The Works of Jonathan Edwards, Vol. 14: Sermons and Discourses, 1723-1729

by Jonathan Edwards, Kenneth P. Minkema (Editor)

This book presents previously unpublished manuscript sermons from a crucial yet little-known period in Edwards's life: the years between the completion of his Master's degree at Yale College and the death of Solomon Stoddard, his famous grandfather and predecessor at Northampton, Massachusetts. These sermons, comprising the second in a projected series of six sermon volumes, highlight the intellectual and professional development of the young Edwards through his pastorate at Bolton, Connecticut, his Yale tutorship, and his colleagueship at Northampton.

In his introduction, Kenneth P. Minkema weaves together the details of Edwards's emerging career with the concerns expressed in the sermons. He shows how Edwards addressed local and provincial concerns as well as the great theological debates of his day, and how he struggled to work out the implications of his innovative concept of "excellency" and to develop his definition of conversion as a "spiritual light".

From these sermons emerges an unparalleled portrait of a rapidly maturing Edwards seeking to give shape to his theological vision.

Genres: Theology

590 pages, Hardcover

First published January 31, 1997

About the author

Librarian 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.

Reviews

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

These sermons by early America's most famous philosopher-theologian are very easy to read and full of sound doctrine and pointed practical application. The sermon on the reality of everlasting, conscious, physical and spiritual punishment in hell was the most challenging one of all. It is fashionable among evangelicals to argue that hell is being cast out of God's presence for all eternity. While that assertion is true, it is not the whole truth. Edwards reminds us that hell includes conscious torment that will never be mitigated for a single second. Obviously, we do not like to think about this subject owing to how harrowing it is, but we should meditate on it more frequently. Doing so will motivate us to pray for the lost, support evangelism and mission, and encourage us to value Christ's work of redemption more highly.

[Samuel G. Parkison · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is where Edwards hits his strides: in his sermon. It was a joy to wade through these beautiful and enriching homilies this Summer.