Description
Book SynopsisFeatures the history of an evangelical revival known in America as the "Great Awakening"���'. This book offers an overview of this episode and proposes an explanation of its origins. It demonstrates that the Great Awakening was invented not by historians but by eighteenth-century evangelicals who were skillful and enthusiastic religious promoters.
Trade Review"Lambert has written an important book for students of American religious and cultural history... [His] straightforward, non-sensational history makes a good case for 'great awakenings' in New England and several middle colonies before 1750 and marks a helpful turn in the debate about the real meaning of Joseph Tracy's Great Awakening."--Jon Butler, American Historical Review "Exceptionally well written and adequately documented... This is an important contribution to the debate."--Kenneth G. C. Newport, Theological Book Review "Lambert's work is synthetic in the best sense of the word, allowing us to see fully the contours of the revivals as they emerged in the public's eye... Lambert focuses squarely on this question and thus revivifies the language through which people described and explained what they thought was happening to them. His judiciousness in this matter should be a model to us all."--Philip F. Gura, Reviews of American History "Frank Lambert provides a surprising narrative of the awakening that is well written, thoroughly researched, and rich in implication... A brief review cannot do justice to this excellent work."--Michael J. McClymond, Journal of Religion "Replete with tables outlining revival events and publications, Lambert's book is a highly accessible account for specialists and nonspecialists alike. His attention to the importance of print, his appreciation of the role of transatlantic revival networks, and his sensitivity to the nuances of cultural 'invention' make this a model of historical scholarship."--Peter J. Thuesen, The Catholic Historical Review
Table of ContentsList of IllustrationsList of TablesAcknowledgmentsIntroduction3Pt. 1Opening Events: The "Great Awakenings" of the 1730s17Ch. 1"... that Religion may revive in this Land"21Ch. 2"the first fruits of this extraordinary and mighty Work of God's Special Grace"54Pt. 2Wider Connections: An Intercolonial Great and General Awakening, 1739-174583Ch. 3"imported Divinity"87Ch. 4The "Revival at ..."125Ch. 5"... similar facts ... are now united": Constructing a Transatlantic Awakening151Pt. 3Contested Inventions, 1742-1745181Ch. 6The "grand delusion" or "great Mistakes of the present Day"185Ch. 7"This is the Lord's Doing"222Epilogue. "The late Revival of Religion"251Notes259Selected Bibliography281Index295
