All who are here are Christians Oh, is this the case? The God help us to forget your party names and to become Christians in deed and truth" (Lecture Four). .
Many of the Awakeners, as they were known, felt that the college-trained clergy were too bound to tradition to bring a fresh view to the new generations. The Awakeners preached that all religions and classes of people were equal and that there are more poor people in heaven than there are wealthy people. The view of salvation that they preached seemed much more attainable to the colonists than any other ministers they had ever heard. Their sermons gave the colonists more hope and a renewed sense of faith. Many colonists would help build churches and houses and hire ministers to help them in their spiritual life. .
There were many lasting effects of the Great Awakening in the colonies. One of these effects was the unity that existed among Christians. The idea was that all denominations were equal, and all "Americans shared a common evangelical view of life" (Lecture Four). This idea of religious pluralism was something never seen before. .
Another effect of the Awakening was the growth of respect for the groups of dissenters. "All of the non-established groups, such as the Presbyterians, Baptists, and Methodists, took root and grew. " (Lecture Four). There were many denominations after the Awakening, but they all shared the same views and ideas. One minister would ask if you loved God, and if you answered yes, he would say that is enough. As long as you have love for God, you will be saved.
A third effect the Great Awakening left behind was the emphasis on education. Many of the ministers of this time felt that education should be available for everyone, and many now prestigious schools were founded on religious principles in the mid-eighteenth century. Some of the colleges that were founded in this time period are Princeton, Brown, Rutgers, Dartmouth, Columbia, and the University of Pennsylvania, founded by George Whitefield.