Which feature characterizes the Great Awakening?

• A. Decline of religious fervor
• B. State-sponsored religious worship
• C. Emphasis on emotion-based personal faith and evangelical preaching
• D. Strict adherence to predestination without emotion

Answer: (C)

The Great Awakening is defined by a shift toward emotion-driven, personal religious experience and evangelical preaching. During the 1730s and 1740s, itinerant ministers like George Whitefield and Jonathan Edwards sparked large revival meetings that emphasized heartfelt conversions and a direct, personal relationship with God. This approach made religious experience feel accessible to ordinary colonists and helped spread evangelical ideas across multiple denominations, reshaping American Protestantism beyond the old colonial establishments. It also sparked broader religious enthusiasm rather than a decline in faith, and it moved religion away from formal, state-sponsored or strictly doctrinal patterns toward a more experiential, revivalist style.