Inventing the "Great Awakening"

This text presents an account of the evangelical revival known as the Great Awakening. It demonstrates that the awakening was invented by 18th-century evangelicals who were religious promoters. It shows how these people told and retold their account to themselves, their followers and opponents.

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This text presents an account of the evangelical revival known in America as the first Great Awakening (1735-1745). Beginning in the mid-1730s supporters and opponents of the revival commented on the extraordinary nature of what one observer called the "great ado", with its extemporaneous outdoor preaching newspaper publicity, and rallies of up to 20,000 participants. It offers an overview of this period and proposes an explanation of its origins. The Great Awakening was named after it occurence and its leaders created no doctorine nor organizational structure that would result in a historical record. Challenging previous theories about this, the book demonstrates that the awakening was invented by 18th-century evangelicals who were religious promoters. It shows how these people told and retold their account to themselves, their followers and opponents. It depicts revivals as cultural productions and yield different understandings of how believers "spread the word" with whatever technical and social methods seem the most effective.