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Christ's Agony
Jonathan Edwards (October 5, 1703 – March 22, 1758) was a preacher, theologian, and missionary to Native Americans. Edwards is widely acknowledged to be America's most important and original philosophical theologian, and he’s considered one of America's greatest intellectuals. Edwards's theological work is very broad in scope, but he is often associated with his defense of Reformed theology, the metaphysics of theological determinism, and the Puritan heritage. Recent studies have emphasized how thoroughly Edwards grounded his life's work on conceptions of beauty, harmony, and ethical fittingness, and how central The Enlightenment was to his mindset. For example, Edwards was genuinely committed to the promotion of gender equality. His interest in Eve has been interpreted by scholars as an indication that he harbored proto-feminist
108 pages, Paperback
First published July 11, 2011
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Jonathan Edwards
1,624 books531 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database named Jonathan Edwards.
Jonathan Edwards was the most eminent American philosopher-theologian of his time, and a key figure in what has come to be called the First Great Awakening of the 1730s and 1740s.
The only son in a family of eleven children, he entered Yale in September, 1716 when he was not yet thirteen and graduated four years later (1720) as valedictorian. He received his Masters three years later. As a youth, Edwards was unable to accept the Calvinist sovereignty of God. However, in 1721 he came to what he called a "delightful conviction" though meditation on 1 Timothy 1:17. From that point on, Edwards delighted in the sovereignty of God. Edwards later recognized this as his conversion to Christ.
In 1727 he was ordained minister at Northampton and assistant to his maternal grandfather, Solomon Stoddard. He was a student minister, not a visiting pastor, his rule being thirteen hours of study a day. In the same year, he married Sarah Pierpont, then age seventeen, daughter of Yale founder James Pierpont (1659–1714). In total, Jonathan and Sarah had eleven children.
Stoddard died on February 11th, 1729, leaving to his grandson the difficult task of the sole ministerial charge of one of the largest and wealthiest congregations in the colony. Throughout his time in Northampton his preaching brought remarkable religious revivals.
Yet, tensions flamed as Edwards would not continue his grandfather's practice of open communion. Stoddard believed that communion was a "converting ordinance." Surrounding congregations had been convinced of this, and as Edwards became more convinced that this was harmful, his public disagreement with the idea caused his dismissal in 1750.
Edwards then moved to Stockbridge, Massachusetts, then a frontier settlement, where he ministered to a small congregation and served as missionary to the Housatonic Indians. There, having more time for study and writing, he completed his celebrated work, The Freedom of the Will (1754).
Edwards was elected president of the College of New Jersey (later Princeton University) in early 1758. He was a popular choice, for he had been a friend of the College since its inception. He died of fever at the age of fifty-four following experimental inoculation for smallpox and was buried in the President's Lot in the Princeton cemetery beside his son-in-law, Aaron Burr.
Jonathan Edwards was the most eminent American philosopher-theologian of his time, and a key figure in what has come to be called the First Great Awakening of the 1730s and 1740s.
The only son in a family of eleven children, he entered Yale in September, 1716 when he was not yet thirteen and graduated four years later (1720) as valedictorian. He received his Masters three years later. As a youth, Edwards was unable to accept the Calvinist sovereignty of God. However, in 1721 he came to what he called a "delightful conviction" though meditation on 1 Timothy 1:17. From that point on, Edwards delighted in the sovereignty of God. Edwards later recognized this as his conversion to Christ.
In 1727 he was ordained minister at Northampton and assistant to his maternal grandfather, Solomon Stoddard. He was a student minister, not a visiting pastor, his rule being thirteen hours of study a day. In the same year, he married Sarah Pierpont, then age seventeen, daughter of Yale founder James Pierpont (1659–1714). In total, Jonathan and Sarah had eleven children.
Stoddard died on February 11th, 1729, leaving to his grandson the difficult task of the sole ministerial charge of one of the largest and wealthiest congregations in the colony. Throughout his time in Northampton his preaching brought remarkable religious revivals.
Yet, tensions flamed as Edwards would not continue his grandfather's practice of open communion. Stoddard believed that communion was a "converting ordinance." Surrounding congregations had been convinced of this, and as Edwards became more convinced that this was harmful, his public disagreement with the idea caused his dismissal in 1750.
Edwards then moved to Stockbridge, Massachusetts, then a frontier settlement, where he ministered to a small congregation and served as missionary to the Housatonic Indians. There, having more time for study and writing, he completed his celebrated work, The Freedom of the Will (1754).
Edwards was elected president of the College of New Jersey (later Princeton University) in early 1758. He was a popular choice, for he had been a friend of the College since its inception. He died of fever at the age of fifty-four following experimental inoculation for smallpox and was buried in the President's Lot in the Princeton cemetery beside his son-in-law, Aaron Burr.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
August 20, 2022
Several years ago there was a panel at a Ligonier Ministries Conference. One of the speakers said he once heard R.C. Sproul preach on Gethsemane in Toronto sometime in the 1990s.
"Find a tape of it if you can," he said.
"I borrowed most of it from Jonathan Edwards," replied Sproul, "so don't bother listening to me—just read him."
"Find a tape of it if you can," he said.
"I borrowed most of it from Jonathan Edwards," replied Sproul, "so don't bother listening to me—just read him."
April 25, 2016
Excellent exposition on Jesus' prayer in Gethsemane. "And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground. " Luke 22:44
I;m not going to summarize the whole sermon here, but I want to mention two points in particular that challenged me:
First, Edwards argues that the reason Christ's agony was so severe was that He knew perfectly well the suffering He was about to face. Edwards uses the image of a furnace to represent Christ's sufferings, "God first brought him and set him at the mouth of the furnace, that he might look in, and stand and view its fierce raging flames, and might see where he was going, and might voluntarily enter into it and bear it for sinners, as knowing what it was."
Second, i was challenged to rethink what I had assumed about the subject of Jesus earnest request. What was Jesus praying for when "he prayed more earnestly." I have always assumed that he was praying the same request He made earlier, "remove this cup from Me (vs.42)." Edwards argues against this assumption based on vs. 43 where an angel comes to strengthen Him and it seems to assure Him this drinking the cup really is the will of the Father. Thus, Jesus praying more earnestly after this (vs. 44) was not a struggle within whether or not He had to drink the cup but something else. Edwards mentions that we can't know for sure, but he suggests he was praying for the Father's will to be done and that He would not fail to carry out that will but endure the cross and despise the shame.
Interesting also to consider Hebrews 5:7 on this point: In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence.
I;m not going to summarize the whole sermon here, but I want to mention two points in particular that challenged me:
First, Edwards argues that the reason Christ's agony was so severe was that He knew perfectly well the suffering He was about to face. Edwards uses the image of a furnace to represent Christ's sufferings, "God first brought him and set him at the mouth of the furnace, that he might look in, and stand and view its fierce raging flames, and might see where he was going, and might voluntarily enter into it and bear it for sinners, as knowing what it was."
Second, i was challenged to rethink what I had assumed about the subject of Jesus earnest request. What was Jesus praying for when "he prayed more earnestly." I have always assumed that he was praying the same request He made earlier, "remove this cup from Me (vs.42)." Edwards argues against this assumption based on vs. 43 where an angel comes to strengthen Him and it seems to assure Him this drinking the cup really is the will of the Father. Thus, Jesus praying more earnestly after this (vs. 44) was not a struggle within whether or not He had to drink the cup but something else. Edwards mentions that we can't know for sure, but he suggests he was praying for the Father's will to be done and that He would not fail to carry out that will but endure the cross and despise the shame.
Interesting also to consider Hebrews 5:7 on this point: In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews