Throughout the course of history, many different groups of people fled their homeland in search of religious freedom. Many of these peoples came to America seeking religious freedom. Two groups that sought this freedom in America were the Puritans and the Calvinists. Both of these religions had many leaders, but two stand out above the rest. They are Jonathan Edwards (Puritanism) and George Whitefield(Calvinism). These preachers led what is known as revivalism among the early colonists. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the impact of these preachers on American colonists, in respect to their own religions.
             Jonathan Edwards was an American theologian. He graduated from Yale at the age of 17 where he studied theology. He began preaching in 1722 in New York City, and became the colleague of his grandfather Solomon Stoddard in the ministry at Northhampton, Massachusetts. Edwards took conrol of the congregation in 1729. Some of Edwards trademarks are his forceful preaching, and powerful logic. These were admirable qualities in the Calvinist tradition (Hatch, 1988). These qualities were supported by his reading of Locke and Berkeley. Some of his favorite themes to discuss were predestination and the dependence of man on God. He beleived that through divine grace a man can be saved. In 1734, he held a religious revival in Northhampton which brought the Great Awakening to New England. He demanded strict orthodoxy and enthusiasm from his followers. He had strong views on the controversial church tests, and was dismissed from the Northhampton congregation in 1750.
             During the Great Awakening in New England, Edwards gave probably his most powerful sermon, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God. It is his most famous sermon, and lasted for about 6 hours (Davidson, 1968). Edwards topic for this sermon was comparing the evil of man to the power and forgiveness of God. Edwards speaking style was known to be quiet and...