George Whitefield: America's Spiritual Founding Father
Winner of Christianity Today's 2016 Book Award for History/Biography: an engaging, balanced, and penetrating narrative biography of the charismatic eighteenth-century American evangelist George Whitefield

"The most authoritative yet readable book on the eighteenth century’s greatest preacher."—Marvin Olasky, World Magazine

"Kidd’s theologically sympathetic approach gives the book a depth that a more detached treatment might not: He misses none of the biblical allusions that peppered Whitefield’s utterances, and he is an excellent guide through the tangled doctrinal controversies that dogged Whitefield’s career."—Barton Swaim, Wall Street Journal

In the years prior to the American Revolution, George Whitefield was the most famous man in the colonies. Thomas Kidd’s fascinating biography explores the extraordinary career of the most influential figure in the first generation of Anglo-American evangelical Christianity, examining his sometimes troubling stands on the pressing issues of the day, both secular and spiritual, and his relationships with such famous contemporaries as Benjamin Franklin, Jonathan Edwards, and John Wesley.
 
Based on the author’s comprehensive studies of Whitefield’s original sermons, journals, and letters, this excellent history chronicles the phenomenal rise of the trailblazer of the Great Awakening. Whitefield’s leadership role among the new evangelicals of the eighteenth century and his many religious disputes are meticulously covered, as are his major legacies and the permanent marks he left on evangelical Christian faith. It is arguably the most balanced biography to date of a controversial religious leader who, though relatively unknown three hundred years after his birth, was a true giant in his day and remains an important figure in America’s history.
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George Whitefield: America's Spiritual Founding Father
Winner of Christianity Today's 2016 Book Award for History/Biography: an engaging, balanced, and penetrating narrative biography of the charismatic eighteenth-century American evangelist George Whitefield

"The most authoritative yet readable book on the eighteenth century’s greatest preacher."—Marvin Olasky, World Magazine

"Kidd’s theologically sympathetic approach gives the book a depth that a more detached treatment might not: He misses none of the biblical allusions that peppered Whitefield’s utterances, and he is an excellent guide through the tangled doctrinal controversies that dogged Whitefield’s career."—Barton Swaim, Wall Street Journal

In the years prior to the American Revolution, George Whitefield was the most famous man in the colonies. Thomas Kidd’s fascinating biography explores the extraordinary career of the most influential figure in the first generation of Anglo-American evangelical Christianity, examining his sometimes troubling stands on the pressing issues of the day, both secular and spiritual, and his relationships with such famous contemporaries as Benjamin Franklin, Jonathan Edwards, and John Wesley.
 
Based on the author’s comprehensive studies of Whitefield’s original sermons, journals, and letters, this excellent history chronicles the phenomenal rise of the trailblazer of the Great Awakening. Whitefield’s leadership role among the new evangelicals of the eighteenth century and his many religious disputes are meticulously covered, as are his major legacies and the permanent marks he left on evangelical Christian faith. It is arguably the most balanced biography to date of a controversial religious leader who, though relatively unknown three hundred years after his birth, was a true giant in his day and remains an important figure in America’s history.
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George Whitefield: America's Spiritual Founding Father

George Whitefield: America's Spiritual Founding Father

by Thomas S. Kidd
George Whitefield: America's Spiritual Founding Father

George Whitefield: America's Spiritual Founding Father

by Thomas S. Kidd

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Overview

Winner of Christianity Today's 2016 Book Award for History/Biography: an engaging, balanced, and penetrating narrative biography of the charismatic eighteenth-century American evangelist George Whitefield

"The most authoritative yet readable book on the eighteenth century’s greatest preacher."—Marvin Olasky, World Magazine

"Kidd’s theologically sympathetic approach gives the book a depth that a more detached treatment might not: He misses none of the biblical allusions that peppered Whitefield’s utterances, and he is an excellent guide through the tangled doctrinal controversies that dogged Whitefield’s career."—Barton Swaim, Wall Street Journal

In the years prior to the American Revolution, George Whitefield was the most famous man in the colonies. Thomas Kidd’s fascinating biography explores the extraordinary career of the most influential figure in the first generation of Anglo-American evangelical Christianity, examining his sometimes troubling stands on the pressing issues of the day, both secular and spiritual, and his relationships with such famous contemporaries as Benjamin Franklin, Jonathan Edwards, and John Wesley.
 
Based on the author’s comprehensive studies of Whitefield’s original sermons, journals, and letters, this excellent history chronicles the phenomenal rise of the trailblazer of the Great Awakening. Whitefield’s leadership role among the new evangelicals of the eighteenth century and his many religious disputes are meticulously covered, as are his major legacies and the permanent marks he left on evangelical Christian faith. It is arguably the most balanced biography to date of a controversial religious leader who, though relatively unknown three hundred years after his birth, was a true giant in his day and remains an important figure in America’s history.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780300223583
Publisher: Yale University Press
Publication date: 08/09/2016
Pages: 344
Sales rank: 707,331
Product dimensions: 6.20(w) x 9.20(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Thomas S. Kidd is distinguished professor of history at Baylor University. He lives in Waco, TX.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

1 "The Circumstance of My Being Born in an Inn": George Whitefield and Eighteenth-Century England 5

2 "The Day Star Arose in My Heart": Whitefield's Conversion 20

3 "God is Preparing Me for Something Extraordinary": Whitefield the Methodist Missionary 38

4 "The Fiery Trial of Popularity": George Whitefield, Field Preacher 58

5 "A Tour Round America": The American South and the Bethesda Orphanage 84

6 "To Revive the Flame Again": Whitefield Comes to New England 106

7 "Hearing Him Preach, Gave Me a Heart Wound": Calvinist Preaching, Calvinist Controversy 130

8 "Thy Maker is Thy Husband": Whitefield Goes to Scotland 148

9 "Close Attacks, But Strong Consolations": The Return to America 170

10 "Hunting in the American Woods": Whitefield, Slavery, and Evangelical Radicalism 188

11 "As I Grew Moderate": Whitefield Mends Rivalries 204

12 "This Pilgrimage Kind of Life": The End of Whitefield's Travels 225

Conclusion: "Jesus Christ Has Got Thee at Last": George Whitefield's Legacy 248

Notes 265

Acknowledgments 311

Index 313

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