THE DOMINANT CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF THE PILGRIMS AND PURITANS IN THE 1600s, AND JONATHAN EDWARDS AND GEORGE WHITEFIELD IN THE 1700s, WAS THAT FREEWILL IN SALVATION IS A FICTION. GEORGE WHITEFIELD PREACHED OVER 18,000 SERMONS IN THE FIELDS MOST OF THE TIME, TO 2 1/2 MILLION COLONISTS, WITH CROWDS OF OVER 20,000, SOMETIMES, AND THERE WAS A GREAT RELIGIOUS AWAKING THAT OUR FOUNDING FATHERS MOSTLY EXPERIENCED AS CHILDREN AND YOUNG ADULTS, WHICH WAS THE UNDERPINNING OF OUR MIRACULOUS CONSTITUTION. GEORGE WHITEFIELD WAS THE EVANGELIST AND JONATHON EDWARDS WAS THE INFLUENTIAL PASTOR OF THE AWAKENING.