2. INTRODUCTION
The Second Great Awakening occurred in
the US between the 1790s-1840s.
Unlike the First Great Awakening, this revival
was Armenian.
Main Christian groups involved were the
Baptists and Methodists.
By the end of this period of revival Baptists
and Methodists overtook Congregationalists
and Anglicans as the largest Christian
bodies.
3. CONTRIBUTING FACTORS
Drop in church attendance in the US.
Influence of Deist ideas.
Preoccupation with “earning a living.”
Declining religious convictions.
False sense of security stemming from a
“once saved always saved” theology.
Influence of revolutionary ideals.
4. FEATURES OF THE SECOND GREAT AWAKENING
Emotionalism:
Great appeal to the emotional: heart religion
Preaching to the feelings and not just the
mind.
Religious enthusiasm—by the preachers as
well as the hearers.
Emphasis on the Second Coming
Bringing in the Millennium
Emphasis upon social change and
transformation
5. FEATURES OF THE SECOND GREAT AWAKENING
Camp Meetings:
Several preachers used over three to four
weeks.
High attendance by both churched and
unchurched persons.
Long services—sometimes late into the
night.
Use of preachers from different
denominations.
6. FEATURES OF THE SECOND GREAT AWAKENING
Use of Itinerant Preachers:
Methodists especially mastered this method.
Lay preachers were often used.
Armenian Soteriology:
Free will emphasized
Salvation is available to all
Emphasis upon living a transformed life.
7. FEATURES OF THE SECOND GREAT AWAKENING
Egalitarian:
Use of women preachers
Use of African Americans
Restorationist Impulse:
Desire to return to primitive Christianity
Anti-Trinitarian and averse to formal
organization.
8. SOME PROMINENT PREACHERS
Barton W. Stone: non Calvinist Presbyterian
Alexander Campbell: Presbyterian and early
Restorationists
Thomas Campbell: Presbyterian and early
Restorationists
Richard Allen: Founder of AME Church
Jarena Lee: African American Methodist
Episcopal
Antoinette Brown Blackwell: first ordained
female minister in the US.
Charles Finney: anti-Calvinist Presbyterian
9. RESULTS
Growth in the membership of Methodists and
Baptists
Development of new denominations such as:
AME
Advent Christians
Mormons
Seventh-day Adventists