History of the Christian church

1. THE SECOND GREAT AWAKENING
Hark, Hark, It’s Time To Repent!

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