The Great Awakening and American Political Culture

“The Great Awakening was the have important consequences for America. It transcended narrow colonialism by raising up national figures, and led to the revival of numerous churches in various denominations. Many schools, some of which would  become the most advanced institutions of learning in the world, such as Princeton, Brown University, Rutgers University and Dartmouth grew directly out of the Great Awakening. Furthermore, the fact that “state churches” opposed the Great Awakening preachers…sharpened the debate on the seperation of church and state, and important principle the Founding Fathers would embrace at Independence. The Great Awakening, in fact, established the basic beliefs which would see America through the War of Independence and the formulation of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. It drew the nation together in the conviction that all men are equal, endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, the most famous being the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”

from The Fall of Christendom and the Rise of the Church by Peter Pikkert, p200-2001, p248-249