8 March 1740 A.D. Revivalist Gilbert Tennent Preaches a “Hot Sermon”—Tennent Disciplined; New Light v. Old Light Presbyterians
8 March 1740 A.D. Revivalist Gilbert Tennent Preaches a “Hot Sermon”—Tennent Disciplined; New Light v. Old Light Presbyterians Graves, Dan. “Gilbert Tennent Outraged Traditional Ministers.” Christianity.com. May 2006. http://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1701-1800/gilbert-tennent-outraged-traditional-ministers-11630232.html . Accessed 6 Mar 2015. Gilbert Tennent Outraged Traditional Ministers On this day, March 8, 1740, Gilbert Tennent preached a sermon that warned of a deadly danger. But his words miffed many established clergymen in the American colonies. The result was a split in the Presbyterian church. Gilbert Tennent had arrived in America as a young boy. His father, William Tennent, founded the so-called "Log College" to train backwoods ministers. Gilbert became a zealous evangelical preacher himself and was ordained in 1726. Thomas Prince, founder of the first religious journal of North America, wrote, "From the terrible an...