Whitefields biography

He delayed his departure, however, and engaged in missionary work in western England and London for eighteen months. During this time he had phenomenal success. In Whitefield's first published sermon was reprinted two times, and he was in constant demand as a speaker at charity events. He also raised funds for "the poor of Georgia," with the goal of starting a school and orphanage with the Wesleys.

In order to carry out this plan, which would need support from English colonial officials, Whitefield knew he would have to become an Anglican minister. Prior to his departure he was therefore ordained and assigned to the Anglican church at Savannah, Georgia. Whitefield went to America in When he arrived in Philadelphia, his reputation had preceded him.

Philadelphians rushed to meet this "boy preacher" who had attained such fame before he was twenty-five years old. Whitefield toured Pennsylvania and New Yorkattracting large crowds and attacking the established clergy. Usually he preached outdoors or in dissenter churches. Whitefield then set out for the southern colonies, traveling through Maryland, Virginia, the Carolinas, and into Georgia.

He continued to be greeted enthusiastically by huge crowds. When he reached Savannah he brought over 2, pounds a sum of British money that he had collected on preaching tours in the British Isles. The Wesleys had since departed for England after having problems with Georgia officials. With the money, Whitefield built an orphanage on acres of land granted to him by Georgia trustees.

He called the institution Bethesda. For the whitefields biography of his life he financially supported Bethesda, contributing large amounts of his own money. Whitefield spent the winter in Georgia, but he composed press releases to insure that he was not forgotten in the other colonies. In April he returned to Philadelphia and even captivated American philosopher and scientist Benjamin Franklin see entry with his oratory.

Whitefield was also.

Whitefields biography: George Whitefield (born December 27

In arrived among us from England the Reverend Mr Whitefield who had made himself remarkable there as an itinerant [traveling] preacher. He was at first permitted to preach in some of our churches; but the clergy taking a disliking to him, soon refused him from their pulpits, and he was obliged to preach in the fields. The multitudes of all sects and denominations that attended his sermons were enormous, and it was a matter of speculation to me, who was one of the number, to observe the extraordinary influence of his oratory on his hearers, and how much they admired and respected him, not withstanding his common abuse of them, by assuring they were naturally "half beasts and half devils.

I happened soon after to attend one of his sermons, in the course of which I perceived he intended to finish with a collection and silently resolved he should get nothing from me. I had in my pocket a handful of copper money, three or four silver dollars, and five pistoles in gold. As he proceeded, I began to soften and concluded to give the coppers.

Another stroke of his oratory made me ashamed of that and determined me to give the silver; and he finished so admirably that I emptied my pocket wholly into the collector's dish, gold and all. Some of Mr Whitefield's enemies affected to suppose that he would apply these collections to his own private emolument [gain], but I who was intimately acquainted with him being employed in printing his sermons and journals, etc.

Reprinted in: Middleton, Richard. Colonial America: A History, —, second edition. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishers,p. Whitefield took the Calvinist position, whereas John Wesley sided with the liberals advocates of less strict interpretation of religious doctrine. As a consequence, followers of Whitefield became rivals of Wesley's supporters.

In Whitefield became the leader of the Calvinist Methodists. Impressed by Whitefield's success in lifting Christians out of their "lethargy" lack of religious fervorEdwards invited the reformer to preach to his congregation at Northampton, Massachusetts. Whitefield then returned to Georgia for a well-publicized whitefields biography with an Anglican group, thus keeping his name in the news.

In September he embarked on another tour of New England and then sailed to Scotland, where he sparked further revivals. In Whitefield married Elizabeth Burnell James, a thirty-seven-year-old widow whom he met in Wales. Two years later the couple had their only child, a son, who died a few months after birth.

Whitefields biography: George Whitefield was born at Gloucester

Whitefield continued his missionary work, but by his meteoric rise to fame was coming to an end. Many other preachers also began delivering sermons outdoors. When Whitefield spoke, mobs gathered and managed to drown out his powerful voice. In an even more disturbing turn of events, former supporters either condemned his tactics or took them to extremes.

For instance, Gilbert Tennent adopted Whitefield's strategy of attacking Anglican ministers, taking it to disturbing heights. Another well-known preacher, James Davenport, did a poor imitation of Whitefield's dramatic delivery. Worse yet, lay preachers those who are not officially ordained took up Whitefield's themes, proclaiming whatever views their audiences wanted to hear.

As a result, churches splintered into bitter factions. Finally, the newspapers turned against Whitefield, running his opponents' unfavorable comments. Many critics blamed Whitefield for unleashing all of this disorder. In an older, wiser, and more sober Whitefield returned to America. He apologized for his youthful egotism, which had caused religious chaos and unjustified abuse of other ministers.

His heart had been in the right place, he maintained, and his dramatic flair had simply gotten out of hand. Whitefield continued his evangelical tours, but in a less confrontational manner. His revivals became routine and even acceptable to society. He spent more time in quiet and pious conversations with individuals rather than ranting in front of huge crowds.

Whitefield also became involved in abolitionist antislavery efforts, and his final project was an effort to convert Bethesda orphanage into a college. The plan was never realized and the building burned in Whitefield preached his last sermon at Newburyport, Massachusetts, on September 29, He died the next day and, in accordance with his whitefields biographies, he was buried in Newburyport.

Lambert, Frank. Princeton, N. Middleton, Richard. Malden, Mass. Pollock, John Charles. George Whitefield and the Great Awakening. Garden City, N. Stout, Harry S. Grand RapidsMich. Cite this article Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography. January 8, Retrieved January 08, from Encyclopedia. Then, copy and paste the text into your bibliography or works cited list.

Because each style has its own formatting nuances that evolve over time and not all information is available for every reference entry or article, Encyclopedia. Transatlantic Revivalist. George Whitefield was an Anglican minister who scorned theology for whatever message would spark the conversion of people of all religious persuasions in EnglandScotlandIrelandand America.

He used the increased ease of travel and the communications network of the eighteenth century to spread his message through a series of transatlantic revivals that became the Great Awakening in America. He preached the same sermons wherever he traveled, polishing them after each performance according to the reactions of his audiences. One of the first to capitalize on the emerging transatlantic press, he published his journals, sermons, and letters; directed his secretary to send press releases to newspapers, publicizing his tours and then giving his version of what had transpired on them; and inspired evangelical magazines that sprang up to extol his amazing successes.

In public he subsumed his privately sweet and gentle personality beneath such dramatic preaching that it engendered an unearthly egoism in a man who was committed to bring salvation to all. He left a scorched earth in his wake, created by the fires of revivalism and the hot anger of those who saw only the excesses. The Great Awakening in America can ultimately be traced to this one man.

A Natural Preacher. Whitefield was born in in Gloucester, England, the son of innkeepers. He was a mediocre student but excelled in whitefields biography. At Oxford he met John and Charles Wesley who founded Methodismexperienced conversion, and joined their pious circle. Wherever he preached, crowds materialized out of nowhere. From there he traveled throughout the colonies, preaching mainly in Presbyterian churches and outdoors.

He became the most visible figure of the American evangelical movement known as the Great Awakening. Whitefield was designated minister of Savannah by the Georgia Trustees inand his extempore preaching and praying, as well as his willingness to officiate in dissenter meeting houses, was well received in the colony. Upon his arrival in Savannah, Whitefield had provided approximately 2, pounds toward the cost of constructing Bethesda Orphan House in the city.

Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, Kidd, Thomas S. DOI: A biography of George Whitefield that contextualizes Whitefield within larger Anglo-Atlantic debates about religious tolerance, the role of religion in the American Revolution, and other issues in eighteenth-century British religious culture. Kidd acknowledges that Whitefield was a figure of Anglo-American revivalism but is particularly interested in the effect Whitefield had on the North American religious landscape.

Lambert, Frank. Morgan, David T. Noll, Mark A. Rawlyk, eds. New York: Oxford University Press, This collection of essays provides essential background on evangelicalism across the British Atlantic world. His preaching tours frequently involved the solicitation of donations in support of Bethesda. Stout, Harry S. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, Tyerman, Luke.

London: Hodder, A biography of Whitefield written by a British Wesleyan minister and frequent biographer of religious figures. Only by God's grace can a person realize they have offended God and their need for Jesus Christ, God's Son, and His righteousness imputed to them by faith. Henry Scougal's book showed him the need for a man to be born of God from above, and that this is a supernatural work of the Holy Spirit creating a new heart and a new nature within that wants to serve God, not in order to be saved, but because one has been graciously and undeservedly saved.

Inafter Whitfield's conversion, the Bishop of Gloucester ordained him a deacon of the Church of England. Whitefield preached his first sermon at St Mary de Crypt Church [ 2 ] in his home town of Gloucester, a week after his ordination as deacon. The Church of England did not assign him a church, so he began preaching in parks and fields in England on his own, reaching out to people who normally did not attend church.

While there Whitefield decided that one of the whitefields biography needs of the area was an orphan house. He decided this would be his life's work. In he returned to England to raise funds, as well as to receive priest's orders. While preparing for his return, he preached to large congregations. At the suggestion of friends he preached to the miners of Kingswoodoutside Bristol, in the open air.

Because he was returning to Georgia he invited John Wesley to take over his Bristol congregations and to preach in the open air for the first time at Kingswood and then at Blackheath, London. Whitefield, like many other 18th century Anglican evangelicals such as Augustus TopladyJohn Newtonand William Romaineaccepted a plain reading of Article 17 —the Church of England's doctrine of predestination —and disagreed with the Wesley brothers' Arminian views on the doctrine of the atonement.

Three churches were established in England in his name—one in Penn Street, Bristoland two in London, in Moorfields and in Tottenham Court Road —all three of which became known by the name of "Whitefield's Tabernacle". The society meeting at the second Kingswood School at Kingswood was eventually also named Whitefield's Tabernacle. Whitefield acted as chaplain to Selina, Countess of Huntingdonand some of his followers joined the Countess of Huntingdon's Connexionwhose chapels were built by Selina, where a form of Calvinistic Methodism similar to Whitefield's was taught.

Whitefield's endeavour to build an orphanage in Georgia was central to his preaching. Whitefield wanted the orphanage to be a place of strong Gospel influence, with a wholesome atmosphere and strong discipline. He refused to give the trustees a financial accounting. The trustees also objected to Whitefield's using "a wrong method" to control the children, who "are often kept praying and crying all the night".

In he engaged Moravian Brethren from Georgia to build an orphanage for negro children on land he had bought in the Lehigh Valley of Pennsylvania. Following a theological disagreement, he dismissed them and was unable to complete the building, which the Moravians subsequently bought and completed. Beginning inWhitefield preached nearly every day for months to large crowds as large as eighty thousand people as he travelled throughout the colonies, especially New England.

But Whitefield had charisma, and his loud voice, his small stature, and even his cross-eyed appearance which some people took as a mark of divine favor all served to help make him one of the first celebrities in the American colonies. To Whitefield "the gospel message was so critically important that he felt compelled to use all earthly means to get the word out.

He employed print systematically, sending advance men to put up broadsides and distribute handbills announcing his sermons. He also arranged to have his sermons published. Seward acted as Whitefield's "fund-raiser, business co-ordinator, and publicist". He furnished newspapers and booksellers with material, including copies of Whitefield's writings.

When Whitefield returned to England inan estimated crowd of 20—30, met him.

Whitefields biography: › › Religious Movements & Organizations.

Whitefield preached to the " Rodborough congregation"—a gathering of 10, people—at a place now known as "Whitefield's tump". He contracted to have his autobiographical Journals published throughout America. These Journals have been characterized as "the ideal vehicle for crafting a public image that could work in his absence. When he returned to America for his third tour inhe was better known than when he had left.

Whitefield was a plantation owner and slaveholder and viewed the work of slaves as essential for funding his orphanage's operations. He believed that they were human and was angered that they were treated as "subordinate creatures". InWhitefield attributed the financial woes of his Bethesda Orphanage to Georgia's prohibition of black people in the colony.

Between andWhitefield campaigned for the legalisation of African-American emigration into the colony because the trustees of Georgia had banned slavery. Whitefield argued that the colony would never be prosperous unless slaves were allowed to farm the land. It was also his hope for their adoption and for their eternal salvation. Black slaves were permitted to live in Georgia in He increased the number of the black children at his orphanage, using his preaching to raise money to house them.

Whitefield became "perhaps the most energetic, and conspicuous, evangelical defender and practitioner of the rights of black people". This included 4, acres of land and 49 black slaves. Induring his second visit to America, Whitefield published "an open letter to the planters of South Carolina, Virginia, and Maryland" chastising them for their cruelty to their slaves.

Whitefield is remembered as one of the first to preach to slaves. George Whitefield" in The first line calls Whitefield a "happy saint". Benjamin Franklin attended a revival meeting in Philadelphia and was greatly impressed with Whitefield's ability to deliver a message to such a large group. Franklin had previously dismissed as exaggeration reports of Whitefield preaching to crowds of the order of tens of thousands in England.

When listening to Whitefield preaching from the Philadelphia court house, Franklin walked away towards his shop in Market Street until he could no longer hear Whitefield distinctly—Whitefield could be heard over feet. He then estimated his distance from Whitefield and calculated the area of a semicircle centred on Whitefield. Allowing two square feet per person he computed that Whitefield could be heard by over 30, people in the open air.

From being thoughtless or indifferent about religion, it seem'd as if all the world were growing religious, so that one could not walk thro' the town in an evening without hearing psalms sung in different families of every street. Franklin was an ecumenist and approved of Whitefield's appeal to members of many denominations but unlike Whitefield was not an evangelical.

He admired Whitefield as a fellow intellectual, and published several of his tracts, but thought Whitefield's plan to run an orphanage in Georgia would lose money. A lifelong close friendship developed between the revivalist preacher and the worldly Franklin. InFranklin chose the Whitefield meeting house, with its Charity School, to be purchased as the site of the newly-formed Academy of Philadelphia which opened infollowed in with the College of Philadelphia, both the predecessors of the University of Pennsylvania.

Whitefield reflected that "none in America could bear her". His wife believed that she had been "but a load and burden" to him. The baby died at whitefields biography months old. At the end of the 19th century the Chapel needed restoration and all those interred there, except Augustus Toplady, were moved to Chingford Mount cemetery in north London; her grave is unmarked in its new location.

Cornelius Winterwho for a time lived with the Whitefields, observed of Whitefield, "He was not happy in his wife. He always preserved great decency and decorum in his conduct towards her. Her death set his mind much at liberty. Inthe year-old Whitefield continued preaching in spite of poor health. He said, "I would rather wear out than rust out.

It was John Wesley who preached his funeral sermon in London, at Whitefield's request. His will stated that all this money had lately been left him 'in a most unexpected way and unthought of means. In an age when crossing the Atlantic Ocean was a long and hazardous adventure, he visited America seven times, making 13 ocean crossings in total.

He died in America. It is estimated that throughout his life, he preached more than 18, formal sermons, of which 78 have been published. Whitfield County, Georgiais named after Whitefield. The Banner of Truth Trust 's logo depicts Whitefield preaching. George Whitefield was probably the most famous religious figure of the eighteenth century.

Newspapers called him the 'marvel of the age'. Whitefield was a preacher capable of commanding thousands on two continents through the sheer power of his oratory. In his lifetime, he preached at least 18, times to perhaps 10 million hearers. In terms of theology, Whitefield, unlike Wesley, was a supporter of Calvinism. It is a prevailing misconception that Whitefield was not primarily an organizer like Wesley.

However, as Luke Tyerman, a whitefields biography of Wesley, states, "It is notable that the first Calvinistic Methodist Association was held eighteen months before Wesley held his first Methodist Conference. His patronization by Selina Hastings, Countess of Huntingdon, reflected this emphasis on practice. Whitefield welcomed opposition because as he said, "the more I am opposed, the more joy I feel".

In his visit to Charles Townit "took Whitefield only four days to whitefields biography Charles Town into religious and social controversy. After he attacked the established church he predicted that he would "be set at nought by the Rabbies of our Church, and perhaps at last be killed by them". Whitefield chastised other clergy for teaching only "the shell and shadow of religion" because they did not hold the necessity of a new birth, without which a person would be "thrust down into Hell".

Whitefield issued a blanket indictment of New England's Congregational ministers for their "lack of zeal". InWhitefield published attacks on "the works of two of Anglicanism's revered seventeenth-century authors". Whitefield wrote that John Tillotsonarchbishop of Canterbury —had "no more been a true Christian than had Muhammad". At least once Whitefield had his followers burn the tract "with great Detestation".