America’s Awakenings

The Second Great Awakening shaped America’s character, making it more democratic, more egalitarian, and fixated on the idea of transformation into new beginnings. The agonizing conversion at a camp meeting led to rebirth into life with Christ. It also entailed escape from past sins and mistakes, empowered to open a completely new chapter.  Americans thereafter imagined even more than before they were not bound by the restrictions of the past, of Europe, of the East, of the old politics or economic structures or the old churches or old social expectations. Potentially everything could transform into a new reality. Read Full Article »