American Church History: Religious Freedom and Great Awakenings
Christianity Crosses the Atlantic: Faith in the New World (1607-1800s)
Part 11 of 12 in the Church History Series
In 1620, before stepping onto Plymouth Rock, the Pilgrims knelt on the Mayflower's deck and prayed. They came seeking religious freedom denied in Europe. Over the next centuries, America would become history's greatest experiment in religious diversity—a "lively experiment" that transformed Christianity itself. The New World offered a blank slate where denominations could compete, revivals could spread like wildfire, and religious liberty could flourish.
Colonial Religious Diversity: A Denominational Patchwork
Unlike Europe's state churches, colonial America became a religious marketplace. Different regions developed distinct religious characters:
The Colonial Religious Landscape
New England: Puritan stronghold
- Massachusetts Bay: Congregationalist theocracy
- Connecticut: Thomas Hooker's "Fundamental Orders"
- Rhode Island: Roger Williams' radical religious freedom
Middle Colonies: Pluralistic mixture
- Pennsylvania: William Penn's Quaker "Holy Experiment"
- New York: Dutch Reformed, then Anglican establishment
- New Jersey: Presbyterian influence
- Delaware: Swedish Lutheran, then Anglican
Southern Colonies: Anglican establishment
- Virginia: Church of England official
- Maryland: Catholic haven (briefly)
- Carolinas: Anglican nominal, Baptist growth
- Georgia: Wesley's failed mission, Whitefield's orphanage
Frontier: Baptist and Methodist expansion
The Puritan Experiment
The Puritans didn't come seeking religious freedom for all—they sought freedom to practice their own faith. Massachusetts Bay Colony (1630) aimed to build "a city upon a hill," demonstrating reformed Christianity to the world.
Puritan Characteristics:
- Covenant theology: God's agreements with humanity
- Conversion experience: Testifying to God's saving work
- Biblical commonwealth: Civil law based on Scripture
- Education emphasis: Harvard (1636) to train ministers
- Work ethic: Success as sign of God's blessing
Roger Williams: Prophet of Religious Liberty
Williams (1603-1683) arrived in Massachusetts in 1631 but quickly troubled authorities with radical ideas:
- Church and state must be completely separate
- Government has no authority over conscience
- Forced worship "stinks in God's nostrils"
- Native Americans owned their land
- True church requires regenerate membership
Banished in 1636, Williams founded Providence, Rhode Island on revolutionary principles: "I desired it might be for a shelter for persons distressed for conscience." His colony granted genuine religious freedom—even to Jews, Quakers, and atheists.
Williams wrote: "Forced worship is a human invention that denies Christ's spiritual kingdom. The civil sword may keep civil peace, but it cannot create one Christian."
Rhode Island became a haven for religious dissidents—"the sewer of New England" to critics, but a beacon of liberty to refugees from persecution.
The Great Awakening (1720s-1750s): America's Spiritual Revolution
By 1700, religious fervor had cooled. "Half-way covenants" allowed unconverted children of members to join churches. Rationalism challenged orthodox belief. Then revival exploded across the colonies, forever changing American Christianity.
Key Revivalists:
Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758)
America's greatest theologian brought intellectual rigor to revival. His sermon "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" (1741) terrified listeners:
"The God that holds you over the pit of hell, much as one holds a spider or some loathsome insect over the fire, abhors you, and is dreadfully provoked... You hang by a slender thread, with the flames of divine wrath flashing about it."
Yet Edwards wasn't merely emotional. His works on religious psychology and theology remain influential. He analyzed revival critically, distinguishing genuine conversion from enthusiasm.
George Whitefield (1714-1770)
If Edwards was revival's mind, Whitefield was its voice. The English itinerant preacher made seven American tours, preaching to massive crowds:
- 20,000 heard him on Boston Common
- Benjamin Franklin calculated 30,000 in Philadelphia
- Preached 18,000 sermons in his lifetime
- Used theatrical techniques—weeping, shouting, acting out stories
Whitefield's cross-denominational preaching created the first inter-colonial movement. He made American Christianity experiential and evangelical.
Great Awakening's Impact:
- Democratic religion: Anyone could experience God directly
- Emotional worship: Heart religion over head religion
- New institutions: Princeton, Brown, Rutgers, Dartmouth founded
- Denominational growth: Baptist and Methodist explosion
- Social reform: Antislavery sentiment, Native American missions
- Revolutionary preparation: Challenged authority, united colonies
🔥 The Awakening's Divisions
Not everyone welcomed revival. Churches split between:
- "New Lights" - Supported emotional conversion and revival methods
- "Old Lights" - Defended traditional, orderly worship
This division created the first major American denominational splits and established a pattern of religious innovation versus tradition that continues today.
Religion and Revolution
The American Revolution (1776-1783) was political, but religion provided crucial support:
Clergy Support:
- Black Regiment: Patriot ministers preached revolution from pulpits
- Biblical justification: Resistance to tyrants as obedience to God
- Millennial expectations: America as God's new Israel
Denominational Responses:
- Congregationalists/Presbyterians: Largely patriot
- Anglicans: Split—many loyalist
- Quakers: Pacifist neutrality
- Baptists: Supported for religious liberty
- Methodists: Wesley opposed, but American Methodists supported
The First Amendment: A New Experiment
The Constitution (1787) mentioned religion only to prohibit religious tests for office. The First Amendment (1791) went further:
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof..."
This wasn't primarily about protecting government from religion, but protecting churches from government interference. Multiple factors created this innovation:
- Practical: Too many denominations to establish one
- Principled: Baptist and Enlightenment arguments for conscience
- Prophetic: Roger Williams' vision realized nationally
The Second Great Awakening (1795-1835): Frontier Faith
As Americans moved west, another revival transformed the nation. Unlike the First Awakening's Calvinist theology, this revival emphasized human ability and choice.
Characteristics:
The Camp Meeting Phenomenon
At Cane Ridge, Kentucky (1801), 20,000 gathered for a week-long revival. Witnesses reported:
- Multiple preachers simultaneously
- "Exercises"—jerking, barking, falling
- Blacks and whites worshiping together
- Denominational cooperation
- Thousands of conversions
Camp meetings became the frontier's signature religious expression—emotional, democratic, and transformative.
Charles Finney (1792-1875): The Father of Modern Revivalism
Finney, a lawyer converted in 1821, revolutionized evangelism with "new measures":
- Anxious bench for those under conviction
- Women praying publicly
- Protracted meetings over several days
- Direct, lawyer-like appeals
- Revival as repeatable technique, not just sovereignty
Finney's theology shifted from Calvinist predestination to Arminian free will. His "Lectures on Revivals" became the evangelism textbook for his disciples.
Second Awakening's Results:
- Denominational explosion: Methodists and Baptists dominated
- Social reform: Abolition, temperance, women's rights
- Missionary movement: Foreign and domestic missions
- Voluntary societies: Bible, tract, Sunday school organizations
- Millennial optimism: America would usher in God's kingdom
American Denominationalism: Competition and Innovation
Without state churches, American denominations competed for members. This created:
Positive Effects:
- Vitality through competition
- Innovation in methods
- Responsiveness to people's needs
- High participation rates
- Voluntary support creating ownership
Negative Effects:
- Endless division over minor issues
- Marketing mentality in religion
- Duplication of efforts
- Sectarian bitterness
- Theological shallowness
Unique American Innovations
America's religious freedom spawned movements impossible in Europe:
Restorationism:
Groups seeking to restore "New Testament Christianity":
- Disciples of Christ/Churches of Christ: Alexander Campbell's unity movement ironically created new divisions
- Mormons (LDS): Joseph Smith's new revelation and American scripture
- Adventists: William Miller's failed predictions led to new denominations
Perfectionism:
Belief in achieving sinless perfection:
- Holiness movement: Offshoot of Methodism emphasizing sanctification
- Pentecostalism: Adding Spirit baptism and gifts (early 1900s)
Social Experiments:
- Shakers: Celibate communities with ecstatic worship
- Oneida: "Complex marriage" and communalism
- Brook Farm: Transcendentalist utopia
Lessons from American Christianity
- Freedom energizes faith. Without state support, American churches showed more vitality than European establishments. Voluntary religion proved stronger than compulsory.
- Competition breeds innovation. Denominational rivalry produced creative methods, from camp meetings to Sunday schools. Market dynamics shaped religious expression.
- Diversity challenges unity. Religious freedom created endless divisions. American Christianity gained vitality but lost visible unity.
- Culture shapes theology. Democratic culture produced democratic religion. American optimism created postmillennial expectations. Context always influences faith expression.
- Revival defines American religion. Periodic awakenings, not steady tradition, characterize American Christianity. Emotional experience often trumps theological precision.
Reflection Questions
- How did religious freedom in America change Christianity compared to European state churches?
- What aspects of American revivalism strengthen faith? What aspects concern you?
- How does denominational competition in America mirror free-market capitalism? Is this healthy?