All the following are true statements about the Great Awakening, EXCEPT: A. It was a widespread religious revival in the English colonies. B. It was a reaction to religious rationalism. C. It created a backlash in the colonies and encouraged many to become religious rationalists. D. Jonathan Edwards was one of its most captivating preachers.

C. It created a backlash in the colonies and encouraged many to become religious rationalists.

The Great Awakening did not create a backlash that encouraged people to become religious rationalists; rather, it was a reaction against the rationalist approach to religion that was becoming more prevalent among the intellectual elite. The movement instead reinvigorated a more emotive and personal approach to faith, emphasizing the need for individual repentance and conversion.

The Great Awakening was a series of religious revivals that swept through the British American colonies in the 18th century. This phenomenon had a profound impact on American Protestantism. It encouraged an emotional style of worship, with a greater emphasis on a personal connection with God, contrasting with the more traditional, liturgical and rational styles of worship common at the time.

One of the key ideas that emerged from the Great Awakening was the notion that religious authority did not need to come from the church hierarchy or educated clergy, but could come from personal revelation and individual experience. This contributed to new denominational diversification and encouraged greater religious tolerance and independence.

Jonathan Edwards, a preacher from New England was one of the most important figures in the Awakening. His famous sermon "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" epitomized the movement's themes of divine wrath and the need for personal conversion. The Great Awakening ultimately had significant social and political consequences as well, influencing ideas of American independence and democracy by emphasizing individual worth and agency.