Required reading
The Great Awakening: A history of the revival of religion in the time of Edwards & Whitefield by Joseph Tracy (Available from Amazon or free here) - Read Chapter 14.
My summary
Today we read a chapter on James Davenport.
We learn about Davenport's:
(i) high commendation from Whitefield;
(ii) piety;
(iii) condemnation of other ministers as unconverted;
(iv) reactions of ministers toward him;
(v) retractions for his hostile attitude toward other ministers.
What grabbed me
A most interesting chapter.
I found helpful Tracy's comments on reasons behind Davenport's misdemeanors: ' During a great part, if not the whole, of his itinerations, he was lame with some kind of inflammatory ulcerations, so that he needed the assistance of his "armor-bearer" in walking ; and there are other evidences of a febrile slate of body. This fever predisposed him to unnatural and unhealthy mental excitement ; and on the other hand, his splendid dreams, sleeping and waking, of himself as a great reformer and a special favorite of God, his want of sleep while he spent whole nights in prayer, his excessive pulpit labors and the mental efforts they required, the sight of the multitudes that gathered around him, and of the effect which he produced upon them, their outcries, faintings and convulsions, all bearing witness to his power, — all these things acted through his mind lipon his nerves, or upon his nerves directly, and kept up the fever. Such excitement ioeonceivably increases the power of the mind, and especially the power of moving others ; but, in the same proportion, renders it uncertain what the man will do with that power.'
All ministers should be wary of excessive work and sleep deprivation.
Next week's reading
Commence Chapter 15 by reading up to the paragraph beginning 'He arrived at Leith on the third of June, and proceeded directly to Edinburgh.'
Now it's your turn
Please post your own notes and thoughts in the comments section below.
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