Who (or What) is an Evangelical? - Part 4

George Whitefield
First Great Awakening

I previously discussed how the term "evangelical" was used during the Reformation (especially by Lutherans).

In this post, I want to explore how it ('evangelical") was used during the Great Awakenings - those revivals (sometimes called renewals) during the early 18th Century (1700s) and 19th Century (1800s) which occurred in America, though they were connected with revivals (or renewals) throughout the world.

During those awakenings/revivals/renewals, Christians from many different traditions/churches/denominations/doctrinal positions found themselves working together, or undergoing a deep personal transformation together, in a manner which cut across many of the divisional/denominational/church lines they had previously known .  They experienced a unity in proclaiming

Evangelistic Camp Meeting
Second Great Awakening

the gospel, or in experiencing it, which they previously had not known or experienced.  They hunted around for a term to express this.  While they were all Christians, they wanted a term which expressed what they were experiencing through personal salvation or by working together to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ.

They wound up settling on the term "evangelical" as a unifying description.  During the Second Great Awakening, camp meetings held on the frontier were often called "Evangelistic."  This was a time of tremendous growth for the Baptists and the Methodists, who tended to move out into the frontier and engage in what were called evangelical activities.

However, evangelicals not only called for a genuine conversion experience - they also called for social reform.  Many of the social reform movements of that time trace their roots and dynamism to the evangelical efforts of the Great Awakenings.

Sadly, at college, this part of American history was either ignored, or lightly touched upon.  I had to study on my own to learn more about it.

On to Part 5.
Back to Part 3.
Back to Part 1.