Before we leave the 18th Century Methodists we ought to venture into another of their meetings, this time in America. The period we are looking at is late 18th and early 19th century, so we’re fast forwarding slightly and entering the exuberance of American Methodist revivalism. The Shouting Methodists! In a fascinating article that appeared [...]
Tag Archive: America
Shouting Satan’s Kingdom Down – the Dawn of American Revivalism
Jonathan Edwards and the Need for Fellow Elders
He may have felt righteous anger welling up on the inside, but at that point more than any other in his career, Jonathan Edwards needed peer level leadership advice. To read what happened click here and follow the links The term ‘Elder’ means different things in different church contexts. I am using it in the [...]
Jonathan Edwards’ Critical Mistake
So, some of the teenagers and twenties had got hold of a book. It was an illustrated manual of midwifery and was causing a stir amongst them. (Jonathan Edwards and Plurality of Eldership, part Two) For the first part of the story read here The numbers involved quickly increased, with an accusation that the keeper [...]
Jonathan Edwards and the Naughty Book
Jonathan Edwards and Plurality of Eldership (Part One) One of the shock stories of American church history is the apparently sudden sacking of the great Jonathan Edwards. Many are surprised that someone of Edwards’ intellectual and theological calibre could go so quickly from ‘You’re on fire!’ (and news of the ‘fire’ had spread all around [...]
George Whitefield on the Word and the Spirit
During the whole period of the first Great Awakening in America and Europe the power of the Holy Spirit was an obvious feature.
A season of mighty power
The power of God was evidently touching those non-Christians who were attending the massive meetings. The power of God was also touching those who were repenting. And faithful believers [...]
God’s Abiding Presence
The American colonial town of Northampton (now MA), had experienced numerous seasons of spiritual excitement.
A Cycle of Harvests
Solomon Stoddard, Jonathan Edwards grandfather, had led the Northampton church from 1672 and had referred to a cycle of harvests which had brought many of its inhabitants to faith in Christ.
When Jonathan Edwards began his pastoral ministry there [...]
George Whitefield Comments on Jonathan Edwards’ Family Life
This is Part Four on Whitefield’s Visit to Northampton (see Part One, Two and Three)
When Evangelist George Whitefield visited the American colonial town of Northampton, he had the privilege of staying with Jonathan and Sarah Edwards and their family.
Edwards and Whitefield – Similarities and Differences
Edwards and Whitefield shared many similarities. They were both highly respected [...]
George Whitefield visits Jonathan Edwards (part 3)
Part Three (see Part One and Part Two)
In the autumn of 1740, English Evangelist George Whitefield finally met the man he had so respected, Jonathan Edwards. Both these men were Reformed, (or, ‘Calvinistic’) in their theology and practice, preaching the gospel fervently and trusting God to move the people to respond.
Whitefield had already blazed a [...]
George Whitefield and Jonathan Edwards (part 1)
When he was just 25 years old, the English Evangelist George Whitefield visited the American town of Northampton, the town made famous by a revival in the 1730’s.
An article in the Princeton Theological Review (Vol 2, No.4, 1904), makes reference to the impact of the Great Awakening in both Great Britain and America, noting that [...]
The Power of the Gospel to Unite
Gospel Unity
We’re often told about how fragmented the Christian Church is. But actually, the true, final and eternal basis on which people will be united is the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Although we live in a fallen world, the reality of this unity can be experienced even now. And even though we are not unrealistic about [...]