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A Jonathan Edwards Reader
Providing excerpts from his previously published and unpublished writings, this volume is a collection of selected compositions by one of America's early theologians and philosophers. It is aimed at scholars, students and those interested in early American history and religion.
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First published May 24, 1995
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About the author
Jonathan Edwards
1,611 books527 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 - 16 of 16 reviews
September 4, 2010
A Conversation Between Me and My Cousin Mike, at the Cottage, Several Weekends Ago:
Mike: The Jonathan Edwards Reader?
Me: Oh yeah. That’s mine. I’m reading it.
Mike: That’s not the Jonathan Edwards I’m thinking of, right?
Me: No, no. Not the “I see dead people” guy. No. This guy was born in, like, 1703.
Mike: Oh. I was actually thinking of…that guy that cheated on his wife…the politician.
Me: !
(What might be more interesting than the review I’m about to write is the coffee klatch I’m writing in my head between Jonathan Edwards the eighteenth-century preacher and theologian, John Edward the television personality and “psychic,” and John Edwards the cheating spouse and onetime candidate for the office of U.S. Vice President. But I digress.)
It’s too bad that Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758), preacher, theologian and later, missionary to the Indians, is sufficiently eclipsed in the modern mind to be mistaken for not one, but two other figures. For one thing, he wrote, at the age of 20, a rather remarkable treatise on flying spiders (addressed to Paul Dudley and known today as “The Spider Letter”) in which he demonstrates powers of observation worthy of any scientist…as well as a sermon entitled “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” (preached to a congregation in Enfield, CT, in 1741), in which he argues that the “pleasure of God” is the only thing standing between wicked men and hell. I say, flying spiders on the one hand and fire and brimstone on the other? Yes, that and much more.
Mike: The Jonathan Edwards Reader?
Me: Oh yeah. That’s mine. I’m reading it.
Mike: That’s not the Jonathan Edwards I’m thinking of, right?
Me: No, no. Not the “I see dead people” guy. No. This guy was born in, like, 1703.
Mike: Oh. I was actually thinking of…that guy that cheated on his wife…the politician.
Me: !
(What might be more interesting than the review I’m about to write is the coffee klatch I’m writing in my head between Jonathan Edwards the eighteenth-century preacher and theologian, John Edward the television personality and “psychic,” and John Edwards the cheating spouse and onetime candidate for the office of U.S. Vice President. But I digress.)
It’s too bad that Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758), preacher, theologian and later, missionary to the Indians, is sufficiently eclipsed in the modern mind to be mistaken for not one, but two other figures. For one thing, he wrote, at the age of 20, a rather remarkable treatise on flying spiders (addressed to Paul Dudley and known today as “The Spider Letter”) in which he demonstrates powers of observation worthy of any scientist…as well as a sermon entitled “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” (preached to a congregation in Enfield, CT, in 1741), in which he argues that the “pleasure of God” is the only thing standing between wicked men and hell. I say, flying spiders on the one hand and fire and brimstone on the other? Yes, that and much more.
December 4, 2017
so yes I only started reading this because I had to for my research paper but wow I actually really love Edwards's style of writing. It reminds me of Oscar Wilde kind of. I haven't read all of the works in this book, but based on the several that I have read, it's very insightful and a very good read. not just for Christians. he discusses secular topics as well. but boy is this man pretty amazing and so eloquent with words. definitely recommend.
October 27, 2009
Neither huge nor imposing...they say that Locke, Hobbes, and Montesquieu are the Big Three...
But just wait, somehow I'll get even more lost in Edwards' Spider than in Hobbes' Leviathan.
*EDIT*
Well, I liked the Spider Letter, although I don't *really* get what makes Edwards so happy about spiders drowning in the sea...you'd think there'd be a lot of other examples in creation to write about...
My goodness, Edwards is a brave fellow...jumping right into the Calvinism v. Arminianism battle...I just wish he wouldn't use the word "will" as both a noun and a verb...it gets really confusing.
*EDIT*
...well, kids, they don't call it the Great Awakening for nothing...
I decided to save "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" for the end, just because it sounded so...you know...BIG and LOUD and SCARY.
So I read the Virtue sermon, and I met Happy Edwards..."Virtue is love of beauty and being, and God is beauty and being, so virtue consists in loving God..." Ahhhhh...so nice...In fact, there's a *lot* of Happy Edwards..."The Beauty of the World", "A Divine and Supernatural Light"...and that's the frame of mind that I was in when I opened up the Sinners sermon...
...it's sort of like having a usually good-natured parent who has to give you a tough-love lecture...the "I can't believe you did that! What are you THINKING?! Do you understand the consequences for doing something like that?! ARE YOU LISTENING TO ME?!!!!" The fact that this is his most famous sermon strikes me as a bit unfair, since Edwards doesn't *always* talk about the wrath of God...just like parents aren't *always* lecturing...
I will say, though, that his Sinners sermon is really well-written, lots of strong verbs and quality adjectives thrown in to get his point across. (There's about a million ways to say that sinners will go to hell, and Edwards nails pretty much all of them.) And Edwards is pretty much right in his theology, that God is holy and can't stand sin...sort of the witnessing tactic that you've gotta prove the disease before showing the cure.
But the image of God stomping His omnipotence on sinners and squelching out their blood and guts was sort of scary.
However, I appreciate the fact that Edwards really, really, really didn't want to let people drift into hell.
Main thought: Johnny Ed is no C.S. Lewis, I'll tell ya that. His theology is very bullet-pointed and obviously well-thought-out, but...it seemed a bit repetitive, just like most sermons sort of do. (Is it because listeners have to hear things more often than readers do?) Recommended for theology buffs, but not something I truly enjoyed digging into.
I like the fact that I've now read this more than I actually liked reading this.
But just wait, somehow I'll get even more lost in Edwards' Spider than in Hobbes' Leviathan.
*EDIT*
Well, I liked the Spider Letter, although I don't *really* get what makes Edwards so happy about spiders drowning in the sea...you'd think there'd be a lot of other examples in creation to write about...
My goodness, Edwards is a brave fellow...jumping right into the Calvinism v. Arminianism battle...I just wish he wouldn't use the word "will" as both a noun and a verb...it gets really confusing.
*EDIT*
...well, kids, they don't call it the Great Awakening for nothing...
I decided to save "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" for the end, just because it sounded so...you know...BIG and LOUD and SCARY.
So I read the Virtue sermon, and I met Happy Edwards..."Virtue is love of beauty and being, and God is beauty and being, so virtue consists in loving God..." Ahhhhh...so nice...In fact, there's a *lot* of Happy Edwards..."The Beauty of the World", "A Divine and Supernatural Light"...and that's the frame of mind that I was in when I opened up the Sinners sermon...
...it's sort of like having a usually good-natured parent who has to give you a tough-love lecture...the "I can't believe you did that! What are you THINKING?! Do you understand the consequences for doing something like that?! ARE YOU LISTENING TO ME?!!!!" The fact that this is his most famous sermon strikes me as a bit unfair, since Edwards doesn't *always* talk about the wrath of God...just like parents aren't *always* lecturing...
I will say, though, that his Sinners sermon is really well-written, lots of strong verbs and quality adjectives thrown in to get his point across. (There's about a million ways to say that sinners will go to hell, and Edwards nails pretty much all of them.) And Edwards is pretty much right in his theology, that God is holy and can't stand sin...sort of the witnessing tactic that you've gotta prove the disease before showing the cure.
But the image of God stomping His omnipotence on sinners and squelching out their blood and guts was sort of scary.
However, I appreciate the fact that Edwards really, really, really didn't want to let people drift into hell.
Main thought: Johnny Ed is no C.S. Lewis, I'll tell ya that. His theology is very bullet-pointed and obviously well-thought-out, but...it seemed a bit repetitive, just like most sermons sort of do. (Is it because listeners have to hear things more often than readers do?) Recommended for theology buffs, but not something I truly enjoyed digging into.
I like the fact that I've now read this more than I actually liked reading this.
February 1, 2008
I don't care how unrepresentative it was of his thought - "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" is the crown jewel in this collection.
April 11, 2008
You can see a lot of contemporary America in this 18th century pastor. Except rap.
June 12, 2011
Read as part of an independent study with Jonathan McCune Edwards, 6th great grandson of the author.
March 8, 2016
I gave up. I might try an audio book of his sermons but they were just so dense.
July 21, 2018
Excerpts of many of Edwards writings. This is a good way to get your foot into the door of his writings if you haven't read much or any of him yet. Additionally, it contains many previously unpublished letters from Edwards that were especially interesting.
May 5, 2019
Remarkable wisdom. The writing Grammer is somewhat of a challenge for smooth reading but after a bit becomes smoother. Very powerful and detailed logic.
January 31, 2020
Read several portions of this for class. Didn’t read every single selection. A good collection for Edwards newbies like myself.
April 22, 2020
Good collection.
April 23, 2020
An excellent introductory reader to the works of Edwards.
November 23, 2011
My cleaning lady moved this from its pile yesterday and my bookmark fell out. So I guess I am done reading it now.
Here's a typical curmudgeonly JE quotation. One of his goals was:
"to be very moderate in the use of terms of art. Let it not look as if I was much read, or was conversant with books, or with the learned world..."
Tryin' to keep it real, eh, Edwards?
Here's a typical curmudgeonly JE quotation. One of his goals was:
"to be very moderate in the use of terms of art. Let it not look as if I was much read, or was conversant with books, or with the learned world..."
Tryin' to keep it real, eh, Edwards?
November 28, 2007
Jonathan Edwards was badass.
December 6, 2008
While the book presents a number of interesting essays on Jonathan Edwards (one of America's most important religious figures) I found the book a little lacking...and BORING!
September 30, 2013
Okay overview. Interesting, but suffers the same problems as any text that only gives you snippets of an author's thought.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews