Shortly we shall look at a modern Baptist church and the religion of Brother John Sherfey. This style of American Christian religion derives from earlier religious developments in colonial New England - specifically, from the period called The Great Awakening. This is a historical event in the 1740s and 1750s when emotional demonstration of religious commitment became widespread, first in New England and eventually spreading to the south and to the frontier. These churches in New England were `Congregationalist', an American denomination derived from English Calvinism. The emotionalism of the Great Awakening led to the breaking off of many new churches from the Congregational church. Some wanted even more emotionalism in services, others wanted much less of it. Many other churches in the US, especially in the south, adopted similar styles of religious service.

Read an article Edwards wrote about a revival of religion in the town of Northampton, Mass. This is a letter, apparently written to be a magazine article. Edwards describes events in 1736-1742 sometimes involving crowds of people in tears and convulsions, fainting and praying aloud. Many in the town signed a covenant promising to be moral, humble, respectful and charitable in dealing with others. Though Edwards seems to credit especially the activities of two junior ministers (Revs. Whitfield and Buell), Edwards himself played a major role in these events.

Read Jonathan Edwards' most famous sermon `Sinners in the Hand of an Angry God' (1741) (excerpts). If you are interested, see the web page about Jonathan Edwards , the famous Calvinist preacher from western Massachussetts.