The Accidental Revolutionary: George Whitefield and the Creation of America

ISBN-13: 9781602583917 / Angielski / Twarda / 2011 / 214 str.

Jerome Dean Mahaffey

Opis

Patriots. Founding Fathers. Revolutionaries. For many Americans, the colonial heroes deserve special celebratory reverence. Yet while Washington's leadership, Franklin's writings, and Revere's ride captivate us, the inspiration and influence George Whitefield instilled within the revolutionary spirits of early Americans is regrettably unknown.In this refreshing biography, Jerome Dean Mahaffey deftly moves beyond Whitefield's colonial celebrity to show how his rhetoric and ministry worked for freedom, situating Whitefield alongside the most revolutionary founders. As this Anglican revivalist traveled among the colonies, he delivered exhilarating sermons deeply saturated with political implications freedom from oppression, civil justice, communal cooperation. Whitefield helped to encourage in his listeners a longing for a new, uniquely American nationalism. The Accidental Revolutionary tells the story of this forgotten founder, who may not have realized the repercussions of his words as he spoke them. Now, Mahaffey delicately shows that Whitefield converted colonists not just to Christianity but to a renewed sense of unification that ultimately made possible the American Revolution."

Spis treści

• 1. Beginnings
• 2. Launching the Ministry
• 3. A New Birth of Freedom
• 4. A Revolutionary Message
• 5. Controversy: ""I'm just getting started""
• 6. Bishop Bashing
• 7. New England: Overthrow or Unify?
• 8. Between Two Extremes
• 9. Good King, Bad King
• 10. Church and State
• 11. France, Rome, and Hell
• 12. Reprisal from the Church of England
• 13. The Deep Laid Plot
• 14. Preaching Himself to Death
• 15. Whitefield's Legacy
• 16. A Political Man