This is the Deathday of George Whitefield

[Learner]

The preacher who lived up to his name died on September 29 , 1770 . ( Although a few references said the 30th ). What a Methodist ! I mean that in the orignal sense of the word . This famous Anglican preached in the fields before his friend Wesley thought to transgress the decorum of the Church of England's rules by doing the same .

He was one of the preachers in Lady Huntington's connection . Dr. D. M. L-J and J. C. Ryle both ranked him alongside Daniel Rowlands as the finest preachers around .

Secure the two volumes of G. W.'s life by Arnold Dallimore , it will be a blessing .

He died less than three months before his 56 th birthday , in New Hampshire . The following is part of his last message .

" I go ! I go to rest prepared . My sun has arisen and by the aid of heaven has given light to many . It is now about to set ... No ! it is about to rise to the zenith of immortal glory... O thought divine ! I shall soon be in a world where time , age , pain , and sorrow are unknown . My body fails , my spirit expands . How willingly I would ever live to preach Christ ! but I die to be with Him !

His words came true in the morning .

 

[VirginiaHuguenot]

 

[blhowes]

On the sixteenth of October in the year 1740 the touring evangelist preacher Reverend George Whitefield gave one of his rousing sermons from a large rock upon Foster Hill (in West Brookfield, MA) to at least four to five hundred people. Considering that this pasture was located in the heart of a still thinly settled region, this eighteenth century gathering must indeed have been a notable event.

Whitefield along with the Wesley brothers founded Methodism in England in 1738. He also espoused the Calvinist doctrine of predestination, which was to eventually alienate him from the Wesleyan Methodists. Whitefield was popular in western Massachusetts during the 1740s as was the "Great Awakening" a Calvinist revival promoted in part by the sermons of the noted Northampton Evangelist Jonathan Edwards.

Churches were closed to George Whitefield on his first American tour, so he preached in the open air on October 16, 1740, in what was the center of the Quaboag Plantation. The NEMHS placed a bronze plaque on the rock on September 27th, 1960, during the 300th anniversary celebration of the Quaboag Plantation.

 

[VirginiaHuguenot]

More on his life and works can be found here, here, here and here.

 

[caddy]

What does the inscription on the Rock say Andrew? When was it place in the Rock ?

 

[VirginiaHuguenot]

I'm not sure what the plaque says -- perhaps Bob knows? But Bob's post indicates that it was placed there on September 27, 1960.

 

[VirginiaHuguenot]

Interesting blog post / video clip from Tony Reinke on Whitefield at Foster Hill.