Please use the Banner of Truth UK site. George Whitefield was born at Gloucester in All this, he says, went on till he was fifteen years old. Poor as he was, his residence at Gloucester procured him the advantage of a good education at the Free Grammar School of that city. Here he was a day-scholar until he was fifteen. The only known fact about his schooldays is this curious one, that even then he was remarkable for his good elocution and memory, and was selected to recite speeches before the Corporation of Gloucester at their annual visitation of the Grammar School.
At the age of fifteen Whitefield appears to have left school, and to have given up Latin and Greek for a season. He began, therefore, to help her in the daily work of the Bell Inn. An old school-fellow revived in his mind the idea of going to Oxford, and he went back to the Grammar School and renewed his studies.
At length, after several providential circumstances had smoothed the way, he entered Oxford as a servitor at Pembroke at the age of eighteen.
For two or three years before he went to the University his journal tells us that he had not been without religious convictions, But from the time of his entering Pembroke College these convictions fast ripened into decided Christianity. He diligently attended all means of grace within his reach. He spent his leisure time in visiting the city prison, reading to the prisoners, and trying to do good. He became acquainted with the famous John Wesley and his brother Charles, and a little band of like-minded young men.
At one time he seems to have been in danger of becoming a semi-papist, an ascetic, or a mystic, and of placing the whole of religion in self-denial.
I fasted twice a week. My apparel was mean. I thought it unbecoming a penitent to have his hair powdered. I wore woollen gloves, a patched gown, and dirty shoes; and though I was convinced that the kingdom of God did not consist in meat and drink, yet I resolutely persisted in these voluntary acts of self-denial, because I found in them great promotion of the spiritual life.
This proved meat indeed and drink indeed to my soul. I daily received fresh life, light, and power from above. I got more true knowledge from reading the Book of God in one month than I could ever have acquired from all the writings of men.
Whitefield usually awoke at 4 A. In one week he often preached a dozen times or more and spent 40 or 50 hours in the pulpit. George Whitefield married a woman he barely knew. Though he and his bride had corresponded, they had probably spent less than a week together before marrying. As many as four different ministers refused to marry the couple.
John Wesley is known as founder of the Methodist movement, but Whitefield formed a methodist society first. Whitefield became close friends with Benjamin Franklin. Franklin once estimated that Whitefield, without any amplification, could be heard by more than 30, people.
George Whitefield traveled seven times to America, more than a dozen times to Scotland, and to Ireland, Bermuda, and Holland. His preaching style was. Ministers traditionally wrote sermons in longhand and read the text out loud in a dull monotone. The effect was often soporific. Drawing on his youthful foray into drama, Whitefield memorized his sermons, spoke without notes, varied the timbre of his voice and gestured with abandon.
He drew freely on his own emotions, crying out, "My Master! My Lord! The effect was electric. Crowds responded with outpourings of emotion. People cried, sobbed, shrieked, swooned and fainted. All of New England, it seemed, was seized by a spiritual convulsion. In the state assumed control of the orphanage and later opened an academy. Requests for permission to publish or reproduce the resource should be submitted to the Hargrett Manuscript and Rare Book Library at the University of Georgia.
Author Frederick V. Mills , LaGrange College. Originally published Jan 20, Last edited Jun 6, Article Feedback Why are you reaching out to us? Share this Article. Facebook Twitter Email. Share this Snippet. Star Featured Content. Trending Trending.
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