Free Grace Women

A Review

By Megan Stopera

Introduction

Our family recently had the opportunity to watch the movie “A Great Awakening” made by Sight & Sound Films. The movie was full of positive elements and was an encouragement and a pleasure to watch. These are the pros and cons of the film for those interested in seeing it. 

Pros:

“A Great Awakening” is set during the years before and after the American Revolution. It follows the stories of Reverend George Whitefield and Benjamin Franklin, who were close friends. The movie explores faith, relationships, and struggles in the lives of both men and how they impacted colonial America. 

Sight & Sound Theaters creates impressive, entertaining musical productions, and the movies they produce are no different. This movie was beautiful and deeply moving. My family and I were particularly impressed by the acting. Jonathan Blair, who portrayed George Whitefield, was excellent, drawing us into every scene and moment. His was one of the best performances I have ever seen. The characters, though not always historically accurate, were interesting. The sets and the costumes were very well made. 

Cons:

1. Historical inaccuracies

We walked out of the theater quite inspired, but also disappointed. Our first issue with “A Great Awakening” was the inaccurate portrayal of Benjamin Franklin’s faith. Franklin is popularly portrayed as the worldly, intellectual deist founding father. And that is exactly how he is painted in this movie. George Whitefield, the famous evangelist to the American colonies, tries desperately to “convert” Franklin throughout the movie. In reality, while Franklin did at times live a worldly lifestyle, he was far from an aloof, disinterested deist. He attended church regularly and often urged his fellow founders to pray to God for help and wisdom. Christianity was not something he opposed, but he did take issue with tyranny within the church structure. 

Portraying men like Benjamin Franklin inaccurately is a way to change America’s history. It’s not at all popular to see the founding fathers as moral, religious men who were heavily influenced by the Bible when forming our system of government. 

2. Biblical Inaccuracies 

Our biggest problem with “A Great Awakening” was the misrepresentation of the Words of Jesus. In one very emotional scene, George Whitefield is shown ministering to men in a prison. He is moved to read the third chapter of John aloud. The movie’s twisted version of John 3:16 goes like this:

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes and calls on His name, will not die in their sins.”

Hearing this left me flabbergasted and, quite honestly, angry. The writers changed the precious, perfect Words of Jesus to fit with their own soteriological framework! How many thousands of people will hear this fully incorrect version of John 3:16? 

The real George Whitefield was a fiery, talented preacher with a famously booming voice that thousands could hear at a time. He preached to millions of people in his lifetime, and it has been said that by the time of the American Revolution, every person had either heard Whitefield preach or knew someone who had. During his sermons, listeners were moved to tears and motivated to repent and live godly lives. Unfortunately, Whitefield was a dedicated Calvinist. He preached that eternal life came by faith alone apart from works, but the hearer must also repent to receive life. Just as the writers of this movie did, George Whitefield changed the simple message of belief in Jesus to include some form of works. 

How incredibly sad that those who heard Whitefield speak and those who watched “A Great Awakening” received a false message about faith and eternal life!

Final Thoughts

Regardless of the disappointing message, I would highly recommend “A Great Awakening”. George Whitefield’s dedication to his ministry and his compassionate love for people are inspiring and convicting. A few subtle themes and some mild violence may make this movie inappropriate for younger children.

Praise God for the free gift of eternal life through faith alone in Jesus Christ!

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

John 3:16

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