This blog explores both historical and current events guided by the thought of the leading thinkers, past and present, of this school or movement of theology. Refer to the Classic Posts, Great and Contemporary Thinkers, various links of all kinds, in addition to the Archives themselves. David is the founder and manager of this website, but many friends contribute to it on a regular basis.
Jonathan Edwards was the son of a preacher, Timothy Edwards, whose grandfather was a preacher in Wales. His maternal grandfather was also a preacher, Solomon Stoddard. His father-in-law, James Pierrpont, was a preacher as well as the founder of Yale. His lineage is distinguished, except for one descendant, Don Kistler, who founded Soli Deo Gloria Publications.
Jonathan Edwards was born in what is now East Windsor, Conn. on October 5, 1703. While the average adult male in the mid-1700s was only five-feet tall, Jonathan stood nearly a foot taller, as did his ten sisters. He would often refer lovingly to his “sixty feet of sisters.” Edwards studied at home under his father, and he was tutored in Latin and Greek by his sisters when his father was away. It was quite normal for ministers to augment their stipends by teaching school at their homes. At the age of thirteen, Jonathan entered the young school that was originally called The Collegiate School of Connecticut, which was later renamed Yale College, after Elihu Yale, a generous benefactor.
Edwards did much of his schoolwork at Wethersfield under the tutelage of a relative. Yale was traumatized by some of its faculty members joining the Church of England; they left to found King’s College, which would later become Columbia College in New York. Upon graduation, Jonathan was the valedictorian.
After graduating, Edwards spent 6–9 months filling the pulpit in Trinity Church, a small Presbyterian church in New York City at the corner of Broadway and Wall streets. He then returned to Yale for post-graduate study. In 1726, Jonathan Edwards was appointed assistant to his grandfather Solomon Stoddard, who was now in his mid-eighties, but still preaching every Sunday at the church in Northampton. It was part of Jonathan’s duties to preach every other Sunday. Stoddard died in 1728, and Edwards was appointed his successor. To give an idea of the shadow Stoddard cast, the entire front page of the Boston newspaper was given to the report of his death. When Edwards himself died thirty years later, it received only 2 lines on the back page.
In 1731 his first published sermon appeared, “God Glorified in the Work of Redemption by the Greatness of Man’s Dependence Upon Him in the Whole of It,” which was a sermon preached to ministers in Boston. This was significant, as it was the first time a non-Harvard graduate had been so invited to publish a sermon. In 1734, “A Divine and Supernatural Light” was published. The Great Awakening took place in 1734–1735, and it was followed by another in 1740. “The Religious Affections” was published in 1746.
The church at Northampton dismissed Edwards in 1750 by a vote of 230–23. And yet for six months they hired him week after week to fill their empty pulpit. It was several years before they could find another pastor, however. Who would want to take that position after twenty-seven years of Jonathan Edwards’ preaching? He was invited to move to Scotland, where he had many friends and admirers. But he was afraid of possible rejection by another congregation, especially so far from home. He did accept the pastorate of a small group of English families in Stockbridge, and he served as a missionary to the Indians there. It was in Stockbridge that he wrote so many of his best works: “The Freedom of the Will,” “Treatise on Original Sin,” and several others.
In 1757 his son-in-law, Aaron Burr, the president of the College of New Jersey (later to become Princeton), died of a fever. Within two days the trustees had elected Edwards to succeed him. He accepted with great reluctance, submitting to the counsel of close friends.
On February 23, 1758, he took a smallpox vaccination and subsequently caught the disease from it. He died on March 22 and was buried in the president’s area of the cemetery on Witherspoon Street. His works and his legend live on, and they will do so as long as there are people who appreciate Edwards’ commitment to the glory of God.
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Jonathan Edwards was the son of a preacher, Timothy Edwards, whose grandfather was a preacher in Wales. His maternal grandfather was also a preacher, Solomon Stoddard. His father-in-law, James Pierrpont, was a preacher as well as the founder of Yale. His lineage is distinguished, except for one descendant, Don Kistler, who founded Soli Deo Gloria Publications.
Jonathan Edwards was born in what is now East Windsor, Conn. on October 5, 1703. While the average adult male in the mid-1700s was only five-feet tall, Jonathan stood nearly a foot taller, as did his ten sisters. He would often refer lovingly to his “sixty feet of sisters.” Edwards studied at home under his father, and he was tutored in Latin and Greek by his sisters when his father was away. It was quite normal for ministers to augment their stipends by teaching school at their homes. At the age of thirteen, Jonathan entered the young school that was originally called The Collegiate School of Connecticut, which was later renamed Yale College, after Elihu Yale, a generous benefactor.
Edwards did much of his schoolwork at Wethersfield under the tutelage of a relative. Yale was traumatized by some of its faculty members joining the Church of England; they left to found King’s College, which would later become Columbia College in New York. Upon graduation, Jonathan was the valedictorian.
After graduating, Edwards spent 6–9 months filling the pulpit in Trinity Church, a small Presbyterian church in New York City at the corner of Broadway and Wall streets. He then returned to Yale for post-graduate study. In 1726, Jonathan Edwards was appointed assistant to his grandfather Solomon Stoddard, who was now in his mid-eighties, but still preaching every Sunday at the church in Northampton. It was part of Jonathan’s duties to preach every other Sunday.
Stoddard died in 1728, and Edwards was appointed his successor. To give an idea of the shadow Stoddard cast, the entire front page of the Boston newspaper was given to the report of his death. When Edwards himself died thirty years later, it received only 2 lines on the back page.
In 1731 his first published sermon appeared, “God Glorified in the Work of Redemption by the Greatness of Man’s Dependence Upon Him in the Whole of It,” which was a sermon preached to ministers in Boston. This was significant, as it was the first time a non-Harvard graduate had been so invited to publish a sermon.
In 1734, “A Divine and Supernatural Light” was published. The Great Awakening took place in 1734–1735, and it was followed by another in 1740. “The Religious Affections” was published in 1746.
The church at Northampton dismissed Edwards in 1750 by a vote of 230–23. And yet for six months they hired him week after week to fill their empty pulpit. It was several years before they could find another pastor, however. Who would want to take that position after twenty-seven years of Jonathan Edwards’ preaching?
He was invited to move to Scotland, where he had many friends and admirers. But he was afraid of possible rejection by another congregation, especially so far from home. He did accept the pastorate of a small group of English families in Stockbridge, and he served as a missionary to the Indians there. It was in Stockbridge that he wrote so many of his best works: “The Freedom of the Will,” “Treatise on Original Sin,” and several others.
In 1757 his son-in-law, Aaron Burr, the president of the College of New Jersey (later to become Princeton), died of a fever. Within two days the trustees had elected Edwards to succeed him. He accepted with great reluctance, submitting to the counsel of close friends.
On February 23, 1758, he took a smallpox vaccination and subsequently caught the disease from it. He died on March 22 and was buried in the president’s area of the cemetery on Witherspoon Street. His works and his legend live on, and they will do so as long as there are people who appreciate Edwards’ commitment to the glory of God.
should this be: "his lineage is undistinguished"?
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