Gilbert Tennent was a religious leader. Gilbert was one of the leaders of the Great Awakening

First Great Awakening

The First Awakening was a Christian revitalization movement that swept Protestant Europe and British America, and especially the American colonies in the 1730s and 1740s, leaving a permanent impact on American religion. It resulted from powerful preaching that gave listeners a sense of personal...

 of religious feeling in Colonial America

Colonial America

The colonial history of the United States covers the history from the start of European settlement and especially the history of the thirteen colonies of Britain until they declared independence in 1776. In the late 16th century, England, France, Spain and the Netherlands launched major...

, along with Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield

George Whitefield

George Whitefield , also known as George Whitfield, was an English Anglican priest who helped spread the Great Awakening in Britain, and especially in the British North American colonies. He was one of the founders of Methodism and of the evangelical movement generally...

. His most famous sermon, "On the Danger of an Unconverted Ministry" compared anti-revivalistic ministers to the Pharisees

Pharisees

The Pharisees were at various times a political party, a social movement, and a school of thought among Jews during the Second Temple period beginning under the Hasmonean dynasty in the wake of...

 described in the gospels.

Biography

Tennent was an Irish-born American Presbyterian clergyman, son and brother of three other Presbyterian clergymen. He was born on February 5, 1703 in County Armagh

County Armagh

-History:Ancient Armagh was the territory of the Ulaid before the fourth century AD. It was ruled by the Red Branch, whose capital was Emain Macha near Armagh. The site, and subsequently the city, were named after the goddess Macha...

, Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

. His father, William Tennent

William Tennent

William Tennent was an early American religious leader and educator in British North America.-Early life:Tennent was born in Mid Calder, Linlithgowshire, Scotland, in 1673. He graduated from the University of Edinburgh in 1695 and was ordained in the Church of Ireland in 1706...

, emigrated to America

North America

North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

 in 1718, and was the founder of a theological school at Warminster, Pennsylvania called, because of the way it was housed, the Log College

Log College

The Log College was the first American Presbyterian theological seminary located in what is now Warminster, Pennsylvania. It was founded by William Tennent and his son Gilbert Tennent and operated from 1726 until William Tennent's death in 1746....

. Log College is regarded as the precursor to Princeton University

Princeton University

Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....

.

He was the pastor for the First Presbyterian Church of New Brunswick from 1726 to 1743.

He died on July 23, 1764 in Philadelphia.

Presbyterians

The Presbyterians split on the wisdom of revivals, with the “New Side” faction strongly supportive and the “Old Side” holding back. Tennent was the most uncompromising of New Side Presbyterians. His sermon, "The Danger of an Unconverted Ministry" (1739) played a major role in the schism that divided the Old Side and New Side. However, there was another side of Tennent's faith, one characterized by the pietism that nurtured religious renewal in the 18th century. This pietism is best seen in Tennent's celebration of the Sacramental Season, with its emphasis on Christian love and fellowship. Indeed, Tennent, like other revivalists, drew inspiration from the communal emphasis that permeated the sacramental celebration. In 1757, Tennent wrote a sacramental sermon, entitled "Love to Christ." It contains those elements of pietistic communion that inspired this "Son of Thunder" to work feverishly for the reunion of the New York and Philadelphia Synods, which took place the very next year.

Tennent was one of the clergymen who was sent as an emissary by John Penn

John Penn

John Penn is the name of:* John Penn , Pennsylvania proprietor, only son of William Penn born in America* John Penn , colonial governor of Pennsylvania, grandson of William Penn, son of Richard Penn, Sr....

 to the Paxton Boys

Paxton Boys

The Paxton Boys were a vigilante group who murdered 20 Susquehannock in events collectively called the Conestoga Massacre. Scots-Irish frontiersmen from central Pennsylvania along the Susquehanna River formed a vigilante group to retaliate against local American Indians in the aftermath of the...

 in February, 1764 as they marched on Philadelphia, threatening the lives of about 200 Moravian Indians.

Sources

• For notices of Gilbert and other prominent members of the Tennent family, consult W. B. Sprague, Annals of the American Pulpit, volume iv (New York, 1858)

External links

• Gilbert Tennent at Find A Grave
  Find A Grave
  Find a Grave is a commercial website providing free access and input to an online database of cemetery records. It was founded in 1998 as a DBA and incorporated in 2000.-History:...
  
  
• Sermon: On the Danger of an Unconverted Ministry
• Picture: The Danger of an Unconverted Ministry