Gilbert Tennent | |
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Born | Vinecash, County Armagh, Ireland | 5 February 1703
Died | 23 July 1764 | (aged 61)
Resting place | Abington Presbyterian Church Cemetery, Abington Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania |
Education | Honorary Master of Arts |
Alma mater | Yale College (1725) |
Occupation | Presbyterian minister |
Years active | 1726–1764 |
Known for | The First Great Awakening in the Middle Colonies |
Board member of | Original trustee of the College of New Jersey |
Spouse(s) | Cornelia de Peyster (2nd wife) Sarah Spofford (3rd wife) |
Children | Cornelia Tennent |
Parent(s) | William Tennent, Catherine Kennedy |
Relatives | William Tennent (brother) John Tennent (brother) Charles Tennent (brother) |
Gilbert Tennent (5 February 1703 – 23 July 1764) was a Presbyterian revivalist minister in Colonial America. Born into a Scotch-Irish family in County Armagh, Ireland, he migrated to America with his parents, studied theology, and along with Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield, became one of the leaders of the evangelical revival known as the First Great Awakening. His most famous sermon, On the Danger of an Unconverted Ministry, also known as the "Nottingham Sermon," compared "Old Side" ministers to the biblical Pharisees of the Gospels, triggering a schism in the Presbyterian Church which lasted for 17 years. A prolific writer, Tennent would later work towards reunification of the two synods involved.