The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly ofThe Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of

Jason SauderThe Bible & American Culture Mr. Justin Harbin 11 November 2014

Known as “The Second Great Awakening”America’s Second Big RevivalAmerica’s Second Big Revival

I. What was The Second Great Awakening?

• The Second Great Awakening began in about 1780 after the American Revolution. It lasted until about 1830 and it left a permanent imprint on America’s religious life (Hatch 6).

• The second great awakening was not an abstract idea of “revivalism” that mysteriously swelled during this time. Rather, it was something that happened to people and by people, who may or may not have been led by God.

“The first third of the nineteenth century experienced a period of religious ferment, chaos, and originality unmatched in American history.” –Nathan O. Hatch

•It was not a brilliantly planned response by the religious elites to the challenges of the day.

•It was “Christianity… effectively reshaped by common people (Hatch 9).”

•It was essentially the wildly successful democratization of Christianity (Hatch 9).

•It was the main turning point which distinguished America from other nations where freedom and religion often led in opposite directions (Hatch 5).

II. . What was The Second Great Awakening?What was The Second Great Awakening?

• They denied the distinction between clergy and ordinary men and they refused to respect those who were trained in theology (Hatch 9).

• They accepted the spiritual impulses of common folk, rather than “subjecting them to the scrutiny of orthodox doctrine (Hatch 10).”

• They were religious outsiders who became very successful religious leaders (Hatch 10).

I. What was The Second Great Awakening?

The leaders of The Second Great Awakening democratized The leaders of The Second Great Awakening democratized Christianity in at least three ways:Christianity in at least three ways:

II. What Caused The Second Great Awakening?

1. The American Revolution

2. The Enlightenment

3. The free market of religious ideas

ThreeThree major causes…major causes…

• This victory fueled enthusiasm for freedom, autonomy, individualism, equality and disdain for authority and high class.

• In the name of equality and freedom, people were enthusiastically erasing the boundaries between the gentleman and the commoner (Hatch 44).

• These factors led to an anti-clerical outburst.

Cause #1: The American Revolution

II. II. What Caused The Second Great What Caused The Second Great Awakening?Awakening?

• Enlightenment thinking had heavily influenced the framers of America.

• This ideology was influencing the masses by increasing reliance on individual reason and undermining reliance on divine revelation and received tradition.

• The Second Great Awakening adapted to these demands.

Cause #2: The Enlightenment

II. What Caused The Second Great Awakening?

Cause #3: The free market of Religious Ideas •America became a competitive, market-driven society America became a competitive, market-driven society and this became the paradigm for religion. and this became the paradigm for religion. •In this competitive environment, religious movements In this competitive environment, religious movements and leaders who used more aggressive means of and leaders who used more aggressive means of recruitment enjoyed an advantage (Hatch 15).recruitment enjoyed an advantage (Hatch 15).

•Outsiders were also developing a loose theology that Outsiders were also developing a loose theology that more closely resembled what the lower class believed more closely resembled what the lower class believed (Hatch 45). (Hatch 45).

II. What Caused The Second Great Awakening?

•For instance, the frontier was unsettled by many of the same complaints the colonies had raised against Britain.•Graduates of Harvard and Yale were far from eager to accept or create pastoral posts on the harsh frontier (Hatch 30, 59).

In addition, traditional denominations were not ready for the demands of the Enlightenment and Democracy, as well as various social needs.

II. II. What Caused The Second Great What Caused The Second Great Awakening?Awakening?

III. What happened?

1. The “Christian” movement2. Methodists3. Baptists4. Black churches5. Mormons (Hatch 4).

© The Barna Group, Ltd, 2009.

There were five major religious movements within the Second Great Awakening :

•This was a time of “evangelistic fervor and poplar sovereignty” This was a time of “evangelistic fervor and poplar sovereignty” (Hatch 9). (Hatch 9). •They all worked tirelessly, had a passion for expansion and hostility to They all worked tirelessly, had a passion for expansion and hostility to

orthodoxy (Hatch 4). orthodoxy (Hatch 4). •A mark of these religious movements was a commitment to lay A mark of these religious movements was a commitment to lay preaching. preaching. •The only prerequisites to a position of leadership in many The only prerequisites to a position of leadership in many movements were a sense of divine calling and a talent for movements were a sense of divine calling and a talent for moving moving people (Hatch 134). people (Hatch 134).

These five movements were wildly theologically divergent; however they all shared certain characteristics.

III. What happened?

The end result was that people had to make up their own minds on religious matters and the audience became the ultimate judge.

A newly established network of religious communication formed from itinerate preachers, an explosion of printed material and camp meetings.

This new network meant that clergymen were no longer the unrivaled source of information. There was also a cultural shift which made clergymen a smaller and smaller percentage of educated professionals.

These changes in turn lead to a shift from a relatively coherent Christian culture to a pluralistic one (Hatch 126).

III. What happened?

• Calvinism was painted as a tyrannical theology and this was enough to damn it in the common mind (Hatch 170).

• In fact, a hatred of Calvinism united the otherwise diverse movements spawned by the Second Great Awakening (Hatch 172).

• Enlightenment common sense was used to undermine Calvinism.

• This movement eventually failed to even consider the traditional theological categories.

Calvinism had been highly respected… until now.

III. What happened?

The most remarkable feature of this movement was The most remarkable feature of this movement was its fascinating group of lay leaders.its fascinating group of lay leaders.

•These leaders were “bold, self-educated, self-confident… inventive [and] charismatic,” but they “differed radically in theological outlook and organizational intent” (Hatch 56). •Without formal training, they went outside the normal denominational lines to form huge followings through “the democratic art of persuasion” (Hatch 13).•This new type of minister, by necessity, had to be keenly attuned to popular sentiment.

III. What happened?

•These new leaders embraced an outlook that was individualistic and modern (DAC 14). One of the reasons these new leaders were so effective at communicating is that they identified with common people by, among other things, speaking in the vernacular.

•Three of the prominent leaders were Francis Asbury, Lorenzo Dow and Charles Finney.

Finney is particularly interesting…

•In this new model, ironically, the audience granted authority to “leaders” whose person and message and style best resonated with their own interests (DAC 134).

III. What happened?

Finney was ordained in a traditional Presbyterian Church (Hatch 196). He was “self taught, blunt and immensely persuasive” (Hatch196). He quickly became the most in demand preacher of the Second Great Awakening (Hatch 196).

But there was a problem.

Finney called for a fundamental shift in theology from being God-focused to being audience-focused (Hatch 197). However, whatever is the focus of your theology is your God. In fact, Charles Finney was not even a Christian…

III. What happened?

“Full present obedience is a condition of justification… simultaneously justified and sinful… this error has slain more souls… whenever a Christian sins, he comes under condemnation… and must do his first works or be lost… As has already been said, there can be no justification in a legal or forensic sense, but upon the ground of universal, perfect, and uninterrupted obedience to the law… The doctrine of an imputed righteousness, or that Christ’s obedience to the law was accounted as our obedience, is founded on a most false and nonsensical assumption, for Christ’s righteous could do no more than justify himself… It was naturally impossible, then for him to obey in our behalf.” (Horton 45).

-Charles Finney

III. What happened?

• These leaders and movements became successful because they were outsiders and common but their success meant that this was no longer the case and most of these movements succumbed to the pull of respectability.

• In the end, in order to establish a stable tradition, the movements that emerged in the Second Great Awakening had to take on the very features they had rejected, such as educational institutions and theology (Hatch 195).

• Therefore, a new generation of reformers rejected them for the same reasons they had originally rejected the establishment; creating a virtually unending cycle of division (Hatch 195).

IV. The Mixed LegacyThe legacy of the Second Great Awakening is loaded with irony.

• Ironically this movement espoused the belief that theology lead to fighting and division and that a return to a simple faith based on common sense, the Bible alone and emotion would restore peace and unity (Hatch 163). In reality, this movement produced an unprecedented splintering and division within Christianity and often spilled over into heterodoxy. This has undermined the credibility of Christianity

• The common people became the authority and those who trafficked in ideas were sidelined. Because of this, America never produced another theologian like Jonathan Edwards (Hatch 162). In modern America, Christianity is still largely led by popular leaders rather than Christianity’s greatest thinkers.

• This movement undermined the intelligence of American Christianity in general.. Timothy Dwight summarized the problem- “While they demand a seven-year apprenticeship for the purpose of learning to make a shoe, or an axe; they suppose the system of Providence, together with the numerous, and frequently abstruse, doctrines and precepts, contained in the Scriptures, may be all comprehended without learning labour, or time” (Hatch 19).

IV The Mixed Legacy

• -It striped preaching of its flowery and unnecessarily sophisticated speech. Such speech is at odds with the humbling message of the Gospel.

• -It dramatically increased the size and influence of its type of Christianity in this country.

• -It took seriously the call to minister to those despised by society.• -Though flawed, it had a strong emphasis on recruitment or

witnessing. • -It encouraged ministers to forsake cultural acclaim and affluence. • -Though also flawed, it encouraged people to think for themselves

about what they believed.

IV The Mixed LegacyBenefits of the Second Great Awakening

•Popularity became more important than Truth.Popularity became more important than Truth.•Christianity’s theological safeguards were removed.Christianity’s theological safeguards were removed.•Consequently, many were admitted into the church and Consequently, many were admitted into the church and even into national leadership who were not even even into national leadership who were not even Christians. Christians. •Christianity’s intellect was seriously damaged as the focus Christianity’s intellect was seriously damaged as the focus shifted to emotion and sensationalism.shifted to emotion and sensationalism.•Christianity in the Second Great awakening lost its Christianity in the Second Great awakening lost its source of authority.source of authority.•The Second Great Awakening made dangerous The Second Great Awakening made dangerous compromises with non-Christian ideas, such as the compromises with non-Christian ideas, such as the centrality of the individual and the supremacy of centrality of the individual and the supremacy of autonomous reason. autonomous reason.

IV The Mixed LegacyThe dark side…

Works Cited

Hatch, Nathan O. The Democratization of American Christianity. Yale University Press, New Haven: 1989.

Horton, Michael. Christless Christianity: the Alternative Gospel of the American Church. Baker Publishing Group, Grand Rapids, MI: 2008.