George Whitefield

December 16, 1714 – September 30, 1770

Anglican evangelist whose voice could be heard by 30,000 outdoors. Sparked the First Great Awakening across the American colonies through 7 preaching tours.

Biography

George Whitefield was born in the Bell Inn, Gloucester, England, to a tavern keeper. He worked his way through Oxford as a 'servitor' (servant student) where he joined the Holy Club with John and Charles Wesley. Converted in 1735, ordained by the Anglican Church in 1736, Whitefield discovered something the Wesleys took years to embrace: outdoor preaching. From age twenty-two until his death at fifty-five, Whitefield crisscrossed the Atlantic thirteen times, preached an estimated forty hours a week, and is believed to have addressed eighty percent of the American colonial population in person at least once. Benjamin Franklin estimated his voice could be heard by 30,000 in open air (Franklin tested it from the back of a Philadelphia crowd). Whitefield was theologically Calvinist, breaking with the Arminian Wesley in 1740 over the doctrine of free grace — but maintaining a lifelong personal friendship. Whitefield died in Newburyport, Massachusetts, on his seventh American tour and is buried beneath the pulpit of Old South Presbyterian Church there.

Legacy

Whitefield was the most famous person in the American colonies before George Washington. He helped found Princeton, Dartmouth, the University of Pennsylvania, and Rutgers — all of which began as institutions to train evangelical preachers. Modern stadium evangelism (Billy Graham, Luis Palau, Greg Laurie) descends directly from his methodology. His itinerant model also undergirded the rise of denominationalism in America: people identified more with the preachers they heard than with parish boundaries.

Notable Sermons

Public Domain Note

All of George Whitefield's sermons are in the public domain. BibleBB and Christian Classics Ethereal Library both host downloadable archives. The Reformed Reader hosts a curated selection of his most-cited works.

Where to Read More

• BibleBB — George Whitefield Sermons
• The Reformed Reader — Whitefield

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