The First Great Awakening Changed America

In the mid 1700s, traveling evangelists like Jonathan Edwards, George Whitefield, and John Wesley preached along the countryside of the British colonies, and the seeds were planted for America to become a great nation.

It really started almost 100 years earlier, in 1630, when John Winthrop, one of the Pilgrims, preached a sermon entitled A City on a Hill. The text for the verse was Matthew 5:14  Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Winthrop said that God ordained the colonies in America to be that city on a hill. They were the New Jerusalem that would evangelize the world with the Gospel.

Over the next eighty years, colonists forgot those awesome words and had drawn away from God. Church attendance was at an all time low, and few felt Christianity played a major role in their lives. Church service were dry and dull, and most who did go to church did so out of religious duty.

When these preachers came on the scene it changed America for the better. They were fiery, emotional, and commanded attention. When Jonathan Edwards preached Sinner in the Hands of an Angry God, it was reported members of the congregation held on to the church beams fearing the wrath of God and the fire of Hell. Conviction spread all over the colonies, and people responded by having a "born again" experience with God that changed their lives forever.

Many denominations rose up during this awakening including Methodists, Presbyterians, and Baptists. Christians now felt they could have a personal experience with God and learn Scripture and doctrine for themselves instead of only relying on church leaders. Congregational leadership was determined by the congregations, not by church headquarters.

One of the biggest changes that took place during this awakening was that everyone was included. Slaves and poor men came to the meetings and were saved. It created a national unity and identity that later set the stage for the American Revolution where men fought for One Nation Under God. not a nation ruled by a denomination or a state church. The colonies had learned that the people decide on the leaders that rule them instead of letting the rulers dictate their nation's politics and religion.

Nathaniel Griffith's Perspective of the "City upon a Hill"

Trouble brewed in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1649. But before I give you the next of my memoirs, please take this seat beside me overlooking my wife's garden. I, Nathaniel Griffith, would not have the pleasure of this great garden view (which overlooks the Narragansett Bay) had it not been for the grace of God.

Let me first be charitable to my father and those Puritans who first came to this land. Their intentions were good, desiring to establish a model community in and around the Boston area. Zealous for pure living among all church members (especially of the clergy) and for the church of England to be completely pure of Catholic influence, John Winthrop led a group of men to America. His was a tumultuous life--though I suppose any leader experiences such--but he served his people well and with the best of intentions.

I was a young man when John Winthrop died in 1649. My father insisted I should learn these words from this great man:

"...we shall be as a City upon a Hill. The eyes of all people are upon us."

And indeed, the world did watch to see if these Puritans would succeed. Those who crossed the Atlantic with John Winthrop believed they entered into a covenant with God.

Yea, I am shaking my head. Woe unto us who dare to think we have power to influence God by our right living, for righteous we are not. Nay, they learned through strife that one cannot be the conscience of another and not easily fall into sin oneself. Perhaps not the sin of the man they judge, but a sin even greater in believing they could act in God's stead.

After much labor one day, I rested against the stone fence my father insisted I build. You see, we had two horses which loved to wander. We kept them near on a picket line. What is that you asked? 'Tis a rope we strung about chest level between trees. We tied our horses to this line. We also used a high line, which is simply a picket line hung above the horses' heads. The high lines allowed the horses to graze and not get tangled in their lead. But I digress.

Behind my fence, three men walked. They spoke of those burned at the stake in England for beliefs contrary to the clergy, and then they spoke of those dissenters infecting the churches here in New England. Roger Williams was banished in 1635, Anne Hutchinson was banished, taking with her a number of other colonists to settle Portsmouth, Rhode Island. John Wheelwright was also banished then founded the town of Exeter, New Hampshire. And the list continues. Trouble brewed in England as well and the English Civil Wars began, leading to the beheading of King Charles I.

As I listened, I quaked with fear for Sarah Brown, the woman I loved. Her father had stood with Roger Williams against some of the teachings of the Puritans. Her father also stood in support of Anne Hutchinson and considered leaving with her when she was banished. Instead he stayed, his quiet manner seeming to appease those who opposed the teachings of salvation by grace alone and clung to the necessity of infant baptism. But he soon died and left Sarah. My father then took her in as a maid for my sister. A charitable act driven by a sense of guilt, for he was not without fault for the death of Goodman Brown.

These men that passed my fence determined to purify the Massachusetts Bay Colony of any and all who did not hold to their tenements. As the year progressed, they would seek out any who held a meeting outside of the church and arrest them. Indeed, in the years following some believe those who were tried for witchcraft were not witches, but those who claimed the Holy Spirit communicated with their spirit. And perhaps the most shaking of revelation to these staunch Puritans was the dissension of Henry Dunster in 1653. And one mustn't forget the hanging of Mary Dyer, a Quaker, in 1660, Boston.

I knew I needed to do something to keep Sarah from having the same fate of Anne Hutchinson and others who spoke freely of beliefs contrary to that of the religious leaders of the time. I thought perhaps if I could marry her, I could protect her, but my father would never let me marry beneath my station. Nor did I believe Sarah would have me, a wretched sinner.

Alas, the sun is setting. Perhaps Sarah will share with you next month. And thank you for listening to me ramble on about those days. I fear I lacked great courage and faith, but God would work despite me.
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Here is the timeline of the events Nathaniel mentions:

1630 John Winthrop writes the sermon "A Model of Christian Charity," which includes the section known as "The City upon a Hill." Winthrop then sails to New England

1631 Roger Williams arrives in Massachusetts

1635 William and Anne Hutchinson follow John Cotton to the New World

1635 Roger Williams is banished

1636 Harvard College is established

1637 Rev. John Wheelwright preaches a controversial sermon

1637 Anne Hutchinson and her followers are tried and banished

1638 John Wheelwright is banished

1642 English Civil Wars begin

1649 King Charles I is executed

1649 John Winthrop dies

1651 John Clarke, Obadiah Holmes, and John Crandall arrested for conducting an illegal worship service

1653/54 Henry Dunster, first president of Harvard College, abandons the Puritan view of infant baptism

1654/55 Henry Dunster exiles himself

1659 William Robinson and Maramaduke Stevenson were hung in Boston for returning to the Massachusetts Bay Colony after banishment (they were Quakers)

1660 Mary Dyer is hung in Boston

1660 Parliament asks Charles II to assume the throne thus restoring the monarchy in England.

1661 Executions of Quakers halted by Charles II

This is a very small list of acts the men, whom Nathaniel overheard, had seen and would see in the years to come. It is a quick overview of the struggle those early colonists went through, growing pains of the freedom we now enjoy. Many look at this list and become angry with Christians, but I don't think that is an accurate reaction. Without the Bible to guide our forefathers in an understanding of what true freedom of conscience is, we would never have seen the constitution we have today. I believe the colonists needed to go through these struggles before they could gain an understanding of what America was to become. Without experiencing the trials some of these men endured, they would not have known the importance of their own discovery of true freedom. These men did not look at their current situation, but at the future in which their children would live. They fought for a better place and a better life for those who would live after them.

In my opinion, I think we need to tread carefully before we pass judgment on those in this era. These people were mere men seeking to accomplish something greater than themselves, not realizing they couldn't do it without God's grace.

John Winthrop's Prayer of Faith

John Winthrop, a man who would eventually become the governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, prayed that God, "would give me a new heart, joy in his spirit; that he would dwell with me, that he, that he would strengthen me against the world, the flesh, and the Devil, and that he would forgive my sins and increase my faith."

This prayer reminds me of some of the prayers and exhortations the Apostle Paul had for the members of the early churches.

Jeremiah 17:9 tells us that our hearts are desperately wicked, but we can have a new heart in Christ Jesus, even as we are made a new creature in Christ (II Corinthians 2:15).

The joy that comes when we pass from living for ourselves and chasing after the things of world to submitting, with humble spirit, to God is an all-consuming joy. It comes when we are set free from the drudgery of sin, filling us with newness of life.

John Winthrop came to this prayer when he looked at his life and saw how sinful he was. He then set out to do as Paul exhorted the Corinthians:

"Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit off God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are." I Corinthians 3:16-17.

We often turn our noses up at the Puritans, calling them legalistic and saying how they lacked an understanding of grace. Yet, here John Winthrop reveals to us his heart to please God. He studied the scriptures and found himself lacking.

I wonder if we took serious note of what the Bible said and looked at how we treated our bodies, the temple of the Holy Ghost--allowing it to be controlled by other substances than the Holy Ghost or using it to flirt with someone or taking it places that the Holy Ghost would not want to be taken--if we would find our perception of liberty and freedom in Christ change?

Consider what Jesus gave up for us so that we could be freed from the hold of sin--not just death. How would it change us?

John Winthrop saw the war that he was in and what he fought against (the world, the flesh, and the Devil). He saw that he, in himself, did not have the strength to win the war. He needed God's strength, he needed God's forgiveness, and he needed faith.

Below I quote the Apostle Paul's prayer for the church in Colosse. I pray this for you, our readers.

Colossians 1:9 "...that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering."

If you have read this and find, like John Winthrop, you want God to forgive your sins and create a new heart in you, then pray and ask Him. It is as simple as that. If you want someone to walk you through it, you can email me: lynnsquire@gmail.com.

If you have prayed a prayer similar to John Winthrop, please share your encounter with God below. I'd love to hear it.

John Winthrop: Another Unsung Hero

Title: John Winthrop, America’s Forgotten Founding Father
Author: Francis J. Bremer
Publisher: Oxford University Press, 2003

If good intentions could save a person’s soul, then there would be no doubt about John Winthrop’s soul.

John Winthrop was a man of vision. He sought to create a new land, pure from the corruption found in the Church of England, but his desire to do so came while he lived in England. A complex historical character, Mr. Winthrop is quoted by presidents, by scholars, and by laymen to support their ideology—whether or not Mr. Winthrop would have agreed.

In this book, we begin to grasp how the state of England, Christianity within the country, and the passion of life formed Mr. Winthrop’s own ideologies and theology.

I believe social pressures also formed much of Mr. Winthrop’s theology, more so perhaps than the Bible itself. An example of this is his own conclusion: “God Almighty in his most holy and wise providence hath so disposed of the condition of mankind, as in all times some must be rich, some poor; some high and eminent in power and dignity, others mean and in subjection.” (p. 92-93) In life at this time, we see how some held more authority and privileges than others. This would be in contrast to the Apostle Paul’s letter to Philemon where Paul encourages the man to count his runaway slave, Onesimus, as an equal brother.

Even in England, Mr. Winthrop found himself in religious debate. In his home country the foundation was laid for some of the problems he would face in New England. Problems with such people as Anne Hutchinson, who would oppose the “covenant of works” she felt many of the Puritans held to.

But Mr. Winthrop did not seem so different than Mrs. Hutchinson, except perhaps in fervency to please God by his actions. He prayed that God “would give me a new heart, joy in his spirit; that he would dwell with me, that he would strengthen me against the world, the flesh, and the Devil, [and] that he would forgive my sins and increase my faith.” (p. 96) From my perspective, that sounds very consistent with Romans 10:9-10, 13:

That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation….For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

Also with II Corinthians 5:17:

Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

Thus he began his role as a Godly magistrate, a man bent on having a right fellowship with God. A few years later he was asked to join the Massachusetts Bay Company. This seemed agreeable to him since he had interest in carrying the gospel and the culture of England to different countries. In preparation for the trip across the Atlantic to New England, men gathered in the Church of the Holy Rood and sermons were given. An assumption is that John Winthrop’s famous A Modell of Christian Charity was given at this time, which contained the phrase “City upon a Hill.”

Today many see the Puritans as almost evil in their desire to establish a place wherein Christian values and morality would be upheld. Yet, for anyone who might grieve over the wicked state of our current world, one might find such an attitude refreshing. God, however, wants people to seek Him of their own free will. To be forced to follow Him via commands and human traditions was never the plan.

“Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.” Galatians 5:1

Perhaps we judge the Puritans so harshly because we do not understand their passion to remove themselves from evil. Yes, there were extremists. Isn’t there in every movement, whether political or religious or social? But for those who love God, who seek to please Him, and who long to one day go to their heavenly home, we can have empathy for their desire for good and not evil to reign. Perhaps we cannot agree with their methods, but we should be able to agree with their desire for purity and holiness and their longing for their heavenly home.

John Winthrop served as a governor for the Massachusetts Bay Colony through some tumultuous times. He saw God’s hand at work, despite man’s failings and imperfections.

When he neared death, Rev. John Cotton called for prayers for him saying about Governor Winthrop, “a governor who has been unto us a brother, not usurping authority over the church, often speaking his advice…often contradicted, even by young men and some of low degree, yet not replying, but offering satisfaction also when any supposed offenses have arisen…been unto us as a mother, parent-like distributing his goods to brethren and neighbors at his first coming, and gently bearing our infirmities without taking notice of them.” (p. 377).

John Winthrop died shortly after, on March 26, 1649. His legacy lives on, however, through our American values, and by those (like President Ronald Regan) who see John Winthrop's words worth repeating.