Fire Across the Water

In the mid-18th century a series of revivals flared within the colonies of British North America. These revivals transcended ethnic, linguistic, and geographical boundaries. In the middle colonies, where Scots-Irish Presbyterians were often dominant, the revivals were particularly controversial, as they divided churches, communities, presbyteries, and even the colonial synod. Fire Across the Water looks at the dynamics of this Presbyterian revival among several frontier communities and their parish churches, noting how they split along socioeconomic lines. It brings to life the careers and personalities of several colorful frontier ministers to understand the origin and extent of their influence in the schisms that occurred under their watch. Finally, it traces these North American cleavages to their roots on the other side of the Atlantic, noting how traditions of previous revivals and related controversies in Scotland, Ireland, and England were transmitted to the colonies by emigrating ministers. Fire Across the Water offers a fresh, lively, transatlantic perspective to studies of the Great Awakening.