love and compassion for humans. Their preaching style differed in their words and approach, they both had fiery voices that used vivid imagery in order to excite the masses, bringing messages that changed many hearts and revitalized churches. An example of the excitement Billy Graham created in the country through religion is in his sermon Christ’s Answer to the World. The sermon is full of energy and imagery even without audio; although, in order to experience the full effect one would have to listen to a video of the sermon to hear the power and conviction in his voice as he spoke. Billy Graham would use modern events and politics in order to show how the world must come together under Christ such as when he said, “We are so taken up with our money-making, so taken up with the amusements and places and comforts of modern American life, that we don't realize that the forces of evil are closing in round about us. Unless we can turn to God and have His help, we are done for as a nation and as a people.” This, like the Great Awakening, served as a wakeup call to many, causing growth in the churches, and greater participation than had been seen in