Comments from Author Phil Webster on the new film, “A Great Awakening”
I asked for a statement from author Phil Webster and character actor of John Jay. He was on the set as an extra for “A Great Awakening.” Here is his email to me, Jerry Newcombe, 4/10/26:
Sight and Sound has produced a great movie called: “A Great Awakening” which delves into the relationship between George Whitefield and Ben Franklin.
They developed the story of George Whitefield by showing a young Georgie in a tavern living a hard life but being given an incredible gift from an actor named Mr. Burton that gave Whitefield an opportunity to study at Oxford. He had to take putdowns from rich students because of his bad eye. The Holy Club with John and Charles Wesley ministered to George and humbled themselves to wash his feet. George left his acting focus and made the decision to become a minister.
George spoke at a church and spoke of the new birth with passion. The ministers at that church had him defrocked as a minister so George went to the people. One of those outreach meetings was at coal miners in Bristol, England. He had made a stand from which he would stand and preach. The overseer asked George what he was doing. Are you here to mock us? That overseer threw hard coal at George. “I was a hardened person like yourself and led a life of suffering .” George told the man as he spit blood from the coal that hit him. George pressed on and preached about the suffering Jesus who died for our sins. The message and suffering of Whitefield touched the overseer’s heart and he repented and gave his life to Christ and many followed. George’s voice echoed to the coal miners.
When Whitefield arrives at the port of Philadelphia, Franklin is skeptical about the claim that Whitefield can speak to 30,000 people at one time. He verifies it and Whitefield and Franklin meet and agree to having a printing agreement that Franklin will Print Whitefield’s sermons and give him a place to stay in Philadelphia whenever he is in the area.
They developed a long relationship and Whitefield accompanied Franklin to see his kite experiment during a storm. Franklin heard the news of Whitefield’s death (1771) while talking with Admiral Howe in England in a very powerful scene.
As a writer on the American Revolution, they made a mistake in saying that Continental Congress sent Franklin to England over to England in 1770. Franklin was sent by several states (Massachusetts and Pennsylvania and maybe another)- Continental Congress started on September 5, 1774.
The movie masterfully had Franklin give his June 28,1787 speech and walked by Madison as he mentioned Madison’s exhaustive study of ancient governments.
“I have lived, Sir, a long time and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth: that God governs in the affairs of man. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid?
Franklin got the Gospel message from one end by Whitefield up until 1770 and then he got it from John Jay while they worked on the Treaty of Paris from 1782 to 1784. Jay was one of the four caretakers legally of Franklin’s estate. You can see the fruits of that legacy at the Franklin Institute at Philadelphia.
I give the film 5 stars out of 5. I have only seen it five times… so far.
