Metadata
Title
Gilbert Tennent sermons 5, "De timore Dei et Fiducia" (On the fear of God and reliance), 1743 or 1744
Date
1743/1759
Digital Identifier
PHS.TennentSermons005
Description
Gilbert Tennent (1703-1764) was an Irish-American Presbyterian clergyman, and one of the leaders of the Great Awakening.
The title of this sermon translates to "On the fear of God and reliance." Tennet wrote a later revision (discernible by darker ink) during the French and Indian War, around the time of the siege of Fort William Henry, and references calamity and dangers to the nation.
The title of this sermon translates to "On the fear of God and reliance." Tennet wrote a later revision (discernible by darker ink) during the French and Indian War, around the time of the siege of Fort William Henry, and references calamity and dangers to the nation.
Subject
Place
Pennsylvania--Philadelphia
Congregation
Second Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia, PA
Holding Institution
Presbyterian Historical Society
Extent
16 pages
Format (Digital)
tiff
Rights
http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/
Language
eng
Type
Text
Abstract
De timore Dei et fiducia (On the fear of God-- and trust). What starts out as a reminder of why man must fear and revere God becomes an immediate and urgent warning for colonials in America.
An added word in the title, difference in the inks, insertions within the text, and additional text at the close take the sermon's topicality into the political atmosphere of British North America in the mid-18th century: the fear of tumult in provincial America, the threats against Protestant settlements in eastern Canada, the dread of Native Americans, the defeat of the British at Fort William Henry, dread of the powerful French as the rival to British rule combine with the First Great Awakening's heightened expectation of the Second Coming of Christ, which could be looked for suddenly and at any time.
Opens with a review God's majesty, power, and man's fear of angering him, paired with His justice, omniscience, and goodness (and the fear of losing this last.) Discusses the kinds of fear-- that children, or sons, or adults experience, with regard for the permanence of God's kingdom, and what those fears engender in behavior. Fear is necessary. Adults will then live moderate lives, even in permitted pleasures, and avoid bad company. Fear is often joined with faith, as Noah's was when warned of the flood; with hope, and with joy, which are tempered and thereby appropriate.
Realization that fear can cause distress, or drive people to criminal acts, engendering dwelling on the problem, not the cause of the problem or the solution, or when fear is hopeless, when it cannot be comforted by trust in and reliance on God and Christ the mediator, the redeemer, to soothe anxieties. Mentions the "special seasons" where God's grace is nearer. Lists duties: Trust foremost, in God; at all times, in times of stress and trial, especially in contemporary times of political uncertainties and threats of warfare.
An added word in the title, difference in the inks, insertions within the text, and additional text at the close take the sermon's topicality into the political atmosphere of British North America in the mid-18th century: the fear of tumult in provincial America, the threats against Protestant settlements in eastern Canada, the dread of Native Americans, the defeat of the British at Fort William Henry, dread of the powerful French as the rival to British rule combine with the First Great Awakening's heightened expectation of the Second Coming of Christ, which could be looked for suddenly and at any time.
Opens with a review God's majesty, power, and man's fear of angering him, paired with His justice, omniscience, and goodness (and the fear of losing this last.) Discusses the kinds of fear-- that children, or sons, or adults experience, with regard for the permanence of God's kingdom, and what those fears engender in behavior. Fear is necessary. Adults will then live moderate lives, even in permitted pleasures, and avoid bad company. Fear is often joined with faith, as Noah's was when warned of the flood; with hope, and with joy, which are tempered and thereby appropriate.
Realization that fear can cause distress, or drive people to criminal acts, engendering dwelling on the problem, not the cause of the problem or the solution, or when fear is hopeless, when it cannot be comforted by trust in and reliance on God and Christ the mediator, the redeemer, to soothe anxieties. Mentions the "special seasons" where God's grace is nearer. Lists duties: Trust foremost, in God; at all times, in times of stress and trial, especially in contemporary times of political uncertainties and threats of warfare.
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IIIF Manifest
https://www.philageohistory.org/rdic-images/iiif.cfm/PHS.TennentSermons005/manifest
