Early American Revivalists

Evangelicalism in its revivalist Calvinist iteration became the power that spurred the dynamic expansion of Christianity in this country, inspiring the Great Awakenings of the 18th and early 19th centuries, with all of their attendant consequences. The author focuses upon those evangelicals, from various backgrounds, races, and denominations, whose religious revivals ultimately turned the tide away from widespread religious apathy and indifference towards a genuine conversion of the heart. Given their small numbers, the vastness and rawness of the country and their limited resources, the success of these early revivalists seems astonishing, evocative of the early church in the Roman empire. Success, however, came at the cost of endless factionalism and schisms.