Biography
Gilbert Tennent was born on February 5, 1703, in County Armagh, Ireland. His father, William Tennent, was a Presbyterian minister who moved the family to America in 1718. Gilbert was the eldest of four sons, all of whom became ministers. The family settled in Pennsylvania, where William Tennent opened a small school in a log building at Neshaminy, which came to be known as the Log College. It was a school for training young men for the ministry, and it produced many of the leaders of the Great Awakening.
Gilbert studied under his father and was licensed to preach in 1725. In 1726 he became pastor of the Presbyterian church in New Brunswick, New Jersey. He worked there for many years. Under the influence of the Dutch Reformed pastor Theodorus Frelinghuysen, who preached a vital and experimental religion, Gilbert became a strong advocate of revival. He preached with great intensity and emphasized the need for the new birth. His sermons caused many to be converted, and a movement of revival began in the Middle Colonies in the 1730s.
When George Whitefield came to America in 1739, Tennent worked with him. He traveled with Whitefield through New England and helped to spread the awakening. He was a vigorous preacher and was bold in his condemnation of those who did not share his convictions. In March 1740, he preached a sermon in Nottingham, Pennsylvania, titled The Danger of an Unconverted Ministry. In it, he spoke fiercely against ministers who, in his opinion, had never experienced the new birth. He compared them to Pharisees and charged them with leading their people astray. The sermon was widely printed and caused a storm.
The sermon led to a bitter conflict in the Presbyterian church. It divided the church into two parties, the Old Side, who were opposed to the revival, and the New Side, who supported it. In 1741 the synod split, and the breach lasted for seventeen years. Tennent was accused of being a divider and an enthusiast. Many of those who had been friendly to him turned away. He was also accused of judging the hearts of others.
In the years that followed, he reflected on the part that he had played. He came to see that he had been too harsh and that his words had done harm. In 1743 he published a work in which he admitted his faults and appealed for peace. In 1743 he moved to Philadelphia to serve as pastor of a new church, the Second Presbyterian, and he worked there for the rest of his life. He took part in efforts to heal the division, and in 1758 the two sides were reunited. He played a central role in the reunion and served as the moderator of the synod.
He was a man of strong feelings and deep faith, and he was also a man who could change. He was known for his willingness to admit his errors. He wrote many sermons and treatises, and he took part in the founding of the College of New Jersey, which later became Princeton University. He traveled to Britain with Samuel Davies in 1753 to raise money for the college.
He died on July 23, 1764, in Philadelphia, at the age of sixty-one. His life shows that a bold voice for revival can do harm if it is not tempered by love, and that a man who learns humility can help to heal what he has broken.