Page 112 - God's Church through the Ages - Student Textbook

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David Hume, 1711-1776 –
David Hume was a Scottish Enlightenment philosopher, historian, economist,
and essayist, who is best known today for his highly influential system of
philosophical empiricism, skepticism, and naturalism. He rejected the credibility of any
belief in miracles or the supernatural. In his Essay on Miracles (1748) he argued that
there is was modern day example of a miracle by which to correlate with the New
Testament witness .

Hume’s personal religious views were unclear, but the Church of Scotland seriously
considered bringing charges of infidelity against him. Many of his contemporaries
believed that Hume was an atheist or at least certainly not a Christian in any of his beliefs. His ideas shaped the
thinking of future generations in the areas of religion, politics and economics.

George Whitfield, 1714-70 –– 100

Largely forgotten today, George Whitefield was probably the most famous religious figure
of the eighteenth century. Newspapers called him the "marvel of the age." Whitefield was
a preacher capable of commanding thousands on two continents through the sheer power
of his oratory. In his lifetime, he preached at least 18,000 times to perhaps 10 million
hearers.

Born thespian
As a boy in Gloucester, England, he read plays insatiably and often skipped school to
practice for his schoolboy performances. Later in life, he repudiated the theater, but the
methods he imbibed as a young man emerged in his preaching.

He put himself through Pembroke College, Oxford, by waiting on the wealthier students. While there, he fell in
with a group of pious "Methodists"—who called themselves "the Holy Club"—led by the Wesley brothers, John
and Charles. Under their influence, he experienced a "new birth" and decided to become a missionary to the
new Georgia colony on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean.

When the voyage was delayed, Whitefield was ordained a deacon in the Anglican Church and began preaching
around London. He was surprised to discover that wherever he spoke, crowds materialized and hung on every
word.

These were no ordinary sermons. He portrayed the lives of biblical characters with a realism no one had seen
before. He cried, he danced, he screamed. Among the enthralled was David Garrick, then the most famous actor
in Britain. "I would give a hundred guineas," he said, "if I could say 'Oh' like Mr. Whitefield."

Once, when preaching on eternity, he suddenly stopped his message, looked around, and exclaimed, "Hark!
Methinks I hear [the saints] chanting their everlasting hallelujahs and spending an eternal day in echoing forth
triumphant songs of joy. And do you not long, my brethren, to join this heavenly choir?"

Whitefield eventually made it to Georgia but stayed for only three months. When he returned to London, he
found many churches closed to his unconventional methods. He then experimented with outdoor,
extemporaneous preaching, where no document or wooden pulpit stood between him and his audience.

99 https://www.britannica.com/biography/David-Hume
100 https://www.christianitytoday.com/history/people/evangelistsandapologists/george-whitefield.html
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