Tennent, Gilbert

▪ American Presbyterian clergyman

born Feb. 5, 1703, County Armagh, Ire.

died July 23, 1764, Philadelphia

      Irish-born American Presbyterian clergyman, son and brother of three other Presbyterian clergymen. He was one of the leaders of the Great Awakening of religious feeling in colonial America, along with Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield.

      Like his three brothers, Tennent was educated at home by his father in Neshaminy, Pa. He was licensed to preach by the presbytery of Philadelphia in 1725 and took a pastorate in New Brunswick, N.J. He became a revivalist preacher along with George Whitefield, who called him “a son of thunder.” He was known for his fiery exhortations to sinners to repent and also for his scorn of his critics among the more conservative Presbyterians. Tennent's attacks on the majority reached a peak in 1740 in his “Nottingham Sermon,” in which he denounced his opponents as hypocrites. This led to a schism the following year, Tennent and other members of the New Brunswick Presbytery withdrawing from the church. In 1743 he moved to a church in Philadelphia, where he remained for the rest of his life. His preaching became less impassioned, and he worked to heal the breach in the Presbyterian Church.

* * *