The Great Awakening
John Adams, one of the most notable of America’s Founding Fathers and eventually the second president of the United States, wrote that the American Revolution was not simply the war that liberated the colonies from England, but rather, it happened before the war ever took place. “The Revolution was effected before the war commenced. The Revolution was in the minds and hearts of the people. A change in their religious sentiments of their duties and obligations.”Barton and Richie explain how the Great Awakening impacted the hearts and minds of Americans. Through the preaching of influential pastors such as George Whitefield, the seeds of the American Revolution were planted through the shaping of the American mind on topics of liberty and social issues.
Benjamin Franklin, one of the least religious Founding Fathers but very close friends with Whitefield, said the religious fervor was incredible to see among the people during the Great Awakening. Franklin wrote that there was a fundamental change in the thoughts and habits of the people due to Whitefield’s ministry. “From being thoughtless or indifferent about religion, it seemed as if all the world were growing religious.” Franklin wrote that one could not walk through town in the evening without hearing families singing Psalms in their homes.
Local Pastors
But it was not just big-name pastors such as George Whitefield who shaped the minds and hearts of the people. Local pastors from the colonies rose in their communities to teach biblical principles and apply them to relevant social issues of the day.One such pastor was John Wise. Wise was a pastor in the Massachusetts area in the late 1600s and early 1700s. His sermons contributed significantly to laying the foundations for the Declaration of Independence. In addition to being an impressive athlete and strong spiritual leader, Wise was a very politically engaged pastor. When a British governor of the area began enacting tyrannical policies, Wise led the opposition and ended up in prison. He wrote a book of printed sermons, where many concepts of the American Revolution were first put to words. These concepts included “taxation without representation is tyranny” or “God’s preferred form of government is the consent of the governed” and that all are equal under God. Wise’s words were to reappear later in the Declaration of Independence.
Although Wise’s ministry was decades before the American Revolution, his sermons no doubt shaped and influenced the Founding Fathers. A collection of his sermons were reprinted by a group called “The Sons of Liberty” in 1776, influencing the minds of the Founding Fathers and other colonists on the eve of the American Revolution.
Barton notes that there are thousands of historically printed sermons from this period. Since it was not an easy thing to print back then, if material went to print, it was because there was a demand for it. This indicates the level of influence these sermons had at that time.
Pastors Preaching About Relevant Social Issues
The EpochTV episode highlights one of the significant attributes of the Church during this time in history, which is that pastors were not afraid to speak from the pulpit about relevant cultural issues. They preached about what was happening in society, what the king was saying or doing, and what the Bible had to say about it. These sermons formed the understanding of political oppression and how Christians should respond. They talked about tyranny, slavery, equality of rights, and how religious freedom was the foundation of civil liberty. Many of these concepts oversaw the abolition movement as well.It Started in the Pulpit
Barton and Richie say that nearly every idea expressed in the American Revolution was first preached from the pulpit. Most were taught over a decade before the American Revolution, when families were taking their children to church, learning biblical application to political issues, and shaping the thinking of the next generationChristians and pastors in America today would do well to follow the example of the early colonies by approaching the issues in our nation through a biblical lens. Over time, perhaps we would see the same positive effects and build up our institutions, families, and society.