also sermons presented by george whitfield. george whitfield was very controversial in his style of preaching, so many times he wasn't allowed or invited to preach in churches. he had this field pulpit, he would set it up and start preaching. >> it is undeniably certain, we must receive the holy ghost, err we can't be styled true member of christ's mystical body. >> so we enter to this particular era in the museum, you're going to see a lot of interesting technology that we're using and helps us tell the story, some drama that we created, but in a very different way, and many people would expect it to be done, and we brought in some symbolic items again like replica of the liberty bell. this came from the same foundry that did the one in philadelphia. and some would say well, i mean, why have this one, the one in philadelphia is there. but we have so many foreign visitors and people, americans who will never go to philadelphia and they want to see what that was all about. it also as the text says here, inscription from book of

he would have more success in time convincing his sister than convincing george whitfield. um, when he ran away from boston as a teenager. when he ran away to boston -- from boston to philadelphia, he also ran away from boston's calvinism. but many factors. his puritan tether. the pressure of relationships with christian friends and family. disappointments with his own integrity. repeated illnesses. and the growing weight of political responsibility. all kept him from going too deep into the dark woods of radical skepticism. franklin explored a number of religious opinions. even at the end of his life, as we will see, he remained noncommittal about all but a few points of belief. this elusiveness has made franklin susceptible to many religious interpretations. some devout christians, beginning with the celebrated 19th-century biographer, parson mason weems, have found ways to mold franklin into a faithful believer. weems opined that, quote, franklin's extraordinary benevolence and useful life were -- even unconsciously from the gospel. and there's something to this notion o

also, sermons that were presented by george whitfield. george whitfield was very controversial, in this style of preaching. and so, many times he was not allowed or invited to preach in the churches. he had this field pulpit if you will and he would set it up and he would start preaching. >> it is undeniably certain that we must receive the holy ghost so we can be true members of christ in his mystical body. >> so, we entered at this particular era in the museum. they're gonna see a lot of interesting technology that we used and it helps us tell the story. there's some drama that we created. . but in a very different way. many people would expect it to be done and we brought in some symbolic items again, like the replica of the liberty bell. this came from the same foundry that did the one in philadelphia. and some would say, well, i mean i have this one in philadelphia that's there but we have so many foreign visitors. and people, americans who will never go to philadelphia -- they want to see what that is all about. it also has as the t

she at the time for sure is george whitfield. i know the way it's spelled it looks like it would be whitefield but on good authority i'm told it's whitfield. he is by far the most famous. she of the 1740s. and it's even more than that. he is the most famous person in britain and america of his time per the only competitor that he has his king george and maybe more people know king george's name but a lot more people have seen whitfield and person his journals his sermons. we think that probably by the end of his career, he died in 1770 that three-quarters of everybody that lived in america had heard him preach. he is a bigger celebrity in his time than anybody we have in our culture today. in our culture we live in the celebrity driven culture and we know that but we are disbursed, right? d some people like justin bieber and some people don't like justin bieber. you know what i'm saying. even if you are a critic. he is arguably the first modern celebrity. i didn't say religious celebrity i said the first modern celebrity. when he

they are brilliant preachers, george whitfield is first on the list. brilliant preachers who droplet round and become famous, at least regionally, it's not internationally, whitfield becomes famous internationally, having a reputation of being this brilliant preacher. you cannot wait for them to get there. it is new, it is exciting. and they have a laser focus, these itinerant do, on the message that you need to accept christ, free offer of salvation, and you need to be born again. born again, if you remember, jesus talks about the born again experience in the gospel of john chapter three. in order to see the kingdom of god you must be born again. they're not inventing this kind of experience out of nowhere. it's a long time biblical message. people in the past maybe had different understandings of wood born again meant. people in the first great awakening were clear what you need is that as an adult, or as a teenager, you need to understand for yourself that your center, your senate has caused a serious problem between you and god. god is offering you

george whitfield is number one on the list. they're brilliant preachers who travel around, and they become famous at least regionally if not internationally, whitfield becomes famous internationally, having a reputation of being this brilliant preacher. and you can't wait for them to get there, and it's new, it's exciting, and they have a laser focus, these itinerants do, on the message that you need to accept christ's free offer of salvation and that you need to be born again. born again. if you'll remember, jesus talks about the born again experience in the gospel of john chapter three in order to see the kingdom of god, you must be born again. so they're not inventing this kind of experience out of nowhere. it's a longtime biblical message, but people in the past maybe have had different understandings of what born again meant. people in the first great aa wakening are real -- awakening are real clear. what you need is that as an adult or at least, say, a teenager, you need to understand for yourself that you're a sinner, tha

the key elements of this populist theology including five factors, first, george whitfield's concept of conversion is debatable, full bodied and above eight experience with the dissent and physical implantation of god's holy spirit, which was secondly fascination with various charisma attic the holy spirit and continuous revelation and superseded what is contained in the bible. thirdly the desire among many revival convents to be married saints can testify to a similar experience with the holy spirit. and fourthly, marriage to an internal union of souls ordained by god, dependent on social practices in human authorities. and alas, for some, the sense their souls at least not their bodies, perfect without sin and morally corruptible. leaders of the separate movement quickly recognize internal marriage or represented accounting heresy. it's a logical extension of many of the practices they previously nurtured and sought to institutionalize among their breakaway churches. as you can see from this map ideas about internal marriage were spreading rapidly throughout southern new england du

so, i think the best example is george whitfield, who i mentioned a minute ago, whitfield and franklin were friends and business associates for 30 years. they had a very transparent relationship about understanding that they were not on the same page spiritually, and whitfield thought franklin needed to do something about that. so, field just pulls no punches and say, you need to put your faith increase for salvation. franklin would say, i am all set. they even have these conversations, my favorite is in the 17 fifties, whitfield wrote a letter to franklin, again, they are business partners. whitfield said i need to take care of this publication and so forth. now, by the way, i don't -- i noticed how much success you have in electrical experiments, you made so much progress in understanding the mitch -- mysteries of electricity, he said to him. now i implore you to considering the mysteries of the new birth increase. you can imagine franklin rolling his eyes. . whitfield was constantly talking to him, and i wonder what they're private conversations that were all recorded, i wish i coul

christians around franklin didn't think he was a christian, and so i think the best example is george whitfield who i mentioned a minute ago, whitfield and franklin were friends and business associates for 30 years. and they had a very transparent relationship about understanding that they were not on the same page spiritually and whitfield thought franklin needed to do something about it. you know, whitfield would just pull no punches, you need to put your faith in christ for salvation, and franklin would sort of say, i'm all set, and they would have these conversations and my favorite is that in the 1750s, whitfield wrote a letter to franklin, and again, they're business partners, franklin publishes a lot of whitfield's stuff. and so whitfield's saying i need you to take care of this publication and so forth. by the way, i have noticed how much success you've had in electrical experiments and you've made so much progress in understanding the mysteries of electricity, he said to him. now i am implore you to consider the mysteries of the new birth in christ. and you can just imagine franklin ki

the most famous preacher at the time, for sure, is george whitfield. and i know the way it's spelled, it looks like it was whitefield, but on good authority i'm told it's pronounced whitfield. he is, by far, the most famous preacher of the 1740s. and it's even more than that. he is the most famous person in britain and america in his time. the only competitor that he has is king george. and maybe more people know king george's name, but a lot more people have seen whitefield in person, have read whitefield's stuff, his journals, his sermons. we think that probably by the end of his career -- he dies in 1770 -- that probably, like, three-quarters of everybody that's lived in america had heard him preach. he's a bigger celebrity in his time than anybody we have many our culture today. because in our culture, oh, we live in a celebrity-driven culture. you know that, right? but we're dispersed, right? some people like justin bieber, some people don't like justin bieber. i won't do a poll, but you know what i'm saying. everybody knows whitefield. everybody,

so the same stuff that you might have heard of, billy graham, or billy sunday, or from george whitfield in the 18th century, richard allen, all of those are coming out of the same source of material, they're using the bible, they're evangelical in the protestant sense, and, of course, they are showmen, all religious leaders have to be showmen. and i don't mean that insultingly. i mean, if you save the mass, you have to be a performer. if you're a rabbi, people want you to be an excellent orator, they don't want to be bored. so there's all of this performance that goes along with this. so african-americans, though, are in this oppressive situation of slavery, and then post-slavery, building institutions so that people can live. so by politics, i mean how black religious leaders engage in state locally, regionally or nationally pertaining to laws and reported social inequities. this was taking place in harlem, a funeral service for jim crow, that took place on the street. so the social inequities, jim crow, racial apartheid, voting economic disparities. black ministers, in a way, differen

you can see here on the screen we have an image of george whitfield who is the most famous preacher of the great awakening preaching in london there in the 1730s, 1740s. he is the sensation of the age, but we'll talk more about him when we get there. first, i want to take a look at the background to what's happening in 18th century america with regard to religion. we've talked about some of this already before in class about the scope of religion and religious commitment across the colonies. if you look first at the southern colonies from maryland down to georgia, mostly what we have is a formal commitment to the church of england. and the church of england, of course, is the national official church of england, of britain, and most of those colonies adopt what we would call a kind of formal establishment of the church of england. but the southern colonies overall are probably the least religious of all the colonial regions which, if you think about that for a second, you'll see why that's a little weird. we think of the southed today as the bible belt, correctly. but in the colonial p

the most famous preacher at the time for sure is george whitfield. and continuing way it is spelled, it looks like whitefield. on good authority i'm told it was pronounced whitfield. he is by far the most famous preacher of the 1740s. and it is even more than that. he is the most famous person in britain in america in his time. the only m competitor that he h is king george. and maybe more people knoww kin george's name. a lot more people have seen whitefield in person, have read his stuff, his journals, his sermons. we think by thedy end of his career, he dies in 1770. that probably like three quarters of everybody who lived in america heard him preach. he is a bigger celebrity in his time than anybody we have in our culture today. because in our culture, we live in a celebrity-driven culture. that.now but we're dispersed. right? some people like justin bieber. some people don't like justin biebeler. i won't do a poll but you know what i'm saying. everybody knows whitefield. even if you're a critic, you've had to sort of deal with whitefield. he is a

the great preacher george whitfield was the spearhead for the great awakening. it spread across the country. it started further north. it got to the central virginia. virginia, in the 1770s, was an anglican colony. the official established church was an anglican church. and all of a sudden these baptist ministers started seeping into virginia and drawing people away from the anglican parishes. and they were not happy about that. and they had english law at the time to enforce. and you couldn't just go out and preach. you had to be licensed by anglican state authorities. well, it happened that one of the largest revivals and meetings happened near the town of orange, virginia, custom is where james madison lived. and so james madison knew about what was happenhappening, and s the people that he knew were at the time in jail in culpepper, which is just right up the road. so he had a first-hand knowledge of the harassment of these baptist clergy and their followers. he was only in his early 20s at the time. and he had begun to get interested in politics, as his fat

so i want to get a shot out here to join who has a biography on spiritual biography of george whitfield that came out that looked at in real close detail at how we understand whitfield's relationship toempire . it's a biography so it's the whole story but he really gets into the question of how we see whitfield's relationship to the empire and understanding why whitfieldwas committed to the british empire . he was. he dies before the revolution so there are americans who claim him as a spiritual founding father. i personally have a hard time thinking he ever would have supported the revolution because he's nearing the end of his life he wants to found this college in georgia and the archbishop of canterbury says no and he tried to draw as much attention to it as he can but he does ultimately put his oath he took when he was ordained and his position in the church of england i had ofthe protest . >> my reading pile just grew a little bit more so i'll check out that book. last question here in the time we have. what is the most surprising thing you learned in your research ? >> i'm not su

the great preacher george whitfield was the spearhead for this awakening. and the great awakening spread all through the country, kind of but to bring an inner conversion of people. when it finally -- it started further north, it got to central virginia, virginia, and the 17 seventies, was an act lincoln colony. the official established church was the anglican church and all of a sudden these baptist ministers started seeping into virginia and drawing people away from the anglican parishes. and they were not happy about that. and they had english law, at the time, to enforce. and you could not just go out and preach. you had to be licensed by anglican state authorities. it happened that one of the largest revivals and meetings happened near the town of orange, virginia. the which is where james madison lived. so james madison knew about what was happening and some of the people he knew at the time where in jail in cult pepper, which is right up the road. so he had a firsthand knowledge of the harassment of these baptist clergy and their followers. he was on

whitfield. i wonder if you could tell us just a little bit more about him. why is he important to your story? yeah, george whitefield. he's a a famous figure in the history of frankly global level evangelicalism one of its founding lights. so he's an english field preacher. he studies at oxford university in the 1730s. he's a contemporary of the wesley brothers the founders of english methodism, and he's a dramatic orator and theatrical performer and during the late during the late 1730s. he embarks on the first of many transatlantic preaching tours. so in 1739, he preaches his way all the way from, south carolina to york, maine and electrifice. his audience is everywhere. he goes whitfield preaches in a kind of a folksy style. he uses all sorts of oratorical techniques derive from the theater to connect with us audiences and he preaches powerful message a message of instantaneous conversion people that heard whitfield preach suddenly realized that the ways they have been kind of participating in congregational life. was lacking something was lacking what whitfield called the new birth simply to be raised