Sunday, November 11, 2012

Spiritual hunches vs. math: How not to predict the outcome of an election

By Warren Throckmorton here. A taste:
On another note, David Barton compares his partnership with Mormon Glenn Beck to the George Whitefield revivals before the Revolutionary War. Somehow I can’t see Whitefield partnering with the heterodox beliefs which characterize the LDS church.  While he was kind in his criticisms, Whitefield clearly and publicly confronted what  he considered to be error (e.g., this letter to John Wesley).

1 comment:

Tom Van Dyke said...

Interesting letter, thx.

However, Whitefield "partnered" with the notoriously deistic Ben Franklin [who was his admirer, friend and publisher]. The Barton/Beck thing seems to be in the same zone.

http://www.ministers-best-friend.com/George-Washingtons-Era--First-Great-Awakening--Ben-Franklin-Supports-George-Whitefield.html

"Benjamin Franklin became an enthusiastic supporter of one of America’s great evangelical ministers, George Whitefield,“the most popular of the Great Awakening’s roving preachers.” [2] Franklin did not subscribe to Whitefield’s theology, but he admired Whitefield for exhorting people to worship God through good works. Franklin printed Whitefield’s sermons on the front page of his Gazette, devoting 45 issues to Whitefield's activities. Franklin used the power of his press to spread Whitefield's fame by publishing all of Whitefield’s sermons and journals. Half of Franklin’s publications in 1739-1741 were of Whitefield, and helped promote the evangelical movement in America. Franklin was a lifelong friend and supporter of Whitefield, until his death in 1770."