Westerners live in a largely humanistic, naturalistic, secular, and paganizing society that is increasingly hostile to the gospel, Christianity, the Bible, and those who are live according to them. Surprisingly enough, similar conditions dominated the U.S. shortly after the Revolution, and when it was being established as a sovereign nation. Once Christian colleges were now largely liberal, society was increasingly debauched, and humanistic, deistic, and atheistic beliefs were increasingly being embraced by the elites, and the masses in general. During the mid-1790s, things began to change, however, with outpourings of the Holy Spirit at Yale College, and among frontier churches and communities in the Kentucky region. From that point, up until the 1850s, spiritual revivals and awakenings regularly ignited across the U.S., saving thousands, forming churches, establishing Christian organizations, sparking modern missions efforts, and making American society more Christianly than it had ever been. In spite of the many errors and abuses that were committed by many revival leaders during the long period of 1800-1858, most of the major results promoted the salvation of souls, the glory of the Lord Jesus, and the good of mankind in general.

In this discussion, Chris and Casey talk about how the U.S. was temporarily rescued from the dark ages we now live in of secular humanism, and the divine and human instruments that were used to awaken God's people, and masses of sinners. Beginning from the historical context and the origins of the awakening at Yale and Kentucky, they highlight the key periods of the awakening, tracing the story from the frontier and college revivals, to the revivals in the northeast through Nettleton and Finney, and closing with the final revivals through the circuit riders, and the prayerful awakening of 1858 that stretched across both sides of the Atlantic. They conclude the discussion with a consideration of the positive and negative results, along with important lessons that believers today can learn from this epic event in history, which formed the character of the U.S., the character of American evangelicalism, and spurred on the preaching of the gospel to foreign lands all across the globe.

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Recommended Resources:

Revival & Revivalism by Iain H. Murray

"The Second Great Awakening (Pt 1)" by Brian Borgman:

The Second Great Awakening (Pt 1)

https://www.sermonaudio.com/sermons/101323250455308