Asahel Nettleton Collection (3 vols.)

Asahel Nettleton (1783–1844) was an American evangelist who played an important role in the Second Great Awakening. Born to a farming family in Connecticut, he was converted at age 18 during a revival in his church. He studied at Yale, graduating with a desire to preach, and a strong interest in foreign missions. He was ordained in 1811. In the fall of 1812, on his way to speak in New York, he stopped to speak in South Britain, Connecticut, where he witnessed many conversions and began his career as an evangelist.

Forgoing marriage and family in order to preach the gospel, Nettleton traveled all over the New England area. He only spoke where he was expressly invited, and often moved into a community, preaching nightly for weeks or months. He believed strongly that only God can convert people, and that to recognize a conversion, one must wait to see fruit of repentance and life transformation. He was distinctly Reformed in his theology, and stood in opposition to his contemporary, the evangelist Charles Finney and the “New Haven Theology.” Nettleton’s ministry saw thousands of people converted, and a remarkably high number become faithful life-long Christians. During the latter years of his life, when poor health prevented him from traveling, he devoted himself to divinity students at the Theological Institute of Connecticut (now Hartford Seminary).