Page 120 - God's Church through the Ages - Student Textbook

and Nathaniel Taylor and Charles Finney in the Second Great Awakening.

Whitefield and Edwards believed churches should be organized to be entirely distinct from New England
governments. They preached that salvation was only of God and that humans did not possess any ability
whatever toward salvation; it came only as a result of God’s saving call. In other words, man’s “righteousness”
would not save him no matter how many good deeds he has done. Furthermore, the doctrines of predestination
and election (Romans 8:28-30) were regularly espoused, which upset many as well as drew in many, for God’s
decreeing from eternity past who would be saved and who would not was an electrifying concept to them.
Edwards’ propounding of these biblical truths as he saw them was the longest-lived theological result of the First
Great Awakening.

The Second Great Awakening gained much interest by its support of important theological themes such as
salvation and the church’s role in society. Nathaniel Taylor moved away from the beliefs of Whitefield and
Edwards, maintaining that man possessed a “power to the contrary” when faced with moral choices, which
strengthened the belief that man had a free will and therefore did play a part in his own salvation.

At the same time, “voluntary societies” sprang up, which were separate from church denominations; they were
formed to help Christianize and reform America. Their successes moved many people to great feats of Christian
service. In turn, this overall atmosphere caused many to believe that the end of the age was approaching, which
generated even more good works and seemed to validate the concept of these societies even more.

Both Awakenings (revivals) have provided an enduring legacy for modern evangelicalism.

Declaration of Independence in United States, 1776 –

The colonies of the Americas declared their independence from Britain in
1176. Over the next four years, the “patriots” fought the greatest army in the
world at the time and by the grace of God, were able to defeat the British
through their tenacious faith in God and with great and godly leadership.

French Revolution in France, 1789 – 1799

In 1789, food shortages and economic crises led to the outbreak of the
French Revolution. King Louis and his queen, Mary-
Antoinette, were imprisoned in August 1792, and in September
the monarchy was abolished. The major difference between the American
Revolution and French Revolution was that the Americans believed that
their rebellion against England was justified in Scripture and their
dependence was upon God’s providence. The French Revolution was
founded in humanism, where God was minimized, and man’s rights were
maximized. It was a revolution against the monarchy in France, void of
God’s dependence.

As a result of the godless revolt, a Committee of Public Safety was created in 1793. Maximilien Robespierre, the
architect of the French Revolution's Reign of Terror, was the leading member of the Committee of Public Safety
from 1793, Robespierre encouraged the execution, mostly by guillotine, of the “enemies” of the Revolution. In
1794, The National Committee removed Robespierre from his powerful position. After his demise from power,
he received the just do of his terrorist acts by losing his own head at the guillotine.

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