Nathan W. Bingham

They used the word awakening as a very technical term. And what they meant was that sometimes you saw in a congregation or in several congregations or even more broadly sometimes, a responsiveness, an unusual responsiveness to the preaching of the gospel. But they all remembered the parable of the wheat and the tares.

They used the word awakening as a very technical term. And what they meant was that sometimes you saw in a congregation or in several congregations or even more broadly sometimes, a responsiveness, an unusual responsiveness to the preaching of the gospel. But they all remembered the parable of the wheat and the tares.

They knew that it was possible for the sound doctrine of the word to fall on ground where it appeared there was response. But in fact, weeds soon choked it out.

They knew that it was possible for the sound doctrine of the word to fall on ground where it appeared there was response. But in fact, weeds soon choked it out.

Have you heard of the Great Awakening? It was a time of great religious interest that began in New England and spread throughout the American colonies. That will be our focus on this Saturday edition of Renewing Your Mind. On Saturdays, you're hearing highlights from W. Robert Godfrey's six-part monumental study series on church history.

Have you heard of the Great Awakening? It was a time of great religious interest that began in New England and spread throughout the American colonies. That will be our focus on this Saturday edition of Renewing Your Mind. On Saturdays, you're hearing highlights from W. Robert Godfrey's six-part monumental study series on church history.

He's taken us to the early church, the Middle Ages, and the Reformation. And today we're visiting the 18th century, and he'll introduce us to the Great Awakening. If you'd like to continue studying this time in church history, really our family history, you can add part four of this overview of church history to your library when you make a year-end donation of any amount at renewingyourmind.org.

He's taken us to the early church, the Middle Ages, and the Reformation. And today we're visiting the 18th century, and he'll introduce us to the Great Awakening. If you'd like to continue studying this time in church history, really our family history, you can add part four of this overview of church history to your library when you make a year-end donation of any amount at renewingyourmind.org.

And to thank you for your generosity, we'll send you the DVD and unlock lifetime streaming access to this 12-message installment. Well, here's Dr. Godfrey, the chairman of Ligonier Ministries on The Great Awakening.

And to thank you for your generosity, we'll send you the DVD and unlock lifetime streaming access to this 12-message installment. Well, here's Dr. Godfrey, the chairman of Ligonier Ministries on The Great Awakening.

Well, in a sense, we have been talking together about revolutions, revolutions in thinking about society and the way it's put together and about truth as it began to emerge in the Enlightenment in the late 17th and on into the 18th century. And now we've begun to look at revolutions in religion.

Well, in a sense, we have been talking together about revolutions, revolutions in thinking about society and the way it's put together and about truth as it began to emerge in the Enlightenment in the late 17th and on into the 18th century. And now we've begun to look at revolutions in religion.

It's hard for us who are attached to the Reformation to realize how much religion has changed since the 16th century. Not the doctrine, but the whole notions of how church relates to society, how church relates to state, how toleration should or should not exist in the world. And part of the revolution that came in to the world of religion came in through religious events in the 18th century.

It's hard for us who are attached to the Reformation to realize how much religion has changed since the 16th century. Not the doctrine, but the whole notions of how church relates to society, how church relates to state, how toleration should or should not exist in the world. And part of the revolution that came in to the world of religion came in through religious events in the 18th century.

And that's what we've started to look at when we were looking at how Wesley and Whitefield began to emerge as great preachers against a dead established religion.

And that's what we've started to look at when we were looking at how Wesley and Whitefield began to emerge as great preachers against a dead established religion.

and how the Lord began to use them to really work in the hearts of people to bring them out of a situation in which they felt they had to, some of them, wait forever to come to the Lord and had to be part of a state church that was increasingly in trouble. So there are these...

and how the Lord began to use them to really work in the hearts of people to bring them out of a situation in which they felt they had to, some of them, wait forever to come to the Lord and had to be part of a state church that was increasingly in trouble. So there are these...

These rumblings, these beginnings of change, and those rumblings were not just taking place in England with Wesley and Whitfield as young men, but they also began to take place in New England. The clearest example of that was in the case of Jonathan Edwards.

These rumblings, these beginnings of change, and those rumblings were not just taking place in England with Wesley and Whitfield as young men, but they also began to take place in New England. The clearest example of that was in the case of Jonathan Edwards.