📖 Biblical Definition
While "Great Awakening" is a historical term rather than a biblical one, the concept of spiritual awakening runs throughout Scripture. God promises, "If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land" (2 Chronicles 7:14). The great awakenings in history mirror the pattern of biblical revival — the rediscovery of God's Word under Josiah (2 Kings 22:8-13), the corporate repentance under Nehemiah and Ezra (Nehemiah 8-9), and the explosive growth of the early church at Pentecost. True awakening is always marked by conviction of sin, sound doctrine, genuine repentance, and transformed lives.
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
Awakening: a revival of religion, or a renewal of attention to the things of God.
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AWAK'ENING, n. A revival of religion, or attention to religion, after a period of indifference or decline. Note: Webster, writing in 1828 in the aftermath of the Second Great Awakening, understood the term as a genuine spiritual renewal — a recovery of seriousness about eternal things.
📖 Key Scripture
• 2 Chronicles 7:14 — "If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray... then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land."
• Acts 2:37-41 — "They were cut to the heart, and said... 'What shall we do?' ... So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls."
• Habakkuk 3:2 — "O LORD, I have heard the report of you, and your work, O LORD, do I fear. In the midst of the years revive it."
• Psalm 85:6 — "Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you?"
⚠️ Modern Corruption
Revival is reduced to emotional hype, manufactured atmosphere, or political nostalgia.
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Modern invocations of "awakening" and "revival" often bear little resemblance to the genuine movements of the Spirit in history. Some reduce revival to emotional intensity — loud music, crying, falling down — without any corresponding conviction of sin or doctrinal substance. Others manufacture "revival" through marketing campaigns and celebrity preachers, confusing a large crowd with a genuine movement of God. Still others use "Great Awakening" as political shorthand for a conservative cultural resurgence that has little to do with repentance, faith, or the gospel. The historical Great Awakenings were marked by powerful preaching of sin and judgment, deep theological conviction, lasting fruit in personal holiness, and the establishment of institutions that served the kingdom for generations. Anything less is not awakening — it is entertainment.
Usage
• "The First Great Awakening was not a movement of emotionalism — it was fueled by the doctrinal preaching of Edwards and Whitefield, men who proclaimed the holiness of God and the reality of judgment."
• "We do not need another conference with the word 'awakening' in the title — we need the Spirit of God to break through with genuine conviction of sin."