How Did The Great Awakening Influence The Puritans

The Great Awakening was a religious movement that occurred in the early 1700s. Later on, the colonists would experience the Second Great Awakening, but for now, we will keep the focus on the First Great Awakening.
Puritan practices didn’t dominate over the colonies in the way that they used to. Many people grew tired of the old-fashioned, strict thinking of the Puritans. Some people even went so far as to say that humans were not all destined to go to hell, which was a pretty outrageous change in thought for this time. Most people who believed this were of the new faith known as Arminianism, which was founded by Jacobus Arminius. Arminianism had a rather large following, making it a definite threat towards the Puritans. This is just one of many examples in which people of this time began moving towards liberalism.
All of this is what opened the doors into the Great Awakening. The actual Great Awakening movement itself was set off in the 1730s by Jonathan Edwards and his firm beliefs. He believed strongly in good works being the way to eternal happiness. He also believed that unbaptized children were sent to hell. This belief of his went so far that he claimed that hell was “paved with the skulls of unbaptized children.” Edwards had the sympathies of many people who attended his parish, as well as other people.

Edwards was not the only person of this time who had the beginnings of evangelical-type beliefs.

George Whitefield, an excellent speaker, firmly believed in human helplessness and in an all-knowing God. He was such a wonderful speaker, that he often brought people to tears. His speaking also often had the effect of leaving people with the urge to donate money when the collection basket came around. While he was preaching, many sinners would announce that they were converting, and those who were considered to be saved would roll on the ground or yell in excitement. The sinners of this faith were often treated

horribly.
At this time, there were people known as old lights, and other people known as new lights. The old lights were the clergy of the Orthodox faith who did not support the Awakening. They felt that the emotional and theatrical aspects of the new movements were nothing more than antics. The new lights supported the Awakening, and were the Awakening.
The most important thing about the Great Awakening is actually not of the aforementioned things. The Great Awakening, while it was, by definition, a religious movement, was much more than that in reality. This movement was the first real sign of unity across the colonies. In other words, it was the first sign of the colonies becoming what we know as America.
This movement showed how, even though there were more opinions involved than were able to be counted, Americans were all moving towards a common goal. They all were moving towards improving their faith, improving themselves, and improving their chances of being saved. This is very much like America today. The amount of differing opinions in America are innumerable, but there a still common goals. This could be related to religion again today. There are many different types of beliefs, and there are many extremists within those beliefs. Americans today seem to be united with a purpose of religious acceptance, and being able to understand that just because some people within a religion are bad does not mean that the religion itself is bad. People are trying to be more accepting and respectful of other people’s relief.
Looking at this from a different angle, but from a similar concept, Americans are thought of as being a combination of a little bit of everything. Americans are very diverse in all aspects of the word. This period of the Great Awakening first shows how diverse Americans really were. Before, many of the colonists were umbrellaed under the idea of Puritanism. Once this movement began, however, it became very individualized in thoughts and beliefs. This is very much like Americans now. A common phrase used today is, “You do you.” This type of thought makes things very individualized, and relatively accepting as well.
The Great Awakening really was a time of America as we know it today being developed. The colonies were taking their first baby steps into what we now know as being America.