History Book: America’s spiritual founding father

NICK EICHER, HOST: Today is Monday, April 10th. Good morning! This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Nick Eicher.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: And I’m Mary Reichard. Up next, the WORLD History Book. Today, the dedication of a national monument, plus the anniversary of a deadly terrorist attack. But we begin with a trip to Pennsylvania during the first great awakening. Here’s Paul Butler.

PAUL BUTLER, REPORTER: We begin today in the city of Philadelphia in the fall of 1739. Itinerant preacher George Whitefield visits this important center of Colonial American life for the first time. He preaches in churches, open fields, and meeting houses. Even though some city church leaders condemn his ministry, tens of thousands of people turn out to hear him and many place their faith in Christ.

Whitefield strikes up a friendship with printer Benjamin Franklin who offers to publish Whitefield’s sermons and books. Franklin is personally unswayed by Whitefield’s preaching, but he can’t deny its power. Franklin writes this in his autobiography:

It was wonderful to see the change soon made in the manners of our inhabitants; from being thoughtless or indifferent about religion…it seemed as if all the world were growing religious; so that one could not walk thro’ the town in an evening without hearing Psalms sung in different families of every street.

Whitefield leaves Philadelphia with a ship of supplies to start an orphanage in Georgia…north of Savannah. A few months later, on April 12th, 1740, George Whitefield returns to Pennsylvania. His first night back he preaches to a crowd of 3000. Word spreads quickly that the evangelist is back in town. Over the next ten days he takes up collections for the Georgia orphanage, and preaches every chance he gets. His journal records that he spoke to nearly 100,000 people during those few days.

Here’s what he writes on April 17th:

I…hastened to Philadelphia, where I preached to upwards of ten thousand people, upon the woman who was cured of her bloody issue. Hundreds were graciously melted; and, many, I hoped, not only thronged round, but also touched the Lord Jesus Christ by faith…the Word of God every day mightily prevails, and Satan loses ground apace.

According to biographer Thomas Kidd, George Whitefield is the most influential leader of the first great awakening. He goes further by calling Whitefield: “America’s spiritual founding father.” Three years ago Kidd spoke at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary:

THOMAS KIDD: Whitfield's relentless effort in entrepreneurial methods emerged from his conviction that the gospel demanded tireless work and creative tactics. Far from being a sign of theological shallowness, doctrinal conviction actually drove his innovations and method…The Gospel was that important. God's grace was that wonderful. And God had promised to draw the lost to himself through the proclamation of the gospel. To Whitfield, there was no greater imperative.

Over his lifetime, Whitefield likely preached more than 18,000 sermons in Britain and the American colonies and as many as 10 million people may have attended his meetings.

Next, April 13th, 1943:

FDR: Today, in the midst of a great war for freedom, we dedicate a shrine to freedom.

On the 200th anniversary of Thomas Jefferson’s birth, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, and other dignitaries gather at the Jefferson Memorial.

During his speech, the President compares the times of the founding father with his own—framing both Jefferson’s great writings and America’s stand against Germany and Japan as a fight against tyranny. He adds that the lessons of the current war will teach a new generation—just like Jefferson did—what liberty means.

President Roosevelt ended his address by pointing out the words on the memorial itself:

FDR: The words which we have chosen for this Memorial speak Jefferson's noblest and most urgent meaning… "I have sworn upon the altar of God, eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man."

Last year nearly 3-million people saw that inscription in person, making it one of the most popular memorials in Washington DC.

And finally, April 15th, 2013—10 years ago this week:

NEWS CLIP: Three dead, one an eight year old boy, more than 140 people hurt…after two bombings at the Boston Marathon.

Audio from WQAD News 8. 

Four hours, nine minutes, and 43 seconds into the 117th running of the Boston Marathon, the first of two homemade bombs explode near the finish line:

SOUND: [EXPLOSION]

14 seconds later, a second pressure cooker bomb goes off. The explosions seem timed to coincide with the period of the race where the most runners finish.

The explosions kill three people—injuring 264 others. A few hours later, President Barack Obama addresses the press:

BARACK OBAMA: As we get more information, our teams will provide you briefings. We're still in the investigation stage at this point, but I just want to reiterate, we will find out who did this and we will hold them accountable. Thank you very much.

Three days after the bombing the FBI releases images of the two suspects. The two brothers can be clearly seen carrying backpacks and walking casually through the crowds. A few hours after the photo release, the Tsarnaev brothers ambush a police officer and kill him—trying unsuccessfully to steal his gun. They hijack a car but the driver eventually escapes.

A shootout on April 19th ends with the death of another police officer and one of the suspects. The younger brother flees the scene…but by 9pm that evening, he is in custody. Watertown Police Chief Edward Deveau:

PRESS CONFERENCE: We are so grateful to be here right now. We're so grateful to bring justice and a closure to this case…We are eternally grateful for the outcome. Here tonight, we have a suspect in custody.

Tsarnev is awaiting execution, though he is currently attempting to overturn the case—accusing a federal judge of brushing aside misconduct accusations related to jurors' social media comments.

The City of Boston is hosting a handful of memorial events ahead of this year’s marathon to mark the 10th anniversary of the bombing…including first responder honor guards, bell ringing, the dedication of a new commemorative finish line, and the unveiling of the One Boston Day marker on Boylston Street.

That’s this week’s WORLD History Book. I’m Paul Butler.

Editor’s note: WORLD has updated the transcript of this segment to note that WQAD 8 is not a Boston TV station but from Moline, Illinois.

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