Great Awakening

Religious revival in British North America from 1720 into the 1740s. It was part of a movement, known as Pietism or Quietism on the European continent and evangelicalism in England, that swept Western Europe in the late 17th and early 18th century under the leadership of preachers such as John Wesley. In North America the Great Awakening was a Protestant evangelical reaction against formalism and rationalism in religion, and it had a strong Calvinist element. Revivalist preachers emphasized the need for sinners to fear punishment and to hope for the unearned gift of grace from God. George Whitefield (1714–1770) was one of the most popular, preaching to huge crowds throughout the colonies in 1739–40. Jonathan Edwards also helped inspire the Great Awakening and was its most important theologian. Among its results were missions to the Indians and the founding of colleges (including Princeton Univ.). Another revival known as the Second Great Awakening occurred in New England and Kentucky in the 1790s.

Learn more about Great Awakening with a free trial on Britannica.com.

• The term Awake

Arts and literature

• Awakening (comics), a number of titles
• Awakening, a 2007 novella by Judith Berman
• Awakening, a 2001 novel by Cate Tiernan
• The Awakening (novel), a 1899 novel by Kate Chopin
• The Awakening (sculpture), a sculpture by J. Seward Johnson
• The Awakening, the US title for The Quantum Prophecy by Michael Carroll
• "The Awakening", a short story by Howard Fast
• Awakenings (book), a non-fiction book by Oliver Sacks

Music

• The Awakening (band), a gothic rock band from South Africa
• The Awakening (Christian AOR band), a progressive rock band recording in the late 1980's.
• The Awakening (Caliban album), a 2007 album by German metalcore band Caliban.
• Awakening (Color Me Badd album), a 1998 album by Color Me Badd.
• The Awakening (Melissa Etheridge album), a 2007 album by Melissa Etheridge
• The Awakening (PMD album), a 2003 album by PMD
• The Awakening (Lord Finesse album), a 1996 album by rapper Lord Finesse
• The Awakening (Merciless album), a 1989 album by Swedish death metal band Merciless
• The Awakening (The Reddings album), a 1980 album and the title track, by The Reddings
• Awakening (album), a 1999 album by the Christian metal band Narnia
• Awakening (Iris album), a 2003 Album by synthpop band Iris
• Awakening, a 2007 album by The Reasoning
• "Awakening" (song), the second single from Switchfoot's album, Oh! Gravity
• "The Awakening", a song by Hawkwind from their 1973 album Space Ritual

Politics

• Nationalist movements, e.g., the Latvian National Awakening
• Awakening movements in Iraq

Religion and spirituality

• Periodic religious revivals, see Great Awakening
• A process synonymous with spiritual growth. Cf. Bodhi from the Buddhist religion.

Television and film

• The Awakening (film), a film starring Charlton Heston
• The Awakening (1928 film), a 1928 film by Victor Fleming
• Awakening (1994 film), a 1994 Hong Kong film directed by Cha Chuen-Yee
• The Awakening (Singapore TV), a 1984 three part drama series from Singapore
• "The Awakening" (Doctor Who), a Doctor Who serial
• "The Awakening" (Spider-Man: The Animated Series), a season 4 episode of Spider-Man: The Animated Series (1994)
• "Awakening (Avatar: the last airbender) " a season three episode of _The_Last_Airbender_%28Season_3%29
• "Awakening" (Star Trek: Enterprise), a fourth season episode of Star Trek: Enterprise
• "Awakening" (The Outer Limits), a third season episode of The Outer Limits
• "Awakening" (Angel), a fourth season episode of Angel
• Awakenings, a movie starring Robin Williams and Robert DeNiro

Role-playing games

• Mage: The Awakening is a setting for White Wolf's World of Darkness roleplaying game.