Great Awakening
Great Awakenings are commonly said to be periods of religious revival in U.S. religious history. A perhaps more accurate way to describe them are as periodic revolutions in American religious thought. The Great Awakenings appear to form a cycle, with a period of roughly (very roughly) 80 years. This forms a Hegelian dialectic of thesis, antithesis, and synthesis.
There are three commonly accepted Great Awakenings, and a possible Fourth:
The Pattern of Great Awakenings
A Great Awakening happens when social change renders traditional religion (or the thesis in Hegel's terminology) no longer able to answer the questions posed by modern life. A certain disconnect occurs between religion and the real world. New belief systems attempt to fill the gap, eventually leading to a full Great Awakening. Examples of such precursors to a Great Awakening are the Spiritualism movement, which preceded the Third Great Awakening, and the Beatnik movement, which preceded the Fourth.
A Great Awakening consists of the rise of a multitude of new denominations, sects, or even entirely new religions. In addition to completely new belief systems, existing belief systems gain new popularity. Since, by its nature, religion is traditional and hard to change, many of the new beliefs attempt to do an end-run around tradition by appealing to even more ancient (and usually fabricated, or at least distorted) tradition, dismissing current beliefs as innovations. This is why Great Awakenings are often referred to as revivals.
In response to this new antithesis, fundamentalist sects form, which oppose some of the new ideas (while quietly accepting others).
Over the course of roughly the next 40 years, a form of natural selection takes place, as the more radical sects on both sides are defeated, and new moderate sects arise. Eventually, a peaceful continuum of belief emerges, a new synthesis of belief. A crucial step is the coming-of-age of a generation raised in the beliefs of the newest Great Awakening. For them, the new beliefs, even if they are not their own, are a fact of life, and not dangerously radical ideas.
But this new synthesis eventually ossifies, becoming the new thesis, starting the cycle over.
America and the Great Awakenings
Although the Great Awakenings influence and are influenced by religious thought from throughout the world, the cycle of Great Awakenings appear to be unique to the United States. This could be because the United States is home to many different denominations and sects, while remaining largely Protestant Christian. The lack of a single dominant faith or state-sanctioned religion means that new ideas can be spread without having to slowly reform existing institutions from within, or allowing pressures to build up until the existing institutions are violently overthrown. On the other hand, the established sects have enough prestige and inertia that the pressure for new ideas build into a regular cycle of (relatively - there are riots involved) bloodless revolution.
Since religion dictates morality, or at least provides its justification, the Great Awakenings exert influence on the politics of the United States. For example, the abolition movement, part of the wider Second Great Awakening, eventually contributed to the American Civil War.
Further reading
- Robert William Fogel; "The Fourth Great Awakening & the Future of Egalitarianism"; 2000, University of Chicago Press, ISBN 0226256626
