Tennent, Gilbert (1703-1764), was a colonial American religious leader. During the early 1700’s, Tennent played a major role in the Protestant religious movement called the Great Awakening. An important aspect of the Great Awakening was revivalism, an emotional approach to religion that emphasized individual religious experience rather than church doctrines.
As a Presbyterian minister in New Jersey from 1726 to 1743, Tennent became active in the Great Awakening. In 1739, he gave a sermon, “The Danger of an Unconverted Ministry,” in which he attacked ministers who favored established church doctrines and opposed revivalism. The publication of this sermon in 1740 contributed to a split in the Presbyterian Church in America in 1741. Tennent eventually became more willing to compromise with his critics. Tennent helped reunite the church in 1758.
Tennent was born in County Armagh, now a district in Northern Ireland. He came to America when he was about 15. His father, William Tennent, was also a well-known minister.
