The Effect Of Fear Appeals On George Whitefield’s Auditors

By Frankie J. Melton Jr.

The intention of this article is to assess the effectiveness of George Whitefield’s use of argumentum ad baculum on his auditors. Argumentum ad baculum is an appeal to fear in which a person threatens to do harm or warns of harm if his hearer does or does not do something. Whitefield viewed fear as an instrument that could bring auditors to repentance and faith. Fear was not an end in itself, but a means to an end. He said in The True Nature of Beholding the Lamb,

Thus we hear of a Judas his repenting, and of an Esau crying out with an exceeding bitter Cry, but the one all the while was a prophane Person, and the other immediately went and hanged himself. And why? Their Sorrow was only extorted by a Fear of Hell, and a despairing Sense of impending Ruin. ’Tis true, a godly Sorrow may, and I believe generally does, begin with something of this Nature; but then it does not end there. Thro’ Want of a due Consideration of this, ’tis to be fear’d, many seeming Converts have taken up with a few legal Convictions, which never ended in savingly and truly beholding the Lamb of God. [1]

Though fear could be effective in leading someone to godly sorrow, Whitefield acknowledged its effectiveness was limited. In his 1742 sermon on John 2, The Marriage of Cana, Whitefield entreated his audience to “Let this be the Day of your Espousals with Jesus Christ.” [2] Though he had used fear appeals in most of his previous sermons and would use them in the future, Whitefield informed his audience, “I could urge many Terrors of the Lord to perswade you; but if the Love of Jesus Christ will not constrain you, your case is desparate.” [3] He recognized the inferior quality of using fear as a tool to motivate his hearers, but he made much use of fear for persuasion.

Additionally, Whitefield was not unaware of when he was using fear. In a journal entry for October 2, 1740, he recorded a rather enigmatic expression, but it nonetheless reveals his consciousness that he was using fear: “Was comforted to hear good Mr. Moody tell me, ‘That he believed I should preach to a hundred new Creatures this Morning in his congregation.’ And indeed I believe I did. For when I came to preach, I could speak little or no Terror, but almost all Consolation.” [4] In The Amazing Love of Christ, Whitefield gave a clear statement of his desire to preach only the love of Christ. However, he felt he was unable to do so. He opined, “If I could help it, I would never preach upon any other Subject, than the Love of Jesus Christ; if I could help it, I would use no other Motive to the Gospel Obedience, than the Love of the dear Redeemer to precious and immortal Souls: But, it seems, they must have the Terrors of the Law to alarm them; their Hearts are rocky, and they have need for the Word to be like a Hammer, before it comes with Awe to melt down their Souls.” [5] Whitefield recognized the inferior quality of fear to persuade compared to the love of Christ, but he also knew it could be effective.

When assessing the effectiveness of Whitefield’s use of fear, two observations must be acknowledged: Whitefield used some level of fear in nearly all of his recorded sermons, and his preaching had an emotional effect on his hearers. Linking the fear appeals to the emotional effects is a difficult task. However, in order to assess the effectiveness of a fear appeal, the evaluator must know how the particular fear appeal affected the hearers. Effects from a sermon that is one large fear appeal can be linked to the use of fear in that particular sermon. Effects from a sermon that utilizes one or two fear appeals in one paragraph of the whole sermon are much more difficult to link to its use. The evaluator would need to know exactly what brought about the effects in the hearers for a successful evaluation. Exactly what in Whitefield’s sermons brought about the emotional effect in his hearers is difficult to ascertain.

Therefore, measuring the effectiveness of fear appeal arguments involves some limitations for the rhetor. If a fear appeal does not arouse fear in the target audience and move the auditor to act, it fails as a method of argumentation and persuasion. If the desired result takes place at the end of a sermon, it is still no guarantee that it was the fear appeals in the sermon that brought about the result. For example, a preacher could have as his goal the conversion of his hearers. In seeking to bring about this intended goal, he could use fear appeals about hell and judgment to persuade the audience. If at the conclusion of the sermon a number of audience members are converted to Christ, it may not be clear that fear was the persuasive factor for each of the audience members converted; some may have been persuaded by other factors. To deem the fear appeal successful, it must be linked to the persuasion of the converts.

There are three ways to determine the effectiveness of fear appeals on an audience. The first involves observation conducted in a live situation or via video recording. Fear appeal effectiveness may be seen in facial contortions, sweating, gasps, crying, fainting, shaking, avoidance (i.e., turning away), groaning, or other physical and audible reactions. By observing a listener’s reaction, the effect of a fear appeal can be assessed at the moment a speaker is issuing the appeal. In the case of Whitefield’s preaching, it is obviously impossible to observe his audience in a live setting. The closest proximity a rhetor can get to Whitefield’s hearers is extant observations from those who were present. Though Whitefield’s letters, sermons, and journals record many audience effects from his preaching, very little can be traced to a specific fear appeal.

The second method of determining the effectiveness of fear appeals is verbal self-reports. This includes interviewing or providing some other method (i.e., a questionnaire) for the auditor to report how the fear appeal made them feel. For best results, hearers should be interviewed and questioned right after the rhetorical experience. However, even an interview separated from the event by decades could be of some benefit, depending on the memory of the hearer. In the case of Whitefield’s hearers, there are extant accounts of experiences from his sermons, but few link their experience to the exact motivating factor.

A third method for evaluating the effectiveness of a fear appeal is what Robert Cialdini called “participant observation.” Cialdini explained that through participant observation, the researcher becomes an undercover investigator. He stated, “With disguised identity and intent, the investigator infiltrates the setting of interest and becomes a full-fledged participant in the group to be studied.” [6] This method is equally impossible where Whitefield is concerned.

All three of these methods for fear appeal evaluation are impossible in the case of Whitefield’s audiences. The members of his audiences cannot be interviewed and they cannot be observed. Additionally, it is impossible stealthily to attend one of Whitefield’s meetings and discover firsthand the impact of his preaching. The only clue the rhetor might have in judging the response of Whitefield’s audiences is the extant documents from Whitefield, his associates, and his hearers. Though they offer little evidence of the effect of his use of fear appeals, they do give abundant evidence of his effect on his hearers in a general sense.

The Effect Of Whitefield’s Preaching Generally

There is ample evidence of the general effect of Whitefield’s preaching. His preaching moved men and women of every socio-economic class and every age group. This ability to move his hearers appeared early in his ministry of preaching. His first sermon, preached in the church where he was baptized as an infant and first partook of the sacrament, produced an unusual effect on the congregation. The nature of the congregation’s reaction is uncertain and somewhat ambiguous; whatever their response, it was out of the ordinary and prompted complaints to the bishop. Whitefield gives the only known account of the occasion. He said in a letter dated June 30, 1736,

Glory! glory! glory! be ascribed to an almighty triune God. Last Sunday in the afternoon, I preached my first sermon in the church of St. Mary De Crypt, where I was baptized, and also first received the sacrament of the Lord’s supper. Curiosity, as you may easily guess, drew a large congregation together upon the occasion. The sight at first a little awed me; but I was comforted with a heart-felt sense of the divine presence, and soon found the unspeakable advantage of having been accustomed to public speaking when a boy at school, and of exhorting and teaching the prisoners and poor people at their private houses, whilst at the university. By these means I was kept from being daunted over much. As I proceeded, I perceived the fire kindled, till at last, though so young, and amidst a crowd of those, who knew me in my infant childish days, I trust, I was enabled to speak with some degree of gospel authority. Some few mocked, but most for the present seemed struck; and I have since heard, that a complaint had been made to the bishop, that I drove fifteen mad the first sermon. The worthy prelate, as I am informed, wished that the madness might not be forgotten before next Sunday. [7]

Historians are left to wonder the exact nature of the madness experienced by Whitefield’s hearers. One thing is certain: the sermon had an unusual effect likely of an emotional nature.

Whitefield’s Journals

The bulk of the accounts of the effects of Whitefield’s preaching come from his own observations recorded in his journals. These accounts are of congregations weeping, of individuals under conviction, and of fainting and groaning episodes. The journals are eyewitness accounts, written in close proximity in time to the events themselves. However, they are not unbiased and were written, for the most part, with publication in view.

The magnitude of the emotional effect of Whitefield’s sermons is evidenced in his journals. In one entry, he stated, “Received a Letter from one under strong Convictions; and, indeed, there is scarce a Day passes over my Head, but God shews me that he works effectually upon the Hearts of many by my Ministry.” [8] After preaching in Charleston, South Carolina, in 1740, Whitefield recorded his hearers’ response. Though the journal entry does not mention the use of fear, it does show his general effect on a congregation.

Tuesday, March 18. Preached twice again this Day, and took an affectionate Leave of, and gave Thanks to my Hearers for their great Liberality. Many wept, and my own Heart yearned much towards them. For I believe a good Work is begun in many Souls. Generally every Day several came to me, telling me with weeping Eyes, how God had been pleased to convince them by the Word preached, and how desirous they were of laying hold on and having an Interest in the compleat and everlasting Righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. Numbers desired privately to converse with me. [9]

The same year, preaching on Sunday, March 30 in Savannah, Georgia, Whitefield recounted the marked change in attitude of several converted as a result of his preaching.

One Woman, that had been a constant Attender on the Means of Grace, and thought herself a Christian for many Years, came to me acknowledging, that she had been a Self-Deceiver, and knew nothing of the Righteousness or true living Faith in Jesus Christ. A Tradesman of the same Stamp, having felt the Power of the Doctrines of Grace, sent me seventeen Volumes of Archbishop Tillotson’s Sermons, of which he had been a great Admirer, to do what I would with them. A Captain of a Ship, who had been a strong Opposer of the Truth, wrote and came to me under great Conviction, confessing his Sin, and desirous to be a Christian indeed. Some others also there are who have received the Love of God in the Truth of it. [10]

Whitefield did not extend a public invitation, nor did he count converts. Maxson asserted, “It was not the custom of Whitefield or of the various pastors who published detailed reports of the course of the revival in their congregations to state the number of conversions.” [11] However, he did spend many hours privately counseling those under conviction and spiritual distress. His journals are replete with examples of extended times of work with inquirers. On Tuesday, January 3, 1738, Whitefield stated, “Staid at Home on purpose to receive those, who wanted to consult me.—Blessed be God, from seven in the Morning till three in the Afternoon, People came, some telling me what God had done for their Souls, and others crying out, What shall we do to be saved? Being obliged to go out after this, I referred several ’till Thursday—God enabled me to give them Answers of Peace! How does God work by my unworthy Hands! His Mercies melt me down. Oh that I was thankful!” [12] The next week, Whitefield followed the same pattern of staying in to talk privately with those under conviction. His journal for Tuesday, January 10, reported, “Stayed at home again to day to talk with those that came to consult me, and found that God has awakened several, and excited in them a Hunger and Thirst after Righteousness by my Sermon on the Power of Christ’s Resurrection, and Have ye received the Holy Ghost? Every Day I hear of somebody or another quickened to a Sense of the divine Life.” [13]

Whitefield typically did not mention the titles of the sermons he preached on a day-to-day basis in his journal, but in this case he did. The sermon “The Power of Christ’s Resurrection” does not contain a fear appeal. The sermon “Have Ye Received the Holy Ghost?,” later titled “Marks of Having Received the Holy Ghost,” contains a fear appeal at the end of the sermon. In the part of the sermon where Whitefield called for a response, he addressed various segments of the audience. The first was “those who are dead in trespasses and sins.” To them he extolled, “It is true, you, as well as the Righteous, in one Sense, shall see GOD (for we must all appear before the Judgment Seat of Christ) but you must see him once, never to see him more. For as you carry about in you the Devil’s Image, with Devils you must dwell: being of the same Nature, you must share the same Doom. ‘Repent, therefore, and be converted, that your Sins may be blotted out.’ See that you receive the Holy Ghost, before you go hence: For otherwise, how can you escape the Damnation of Hell?” [14] This strong fear appeal may have contributed to those who came to Whitefield seeking spiritual guidance. However, there is no direct evidence to prove the appeal was effective on those who were persuaded toward conversion.

Then, on Tuesday January 23, Whitefield stated, “Staid at Home to Day as usual, to receive People, and still had the Comfort of hearing many coming to me, who have been awakened to a Sense of the New–Birth. What Reason have I to bless God for sending me to England! How does he daily set his Seal to my Ministry!” [15] He reserved Tuesdays for dealing with those under conviction, as is clear in this succession of Tuesday counseling sessions.

However, his Tuesday sessions did not preclude others from coming to him for help on other occasions. On Wednesday, February 21, 1738, his journal stated, “Had several come to me this Morning, to inquire about the State of their Souls, amongst whom was a little Girl of thirteen Years of Age, who told me in great Simplicity, ‘She was pricked through and through with the Power of the Word.’” [16] On Friday, April 18, 1740, he wrote, “Was employed for two Hours this Morning in giving Answers to several that came to me under strong Convictions; amongst whom was a Negroe or two, and a young Girl of about fourteen Years of Age, who was turned out of the House where she boarded, because she would hear me, and would not learn to dance.” [17] Again, on April 21, his journal stated, “Had fresh Application made to me by Persons under Convictions.” [18]

The next day, a Tuesday, he stated, “Went in the Evening to visit a young Woman under deep Convictions. She was struck down by the Power of God’s Word on Sunday, and has continued, as Paul did, ever since sick in Body and under great Agony of Soul. I talked and prayed with her, and with near twenty more that came into the Room.” [19] On Wednesday, April 23, Whitefield stated, “Great Numbers were much melted; and one in particular, after Sermon came to me under deep Convictions, what shall I do to be saved? I gave him the Apostle’s Answer. Believe on the Lord Jesus, and thou shalt be saved. Upwards of fifty, I hear, have been lately convicted about this Place.” [20]

Although cause cannot be established, there is a correlation of emotional outpouring at Whitefield’s meetings and the use of fear in his sermons. A “melting” took place among the people at almost every meeting recorded in his journals, and approximately 90 percent of his sermons contain fear appeals.

The Effect Of Whitefield’s Preaching As It Was Linked To Fear

From the above mentioned journal and letter excerpts, it is clear that Whitefield’s preaching impacted his hearers. However, the accounts address his general effectiveness and not the effectiveness of his use of fear appeals. The excerpts cannot be linked to a fear appeal, though the use of fear may have wholly or partially contributed to them.

However, a small number of accounts from Whitefield’s pen give an indication that his fear appeals were effective. These accounts are characterized by crying, fainting, and groaning as a result of great soul distress. Whitefield observed in his journals that his hearers were almost always “melted down with tears” or “many people wept bitterly.” However, there were episodes of more intense and unusual effects on the hearers. These excessive emotional occurrences were rare in Whitefield’s meetings compared to those of Davenport and Tennent, but Whitefield did record several unusual scenes. [21] One such account he recorded during his 1740 preaching tour of the colonies. While in Philadelphia on Monday, May 12, he chronicled, “Rose very early to answer those who came for private Advice. Visited three Persons, one of whom was under such deep Convictions, that she had taken scarce any Thing to eat for near a Fortnight. Another had a Prospect of Hell set before her last Night in the most terrifying Colours; but before the Morning received Comfort.” [22] Whitefield did not relate in his journal the sermon the woman had heard him preach, nor does the corresponding time period in his letters provide information on the sermon. There are no extant letters between March 19 and April 28, 1740. What can be deduced is that the woman was overcome with the fear of hell. Another was so engulfed in such fearful thoughts she could not even eat. The “terrifying Colours” may very well have been placed in her thoughts by Whitefield’s own description of hell.

Whitefield reported three episodes that reveal strong reactions from the hearers. Preaching in New Brunswick on April 27, 1740, he stated, “Preached Morning and Evening to near 7 or 8000 People:

And God’s Power was so much amongst us in the Afternoon Sermon, that had I proceeded, the Cries and Groans of the Congregation, I believe, would have drowned my Voice. One Woman was struck down, and a general Cry went through the Assembly. The Power of God fell much upon my Heart, and I believe the Word was sharper than a two-edged Sword.” [23]

Whitefield recounted a scene that took place in Nottingham, which represents some of the most intense manifestations of physical reactions to his preaching. Two episodes occurring on the 14th and 15th of May could indicate a physical reaction produced by the use of fear. At Nottingham, he preached in the woods to 12,000 people. As he preached, the people’s emotions began to rise. “I had not spoke long, but I perceived Numbers melting. As I proceeded, the Power increased, till at last, both in the Morning and Afternoon, Thousands cried out, so that they almost drowned my Voice. Never before did I see a more glorious Sight! Oh, what strong Cryings and Tears were shed and poured forth after the dear Lord Jesus. Some fainted; and when they had got a little Strength, they would hear and faint again. Others cried out in a Manner, almost, as if they were in the sharpest Agonies of Death!” [24]

The use of fear in imaginative descriptions of hell and torment could contribute to such faintings and crying as Whitefield described. On the next day, May 15, he again described a congregation that appeared to be overcome with fright. Preaching at Fog’s Mannor, he said the congregation was in a greater commotion that the one in Nottingham. He said their faces were “struck pale as Death” and they were “wringing their Hands, others lying on the Ground, others sinking into the Arms of their Friends.” [25] What would cause such outward manifestations except fear? The reactions of the people reveal distress and anxiety. Unfortunately, it is not possible to know the exact appeals Whitefield was using, but it appears that fear was successfully aroused in the hearers.

In a letter to John Cennick, dated June 19, 1742, Whitefield recounted similar scenes of great distress of soul at Cambuslang.

Yesterday morning, I preached at Glasgow, to a large congregation. At mid–day, I came to Cambuslang, and preached, at two, to a vast body of people; again at six, and again at nine at night. Such commotions, surely, were never heard of, especially at eleven o’clock at night. For an hour and a half, there was such weeping, and so many falling into such deep distress, expressed in various ways, as cannot be described. The people seemed to be slain in scores. Their agonies and cries were exceedingly affecting. Mr. M’Culloch preached, after I had done, till past one in the morning; and then could not persuade the people to depart. In the fields, all night, might be heard the voice of prayer and praise. The Lord is indeed much with me. I have, to-day, preached twice already, and am to preach twice more, perhaps thrice. The commotions increase. [26]

Whitefield’s description looks very much like people in a fearful state. Since he does not mention the sermons he preached during the meetings, nothing definitive can be concluded about what may have aroused the fear. Whitefield reported one episode involving the death of a child. Understandably, the hearers became very disturbed and upset. The account is found in his seventh journal and is dated Wednesday, October 8, 1740.

Went with the Governor in his Coach to Mr. Webb’s Meeting–House, where I preached both Morning and Evening to very great Auditories. Both Times (especially in the Morning) Jesus Christ manifested forth his Glory. Many Hearts melted within them, and I think I never was so drawn out to pray for and invite little Children to Jesus Christ, as I was this Morning. A little before, I had heard of a Child, who was taken sick just after it had heard me preach, and said, “He would go to Mr. Whitefield’s God,” and died in a short Time. This encouraged me to speak to little Ones. But, oh how were the old People affected, when I said, “Little Children, if your Parents will not come to Christ, do you come and go to Heaven without them.” There seemed to be but few dry Eyes. Look where I would, the Word smote them, I believe, through and through, and my own Soul was very much carried out. Surely it was the Lord’s Passover. I have not seen a greater Commotion since my Preaching at Boston. Glory be to God who has not forgotten to be gracious. Went with the Governor, who seemed more and more affected, in his Coach to my Lodgings. [27]

By addressing the death of children and their need for salvation, Whitefield elicited an outpouring of emotion from his hearers: fear of death for their little ones and perhaps separation from them in eternity.

On a voyage from London to Georgia, Whitefield related an instance of sharing with a group of sailors about righteousness, temperance, and judgment. Whitefield was not preaching in the formal sense, for he says he sat down among them; however, he was sharing the Word of God. He stated that some of the sailors almost trembled. [28] Even in that context, Whitefield successfully aroused fear.

Reports From Others On Whitefield’s Effectiveness

Reports from those who heard Whitefield are numerous. However, the same problem exists as with Whitefield’s personal reports: linking the effectiveness to the fear appeals is difficult.

The uncommon friendship of Benjamin Franklin and Whitefield has been widely reported. Franklin was a great admirer of Whitefield’s oratorical ability and did not shy away from going to hear him preach. Franklin attested to Whitefield’s preaching and the effect he had on his hearers in his autobiography. He asserted Whitefield abused his hearers by calling them half beasts and half devils. But he also admitted the ability of Whitefield to move his hearers. Franklin stated,

The multitudes of all sects and denominations that attended his sermons were enormous, and it was a matter of speculation to me, who was one of the number, to observe the extraordinary influence of his oratory on his hearers, and how much they admired and respected him, notwithstanding his common abuse of them, by assuring them they were naturally half beasts and half devils. It was wonderful to see the change soon made in the manners of our inhabitants. From being thoughtless or indifferent about religion, it seemed as if all the world were growing religious, so that one could not walk through the town in an evening without hearing psalms sung in different families of every street. [29]

Nathaniel Appleton was the pastor of the First Church in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He acknowledged the effect of Whitefield’s preaching and the subsequent benefits to his own congregation. In a sermon, he stated,

It has been but a dead and dull Time with us upon spiritual Accounts of late, but small Additions made to the Church, but few coming in to own the Covenant, and give themselves up to GOD. But blessed be GOD, there seems now some Revival among us, there are more affected, awakened, and convinced, and put upon their Duty, than is common among us: The Word preached seems to have come with greater Power upon the Souls of the People, especially of the younger Sort. I have planted, Mr. Whitefield has watered, and GOD has given some increase. I mention the Name of that young Apollos, because the most of those that are to be received to the Communion and Fellowship of the Saints, have declared to me, what powerful Influence his fervent Preaching had upon them. [30]

Jonathan Edwards gave an account of Whitefield’s preaching in Northampton. Whitefield arrived in the middle of October 1740. He preached four sermons in the meeting house and delivered a lecture in Edwards’s home. Though the congregation and the church were already experiencing signs of revival before Whitefield visited the town, his sermons had an enormous effect on the populace. Edwards attested, “The congregation was extraordinarily melted by every sermon; almost the whole assembly being in tears for a great part of sermon time. Mr. Whitefield’s sermons were suitable to the circumstances of the town; containing a just reproof of our backslidings, and in a most moving and affecting manner making use of our great professions and great mercies, as arguments with us to return to God from whom we had departed.” [31]

Though Edwards does not mention the sermons Whitefield preached, he did say that the sermons contained a just reproof of the town’s backslidings. Whatever arguments Whitefield used, they had an emotional effect on the people.

On October 24, 1740, after Whitefield’s visit in her home, Sarah Edwards wrote a letter to her brother, Rev. James Pierpont, in which she described Whitefield’s preaching and his effect on the congregation at Northampton.

I want to prepare you for a visit from the Rev. Mr. Whitefield, the famous preacher of England. He has been sojourning with us a week or more, and, after visiting a few of the neighbouring towns, is going to New Haven, and from thence to New York. He is truly a remarkable man, and by his visit, has verified all we have heard of him. He makes less of the doctrines than our American preachers commonly do and aims more at affecting the heart. He is a born orator. You have already heard of his deep-toned, yet clear and melodious voice. Oh! it is perfect music to listen to that alone. And he speaks so easily, with no apparent effort. You remember that David Hume thought it was worth going twenty miles to hear him speak; and that Garrick said “he could move more men to tears, or make them tremble, by his simple intonations in pronouncing the word Mesopotamia.” Well, this last was a mere speech of the play-actor; but it is truly wonderful to see what a spell this preacher often casts over an audience by proclaiming the simplest truths of the Bible. I have seen upwards of a thousand people hang on his words with breathless silence, broken only by an occasional half-suppressed sob. He impresses the ignorant, and not less, the educated and refined. It is reported that while the miners of England listened to him, the tears made white furrows down their smutty cheeks. So here, our mechanics shut up their shops, and the day-labourers throw down their tools, to go and hear him preach, and few return unaffected. A prejudiced person, I know, might say that this is all theatrical artifice and display; but not so will anyone think who has seen and known him. He is a very devout and godly man, and his only aim seems to be to reach and influence men the best way. He speaks from a heart aglow with love, and pours out a torrent of eloquence which is almost irresistible. Many, very many persons in Northampton date the beginning of new thoughts, new desires, new purposes, and a new life, from the day in which they heard him preach of Christ and His salvation. [32]

Though her account does not mention his use of fear, Sarah Edwards does point out the enormous emotional impact Whitefield had on his hearers in Northampton. She also portrays the intensity with which Whitefield held people in his rhetorical grip. The picture is of an audience greatly affected and persuaded to conversion.

John Marrant was born in New York in 1755. He was born free and later moved to South Carolina to become a tradesman’s apprentice. Marrant became a skilled musician and was able to earn a living; however, he became profligate. [33] While in Charleston in 1770, Marrant was coaxed into disturbing a meeting in which Whitefield was preaching. He was on his way to play at another venue when he passed by Whitefield’s meeting. When he inquired about the nature of the meeting, he was told a crazy man was inside “hallooing.” Marrant was persuaded to go in and blow his French horn in the midst of the meeting. [34] As he and his companion pushed their way through the crowd, the unexpected happened. The place was so crowded, Marrant did not have time to get his horn off his shoulder before he was struck to the floor. He said, “I was pushing the people to make room, to get the horn off my shoulder to blow it, just as Mr. Whitefield was naming his text, and looking round, as I thought, directly upon me, and pointing his finger, he uttered these words, ‘Prepare to meet thy God, O Israel.’” [35] Marrant said he was struck to the ground with such force that he lay for half an hour speechless and senseless. [36] He was eventually awakened by several men and a woman throwing water on his face. As he continued listening to Whitefield preach, his condition worsened. He said, “Every word I heard from the minister was like a parcel of swords thrust in to me, and what added to my distress, I thought I saw the devil on every side of me. I was constrained in the bitterness of my spirit to halloo out in the midst of the congregation, which disturbing them, they took me away; but finding I could neither walk or stand, they carried me as far as the vestry, and there I remained till the service was over.” [37] Several days passed before Marrant recovered from this experience.

Though the sermon Marrant heard is not extant, the text itself is a fear appeal and a passionate reading or quoting of it aroused fear in Marrant. The only thing known about the remainder of the sermon is, as Marrant describes, it continued to arouse fear.

Hannah Heaton was from a farming family in Connecticut. She heard Whitefield preach sometime before 1741 in New Haven. She recorded the sermon Whitefield preached as being upon the marks of an unconverted person. [38] She described his preaching, saying, “Oh strange it was, such preaching as I never heard before. ‘Don’t you,’ said he, ‘when you are at the house of God long [that the] service should be over that your minds may be about your worldly concerns and pleasures. Is it not a weariness to you,’ said he, ‘if one day’s serving God is so wearisome to you? How could you endure to be in heaven in this condition? The first prayer you would make would be that you might go into hell, for that would be more agreeable to your natures.’” [39]

That is the extent of the content Heaton mentions in her account. Certainly, more fearful content was used, for Heaton was thrown into terrible soul distress as a result. She first heard a whisper in her ear saying, “it is too late, too late, you had better hang your self.” [40] She was afraid to pray, for fear of seeing the devil. Once, when she was alone praying, she felt the devil “twitch” her clothes. [41] She stared out the windows at night to see if Christ was coming in judgment. She said, “Many a time I kneeled down to pray and my mouth was as it were stopped, and I did vent out my anguish with tears and groans and a few broken speeches. Now it cut me to think how I had spent my precious time in vanity and sin against God.” [42]

Heaton went to more revival meetings until she was finally converted. The night her conversion took place, she said, “A great melting of soul came upon me. I wept bitterly and pled hard for mercy, mercy. It seemed to me I was sinking down into hell. I thought the floor I stood on gave way, and I was just going, but then I began to resign, and as I resigned, my distress began to go off till I was perfectly easy, quiet, and calm.” [43]

Hannah Heaton experienced the new birth as a result of Whitefield’s preaching. The exact fear appeals and words Whitefield used are unknown; however, their effect on Heaton is obvious.

The Revival At Cambuslang

The most blatant effect of Whitefield’s use of fear appeals is found in firsthand testimonials from the revival at Cambuslang. A great awakening erupted at Cambuslang in 1742 under the preaching of William M‘Culloch and Whitefield. M‘Culloch, in an effort to preserve and attest to the awakening, collected verbal accounts from those who experienced it. He said of this effort,

But besides what concerns a credible profession, and a suitable walk and conversation, some require that persons, who would have a place in their good opinion, should be able to give some account of their experience of the grace of God. And this also has been done by not a few. Upwards of a fourth perhaps, of the persevering subjects of the revival in 1742, gave me very particular accounts of God’s dealings with their souls, as regards their first awakening, their outgates, their distresses, their deliverances, and their comforts in 1742, 1743, and 1744; and some of them continued their accounts down to 1748. I took down many of these from their own mouths, always in their true sense, and very much also in their own words. Many of the statements so prepared have appeared, to competent judges, to whom they were submitted, and who perused them with care, to be very rational and scriptural, and worthy of seeing the light; which perhaps may be done hereafter. [44]

M‘Culloch recorded one hundred and five cases in this fashion. Though he intended to publish them right way, they were not published until 1847, when they appeared in MacFarlan’s The Revivals of the Eighteenth Century, Particularly at Cambuslang. The documents had been preserved for nearly one hundred years by M‘Culloch’s family. [45]

In two cases, the individuals recount their experience of hearing Whitefield preaching in Cambuslang. The first of the accounts comes from a fifteen-year-old boy named Alexander Roger. He said he went to Cambuslang to hear Whitefield preach in June of 1742. Roger remembered that it was a Thursday and Whitefield preached on Jeremiah 8:20. He remembered Whitefield saying, “Many come out of curiosity to hear a poor child preach; and the same curiosity would induce them to go to the devil.” Roger felt that Whitefield had accurately described his own motive. Whitefield also said, “O Lord, how many trample thy blood under their feet, and despise thee and thy gospel!” The prospect of going “to the devil” and trampling the blood of Christ was too much for Roger. He described his reaction:

This led me to such a view of my sins, that I saw nothing but the wrath of God awaiting me, and hell ready to receive me. I was also deeply pierced with a sense of the evil of those sins which I could remember, as well as of the corruption and depravity of my nature and of my unbelief in not receiving but rejecting Christ, when offered to me in the gospel. My sense of guilt was such, that I would have thought it no injustice, on God’s part, had he cast me immediately into hell. I even felt as if I were sinking into the bottomless pit, and that all around were ready to drag me down to it. My feelings of repentance were deep and sincere, and above all, on account of the dishonour which I had done to God. Under these awful feelings, I at last fainted away; and on recovering, I was enabled to return with a comrade to my father’s house, which was about five miles distant. [46]

Whitefield obviously aroused the fear of hell and the bottomless pit in this teenager. Whitefield, of course, said much more than the two statements Roger remembered in this account. However, the fear induced by these expressions became so severe that the boy fainted. The fear led Roger to sincere repentance. Whitefield’s use of fear accomplished exactly what was intended.

The second account is that of James Tenant. M‘Culloch describes Tenant as an unmarried man about twenty years of age. Tenant heard Whitefield preach at the end of June in 1742. This time Whitefield preached on the Philippian jailor. Tenant said as Whitefield described the jailor falling to his knees trembling and crying, “What must I do to be saved?,” that he likewise became fearful. He felt his conscience tell him that he was lost and undone. He said, “I fell into great terror, and trembled so much, that I had to be supported by those near.” However, Tenant was not converted that night. Sometime later, he heard Whitefield preach again and was again overcome with fear and trembling. He became so fearful the second time that he could not follow all that Whitefield said. All of this led to Tenant’s “change of heart” sometime later after a barn prayer meeting. [47] Whatever Whitefield preached in the two sermons Tenant heard aroused tremendous fear in him. Tenant responded to the fear with a season of soul distress and agony, which eventually led to his conversion.

Summary

Although his preaching caused a “melting” in most of his meetings, the influence of his emotional and passionate delivery was not without detractors. Stephen Bordley, an Anglican layman and lawyer, was sharply adverse to Whitefield’s abundance of emotionalism and lack of doctrine in his sermons. After hearing Whitefield preach, Bordley wrote to a friend, “He has putt some among us here on a Wild goose Chase, in quest of that degree of the Spirit Which perhaps they never will find. Others he has thrown into the Vapours & Despair…& ’tis really a difficult matter to perswade some among us here to make a difference between his Doctrine & Delivery. If he is Sincere, he Certainly is a Violent Enthusiast. If not, he is a most Vain & Arrogant Hyprocrite, & I own I should rather Support the latter. In short, he has the best delivery with the Worst Divinity that I ever mett with.” [48]

Whitefield aroused an emotional response from his hearers nearly every time he preached. The effect of his preaching was deep and widespread. He reported most of the effects of his preaching in his journals, but they are more general reports, with no details of the specifics of his sermons. Had he been more specific, additional evidence of the effect of his fear appeals would certainly be available. Though only a few indications are extant, the ones that are available reveal that Whitefield’s fear appeals were effective in arousing fear and persuading individuals.

Notes

1. George Whitefield, The True Nature of Beholding the Lamb (Shropshire, England: Quinta Press, 2008), 10.
2. George Whitefield, The Marriage of Cana: A Sermon Preached at Black-Heath and Philadelphia (Philadelphia: Printed and Sold by W. Bradford, 1742), 32 [online]; accessed 14 August 2009; retrieved from http://infoweb.newsbank.com; Internet.
3. Whitefield, The Marriage of Cana, 37.
4. George Whitefield, A Continuation of the Reverend Mr. Whitefield’s Journal from a Few Days After His Return to Georgia to His Arrival at Falmouth, on the 11th of March 1741, 2nd ed. (London: Printed by W. Strahan, 1744), 36.
5. George Whitefield, The Amazing Love of Christ (Shropshire, England: Quinta Press, 2008), 3.
6. Robert B. Cialdini, Influence: How and Why People Agree to Things (New York: William Morrow and Company, Inc., 1984), 13.
7. George Whitefield, George Whitefield’s Letters for the Period 1734-1742 (Car­lisle, Pa.: The Banner of Truth Trust, 1976), 18-19.
8. George Whitefield, A Continuation of the Reverend Mr. Whitefield’s Journal, from His Arrival at London, to His Departure from Thence on His Way to Georgia, 4th ed. (London: James Hutton, 1739), 78 [facsimile copy on-line]; accessed 14 August 2009; retrieved from http://openlibrary.org; Internet.
9. Whitefield, A Continuation of Mr. Whitefield’s Journal, 13.
10. Whitefield, A Continuation of Mr. Whitefield’s Journal, 15-16.
11. Charles Hartshorn Maxson, The Great Awakening in the Middle Colonies (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1920), 33.
12. Whitefield, A Continuation of the Reverend Mr. Whitefield’s Journal, 5.
13. Whitefield, A Continuation of the Reverend Mr. Whitefield’s Journal, 7.
14. George Whitefield, The Marks of the New-Birth (Boston: Printed and Sold by G. Rogers and D. Fowle, 1740), 14 [online]; accessed 14 August 2009; retrieved from http://infoweb.newsbank.com; Internet.
15. Whitefield, A Continuation of the Reverend Mr. Whitefield’s Journal, 11.
16. Whitefield, A Continuation of the Reverend Mr. Whitefield’s Journal, 36.
17. Whitefield, A Continuation of Mr. Whitefield’s Journal, 21.
18. Whitefield, A Continuation of Mr. Whitefield’s Journal, 23.
19. Whitefield, A Continuation of Mr. Whitefield’s Journal, 24-25.
20. Whitefield, A Continuation of Mr. Whitefield’s Journal, 25.
21. Maxson, The Great Awakening in the Middle Colonies, 145.
22. Whitefield, A Continuation of Mr. Whitefield’s Journal, 41.
23. Whitefield, A Continuation of Mr. Whitefield’s Journal, 28.
24. Whitefield, A Continuation of Mr. Whitefield’s Journal, 43.
25. Whitefield, A Continuation of Mr. Whitefield’s Journal, 44.
26. Whitefield, Letters of George Whitefield for the Period 1734-1742, 513.
27. Whitefield, A Continuation of Mr. Whitefield’s Journal, 39-40.
28. Whitefield, A Continuation of Mr. Whitefield’s Journal, 15.
29. Benjamin Franklin, Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin (New York: The MacMillan Company, 1921), 103 [online]; accessed 18 August 2009; retrieved from http://books.google.com; Internet.
30. Nathaniel Appleton, God, And Not Ministers to Have the Glory of All Success Given to the Preached Gospel: Illustrated in Two Discourses, From I Cor. iii.6. Occasioned by the Late Powerful and Awakening Preaching of the Rev. Mr. Whitefield (Boston: Printed by G. Rogers and D. Fowle, 1741), 21 [online]; accessed 14 August 2009; retrieved from http://infoweb.newsbank.com; Internet.
31. Jonathan Edwards, “Memoirs of Jonathan Edwards,” in The Works of Jonathan Edwards, vol. 1 (London: Printed by John Childs and Son, 1839), xcix [online]; accessed 18 August 2009; retrieved from http://books.google.com; Internet.
32. Sarah Pierpont Edwards, “Diary and Letters of Sarah Pierpont,” Hours At Home: A Popular Monthly Devoted to Religious and Useful Literature 5 (1867): 301 [online]; accessed 18 August 2009; retrieved from http://books.google.com; Internet.
33. Thomas S. Kidd, “John Marrant,” in The Great Awakening: A Brief History with Documents (Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2008), 86-87.
34. Kidd, “John Marrant,” in The Great Awakening: A Brief History with Documents, 87.
35. Kidd, “John Marrant,” in The Great Awakening: A Brief History with Documents, 87.
36. Kidd, “John Marrant,” in The Great Awakening: A Brief History with Documents, 87.
37. Kidd, “John Marrant,” in The Great Awakening: A Brief History with Documents, 87-88.
38. Kidd, “Hannah Heaton,” in The Great Awakening, 67.
39. Kidd, “Hannah Heaton,” in The Great Awakening, 68.
40. Kidd, “Hannah Heaton,” in The Great Awakening, 68.
41. Kidd, “Hannah Heaton,” in The Great Awakening, 68.
42. Kidd, “Hannah Heaton,” in The Great Awakening, 68.
43. Kidd, “Hannah Heaton,” in The Great Awakening, 69.
44. Duncan MacFarlan, The Revivals of the Eighteenth Century, Particularly at Cambuslang (Wheaton, Ill.: Richard Owen Roberts, 1980), 105.
45. MacFarlan, The Revivals of the Eighteenth Century, 106.
46. MacFarlan, The Revivals of the Eighteenth Century, 140-41.
47. MacFarlan, The Revivals of the Eighteenth Century, 168-69.
48. Kidd, “Stephen Bordley,” in The Great Awakening, 52.