In the 1720s and 1730s, an evangelical party took shape in the Presbyterian churches of the Middle Colonies led by William Tennent, Sr. He established a seminary called the Log College where he trained nearly 20 Presbyterian revivalists for the ministry, including his three sons and Samuel Blair.[43] While pastoring a church in New Jersey, Gilbert Tennent became acquainted with Dutch Reformed minister Theodorus Jacobus Frelinghuysen. Historian Sydney Ahlstrom described Frelinghuysen as "an important herald, if not the father of the Great Awakening".[43] A pietist, Frelinghuysen believed in the necessity of personal conversion and living a holy life. The revivals he led in the Raritan Valley were "forerunners" of the Great Awakening in the Middle Colonies. Under Frelinghuysen's influence, Tennent came to believe that a definite conversion experience followed by assurance of salvation was the key mark of a Christian. By 1729, Tennent was seeing signs of revival in the Presbyterian churches of New Brunswick and Staten Island. At the same time, Gilbert's brothers, William and John, oversaw a revival at Freehold, New Jersey.[44]
Whitefield met Gilbert Tennent on Staten Island and asked him to preach in Boston to continue the revival there. Tennent accepted and in December began a three-month long preaching tour throughout New England. Besides Boston, Tennent preached in towns throughout Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut. Like Whitefield's, Tennent's preaching produced large crowds, many conversions and much controversy. While antirevivalists such as Timothy Cutler heavily criticized Tennent's preaching, most of Boston's ministers were supportive.[55]
god's generals the revivalists pdf 53
The Great Awakening aggravated existing conflicts within the Protestant churches, often leading to schisms between supporters of revival, known as "New Lights", and opponents of revival, known as "Old Lights". Old Lights saw the religious enthusiasm and itinerant preaching unleashed by the Awakening as disruptive to church order, preferring formal worship and a settled, university-educated ministry. They mocked revivalists as being ignorant, heterodox or con artists. New Lights accused Old Lights of being more concerned with social status than with saving souls and even questioned whether some Old Light ministers were even converted. They also supported itinerant ministers who disregarded parish boundaries.[57]
Conviction of sin was the stage that prepared someone to receive salvation, and this stage often lasted weeks or months.[73] When under conviction, nonbelievers realized they were guilty of sin and under divine condemnation and subsequently faced feelings of sorrow and anguish.[74] When revivalists preached, they emphasized God's moral law to highlight the holiness of God and to spark conviction in the unconverted.[75] Jonathan Edwards' sermon "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" is an example of such preaching.[citation needed]
Revivalists counseled those under conviction to apply the means of grace to their lives. These were spiritual disciplines such as prayer, Bible study, church attendance and personal moral improvement. While no human action could produce saving faith, revivalists taught that the means of grace might make conversion more likely.[77]
The conviction stage lasted so long because potential converts were waiting to find evidence of regeneration within their lives. The revivalists believed regeneration or the new birth was not simply an outward profession of faith or conformity to Christianity. They believed it was an instantaneous, supernatural work of the Holy Spirit providing someone with "a new awareness of the beauty of Christ, new desires to love God, and a firm commitment to follow God's holy law."[73] The reality of regeneration was discerned through self-examination, and while it occurred instantaneously, a convert might only gradually realize it had occurred.[80]
In the 1920s, before national radio networks existed, a group of radio stations from across the country cooperated in a test to determine how radio stations might respond in a national emergency. This is the recording of that experiment. It is notable as one of only a handful of extant recorded radio broadcasts from this era. Furthermore, it is technologically significant as an experiment of real-time switching between stations in 14 different cities. Featured on the recording are conversations between General John J. Pershing and other generals stationed throughout the country. Selected for the 2006 registry.
The Kingston Trio recorded their version of "Tom Dooley" on their debut album for Capitol Records in early 1958. The song was already part of their regular set list and was also in the repertoire of other folk revivalists such as the Tarriers and the Gateway Trio. In spite of Nick Reynolds' distinctive and dramatic opening narration, the song attracted little attention on its own until a Salt Lake City radio station began playing it heavily, prompting Capitol Records to place the 1866 murder ballad on a 45rpm record. The song helped spark a modern-folk revival, the influence of which would be felt throughout American popular music. Selected for the 2008 registry. 2ff7e9595c
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