Journals

George Whitefield's Journals chronicle the early ministry of the Anglican evangelist who became one of the most prominent figures of the eighteenth-century Great Awakening. Written between 1738 and 1741, these personal accounts document Whitefield's preaching tours through England, Scotland, Wales, and the American colonies during the formative years of the revival movement. Originally published in seven separate installments, the journals served both as spiritual autobiography and as public testimony to the extraordinary religious awakening Whitefield witnessed and helped catalyze.

The journals reveal Whitefield's understanding of his calling as an itinerant evangelist and his theological convictions about conversion, divine providence, and the necessity of the new birth. He records his preaching experiences with remarkable candor, documenting both his successes and failures, the opposition he faced from established clergy, and the dramatic responses of his audiences. Whitefield describes open-air preaching to crowds numbering in the thousands, emotional conversions, and the social controversies his ministry provoked. Throughout, he interprets events through the lens of divine sovereignty, seeing God's hand in both his triumphs and his trials. The journals also capture the transatlantic nature of the revival, as Whitefield describes his multiple voyages to America and his relationships with other revival leaders like Jonathan Edwards and John Wesley.

These journals remain invaluable primary sources for understanding both the Great Awakening and the development of evangelical spirituality. They offer unmediated access to the mind of a figure whose preaching reached more people than perhaps any other eighteenth-century religious leader. Who should read this: Students of revival history, evangelical spirituality, and eighteenth-century religious culture will find these essential primary sources. Readers seeking devotional material should look elsewhere, as these are historical documents rather than systematic spiritual guidance.