09/06/2026
A Great Awakening is a 2026 American historical drama film directed and written by Joshua Enck. The film follows the friendship between George Whitefield and Benjamin Franklin, and Whitefield's impact during the Great Awakening religious movement.
Benjamin Franklin, at the time of the Constitutional Convention, reminisces about his life and his long friendship with George Whitefield. The two had met when Whitefield preached in Philadelphia, and Franklin was astonished how far Whitefield's voice could carry. Whitefield partnered with Franklin in publishing many of his sermons. The last time they were together, Whitefield made a strong appeal to Franklin to trust in Jesus Christ for salvation. Franklin as a deist did not accept the divinity of Christ in that moment. But as he remembers Whitefield's words in 1789, he does turn to God in Christ and then goes on to call the Constitutional Convention to pray to God. Franklin's speech to the Convention promoting prayer is described in Concordia University's reconstruction of the Convention's daily debates.[4
