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Jonathan Edwards: Basic Writings
Edwards, Jonathan. Basic Writings. Selected, Edited and with a Foreword by Ola Elizabeth Winslow. New York, New American Library, 1966. 10.5 x 18cm. 255 pages. Original softcover. Excellent condition with only minor signs of external wear and some age darkening. Pencilled price marking on front jacket. From the library of swiss - american - irish poet Chuck Kruger. [A Signet Classic, No. CT 297]. Jonathan Edwards was an American revivalist preacher, philosopher, and Congregationalist Protestant theologian. Like most of the Puritans, he held to the Reformed theology. Edwards is widely regarded as one of America's most important and original philosophical theologians. 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. Edwards played a critical role in shaping the First Great Awakening, and oversaw some of the first revivals in 1733–35 at his church in Northampton, Massachusetts
255 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published June 1, 1966
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About the author
Jonathan Edwards
1,622 books532 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 - 6 of 6 reviews
May 10, 2018
I read this book as a result of studying church history for presentation in our Sunday School Class. Jonathan Edwards is arguably considered the greatest North American theologian. He spoke and wrote during the period known as the “Great Awakening.” So it interested me to read what he had to say.
This book containing writings selected, edited and with forward by Ola Elizabeth Winslow was very informative to me. Perhaps Edwards’ most read sermon was “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”. However, the “fire and brimstone” oration was somewhat out of character for the Calvinist preacher who generally spoke more of the grace and love of God. In the forward the editor says this:
“Characteristically, as he stood before his people on Sunday morning, he chose a positive theme: the glory of salvation, the peace that Christ gives, the reality of spiritual light, comfort in the thought of heaven, the gentleness of Jesus, the duties of Christians. Characteristically also, he spoke quietly, using no gestures, holding the tiny sermon booklet in his left hand and occasionally speaking extemporaneously, by way if illustrations or enlargement, as he read what he had written.”
Then in reading his other writings I found that he was much more than a preacher and biblical commentator. Edwards was a learned man; he entered Yale at the age of 13. He was a philosopher and made comments on the positions of John Locke and Isaac Newton among others. His “The Mind” showed the impact of Locke’s psychology and Newton’s physics upon him. His “Personal Narrative” gave insight into his own life and relationships to God and his fellow man. He was indeed a godly man who in all indications lived for Christ. This excerpt from his “Personal Narrative” shows his in intensions but it also suggests a hint of legalism when he uses the term, “rules of the gospel”:
“Pure and humble, holy and heavenly, Christianity appeared exceedingly amiable to me. I felt a burning desire to be, in everything, a complete Christian; and, conformed to the blessed image of Christ; and that I might live, in all things, according to the pure, sweet and blessed rules of the gospel.”
In Edwards’ “Farewell Sermon” on the occasion of his dismissal from his parish due to differences with the church council in Northampton he “did not show a spirit of recrimination for his courage in conviction, and his unqualified sense of right on his side” (editor’s comment). However, I saw much of works righteousness in his words spoken to the congregation and church leaders.
Finally, in Edwards’ “Treatise Concerning Religious Affections” he, centuries before it has emerged as a popular seminary study, speaks in terms of “Spiritual Formation”. Here is an example from his writing in the treatise:
“God has endued the soul with two principal faculties: The one, that by which it is capable of perception and speculation, of by which it discerns, and judges of things; which is called the understanding. The other, that by which the soul is some way inclined with respect to the things it views or considers: or it is the faculty by which the soul beholds things—not as liking or disliking, pleased of displeased, approving or rejecting. This faculty is called by various names: it is sometimes called the inclination; and, as it respects the actions determined and governed by it, the will: and the mind, with regard to the exercises of this faculty, is often called heart.”
This was an interesting read. However, one must have a mind toward deep theological elements to reap enjoyment from the book.
This book containing writings selected, edited and with forward by Ola Elizabeth Winslow was very informative to me. Perhaps Edwards’ most read sermon was “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”. However, the “fire and brimstone” oration was somewhat out of character for the Calvinist preacher who generally spoke more of the grace and love of God. In the forward the editor says this:
“Characteristically, as he stood before his people on Sunday morning, he chose a positive theme: the glory of salvation, the peace that Christ gives, the reality of spiritual light, comfort in the thought of heaven, the gentleness of Jesus, the duties of Christians. Characteristically also, he spoke quietly, using no gestures, holding the tiny sermon booklet in his left hand and occasionally speaking extemporaneously, by way if illustrations or enlargement, as he read what he had written.”
Then in reading his other writings I found that he was much more than a preacher and biblical commentator. Edwards was a learned man; he entered Yale at the age of 13. He was a philosopher and made comments on the positions of John Locke and Isaac Newton among others. His “The Mind” showed the impact of Locke’s psychology and Newton’s physics upon him. His “Personal Narrative” gave insight into his own life and relationships to God and his fellow man. He was indeed a godly man who in all indications lived for Christ. This excerpt from his “Personal Narrative” shows his in intensions but it also suggests a hint of legalism when he uses the term, “rules of the gospel”:
“Pure and humble, holy and heavenly, Christianity appeared exceedingly amiable to me. I felt a burning desire to be, in everything, a complete Christian; and, conformed to the blessed image of Christ; and that I might live, in all things, according to the pure, sweet and blessed rules of the gospel.”
In Edwards’ “Farewell Sermon” on the occasion of his dismissal from his parish due to differences with the church council in Northampton he “did not show a spirit of recrimination for his courage in conviction, and his unqualified sense of right on his side” (editor’s comment). However, I saw much of works righteousness in his words spoken to the congregation and church leaders.
Finally, in Edwards’ “Treatise Concerning Religious Affections” he, centuries before it has emerged as a popular seminary study, speaks in terms of “Spiritual Formation”. Here is an example from his writing in the treatise:
“God has endued the soul with two principal faculties: The one, that by which it is capable of perception and speculation, of by which it discerns, and judges of things; which is called the understanding. The other, that by which the soul is some way inclined with respect to the things it views or considers: or it is the faculty by which the soul beholds things—not as liking or disliking, pleased of displeased, approving or rejecting. This faculty is called by various names: it is sometimes called the inclination; and, as it respects the actions determined and governed by it, the will: and the mind, with regard to the exercises of this faculty, is often called heart.”
This was an interesting read. However, one must have a mind toward deep theological elements to reap enjoyment from the book.
December 28, 2021
Very interesting book by an early American religious thinker. "The immense magnificence of the visible world in inconceivable vastness, the incomprehensible height of the heavens, etc., is but a type of the infinite magnificence, height and glory of God's work in the spiritual world."
"That mixture we call white is a proportionate mixture that is harmonious, as Sir Isaac Newton has shown, to each particular simple colour, and contains in some harmony or other that is delightfull. And each sort of rays play a distinct tune to the soul, besides those lovely mixtures that are found in nature. Those beauties, how lovely is the green of the face of the earth in all manner of colours, in flowers, the colour of the skies, and lovely tinctures of the morning and evening." An 18th century New England minister foreshadowing the natural pietism of Thoreau...
"That mixture we call white is a proportionate mixture that is harmonious, as Sir Isaac Newton has shown, to each particular simple colour, and contains in some harmony or other that is delightfull. And each sort of rays play a distinct tune to the soul, besides those lovely mixtures that are found in nature. Those beauties, how lovely is the green of the face of the earth in all manner of colours, in flowers, the colour of the skies, and lovely tinctures of the morning and evening." An 18th century New England minister foreshadowing the natural pietism of Thoreau...
February 5, 2026
By no means comprehensive, but a refreshing taste of Edwards’ thought.
January 18, 2016
This little book contains some of the more interesting writings by Jonathan Edwards. Probably his most famous, and powerful sermons, "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" is included in the book. But it also includes writings that explore a side to Jonathan Edwards that few know - his love of natural history. One of the more interesting chapters is entitled "Of Insects." I especially liked his treatise on spiders and their webs.
November 15, 2008
One of those books that you just read and re-read because of it's rich, soothing, and complex beauty.
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February 21, 2019If you enjoy looking through people's old scrapbooks and browsing their libraries, this is a compilation of Edward's writings that is similar. It includes his childhood musings on butterflies and rainbows, journal entries, personal testimonies of events, and a few sermons. It's a rather odd collection and I dont know how I feel about it as a whole, so I won't rate it.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews