This year we celebrate the 250th birthday of the United States of America, so it seems fitting that the new film, A Great Awakening, brings a foundational American story to the big screen.
The film tells the story of the unlikely friendship between the Reverend George Whitefield (Jonathan Blair) and Benjamin Franklin (John Paul Sneed). An old man frustrated with the Constitutional Convention’s lack of progress, Franklin complains to his grandson, Benny Franklin Bache (JT Schaeffer). As they look through a trunk of old papers, Franklin tells Benny about the tremendous impact the preaching of George Whitefield had in moving the colonies toward freedom.
Whitefield trained as an actor but found that he was called to be a preacher during his schooling at Oxford, greatly influenced by John Wesley (Carson Burkett). He adopted a fiery preaching style that was too volatile for his Anglican superiors, getting him kicked out of England.
Whitefield arrives in the colonies and quickly draws immense crowds, his audiences swelling with each sermon. Franklin, ever the empiricist, sets out to determine how a single voice can carry so clearly to thousands. When the two men meet, they form a mutually beneficial partnership—one that proves especially profitable for Franklin, who publishes and widely distributes Whitefield’s sermons.
As Whitefield urges his hearers to turn to Jesus Christ, Franklin becomes more and more involved in the leadership of the colonies. Travelling to France, he attempts to explain to the French government the movement toward breaking with England. He describes the revivals that Whitefield is holding all over the colonies and that as a result the colonists have come to believe that “liberty is not a gift given to them by a king, but a right given to them by God.” Franklin is convinced that a virtuous people will be able to handle freedom.
A Great Awakening reminds audiences that belief in freedom cannot be divorced from belief in the providence of God. The Congressional tradition of beginning each day’s session with prayer, which is still upheld to this day, began when Franklin, inspired by Whitefield, begs the founding fathers to look to God for guidance on how to govern the new United States.
At a time when the government of the United States of America holds such great power, even in faraway lands, we the people, need to remember (and to remind our leaders) of the necessity of faith and trust in God. We need to remember that freedom is a right given to each person by God and that it takes virtuous people to facilitate that freedom. Just as Benjamin Franklin encouraged the Constitutional Convention to seek God’s guidance in prayer, we also lift up our prayers for our country’s leaders, that they may seek wisdom and guidance in their weighty responsibilities from God Almighty.
To read Franklin’s speech on prayer, click here.
For more information about the film and showtimes, visit the film’s website here.