JONATHAN EDWARDS (1703-58)

 born East Windsor, Conn. (near Hartford)  father = o Reverend Timothy Edwards  mother = o Esther Stoddard Edwards o daughter of Reverend Solomon Stoddard of Northampton, Mass. . one of the most influential & independent figures of New England religious life . “the Pope of Connecticut Valley”  JE: o w/2 ministers in the family o the only son of 11 children o  JE = heir apparent for Solomon Stoddard  1716: o 13 o admitted to Yale College o graduated in 1720 o 1720-22: stayed on to study theology  strove for self-perfection o never waste a minute o determined to perfect himself o (like Ben Franklin) o Schedule = . rise at 4 AM . study for 13 hours . save time to walk  1727: o married Sarah Pierpont  1729: o Solomon Stoddard died o JE = named successor  24 yrs. in Northampton, Mass. o 1729-53 o harmonious relationship w/town o tended his duties as pastor o raised 11 children o books = @ defining the nature of the true religious experience  PURITAN 1 st Generation: o restore congregation o to their (P1) sense of religious commitment o to change the culture of complacency o from mere believers who understood Christian doctrine (mental) o to Christians who were genuinely moved by the principles of their belief (emotional) . Heart vs. Mind . circumcision of the heart  John Locke: o influence, JE loved to read him o more than comprehend (mental) o but be moved by religious ideas (emotional) . know them experientially . derived from direct experience, 1st hand, empirical . reading word fire vs. being burned by fire  other Edwardian tenets: o faith over works . nothing we can do to warrant salvation o people = motivated entirely by self-love o only God’s grace can alter person from natural state of depravity o true conversion = process . only when achieve full sense of God’s absolute sovereignty & delight in that sovereignty  DELIGHT: o emotional . not merely mental, logical o religious feeling in terms of physical sensation o realizing always that the 2 are quite different o fervor, like a big-tent REVIVAL (revivalism)  SENTIMENT : o Enlightenment ideal o the basic human emotion that links individuals to each other in many ways o empathy  THEMES: o precarious condition of human existence o man = fallen, natural state o man = selfish, materialistic, greedy, lustful o saved only by God’s grace o faith over works o Heart + Mind = “delight” o emotional, not rational understanding of Christian principles  STYLE: o patient o lucid, articulate o vivid description o figurative language . similes, metaphors o biblical allusions, references, quotes

 GREAT AWAKENING: o JE’s spirit of revivalism along eastern seaboard o 1734-49 o period of new religious fervor o accounts of JE & congregation, revivals = printed (PRINTING PRESS) o starts in England . Wesley brothers & George Whitefield o reaction to: . complacency that had set in  go through the motions, lip service  from the mouth, not heart . after Glorious Revolution  which established COE as official church  suppressed other religions (Catholicism, Puritanism) . hearkened back to religious commitment of 1st Generation Puritans . but contrasted to their sober style o individual spiritual experience vs. dogma & doctrine . heart vs. mind o express emotions in order to feel closer to God o intimacy w/God . like the Enlightenment = personal, individual . http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/tserve/eighteen/ekeyinfo/grawaken.htm  FALL of Jonathan Edwards: o pushed the revival too far o named people from the pulpit o revert to old style communion – only those who’ve publically declared themselves to be saved o tired of hysteria o June 22, 1750: voted out . (Columbus)   missionary to Housatonnuck Indians in Stockbridge o wrote treatises on . free will . nature of true virtue  president of College of New Jersey (Princeton) o died 3 months after arrival o smallpox vaccine o PERSONAL NARRATIVE  1739  account of his conversions & religious exefcises  EMOTIONAL o Enlightenment o “affected” & “delight” . = emotionally aroused . not merely rationally understanding (the arguments for Christian faith)  religious exercises: (as a child) o pray 5x per day o talk w/others, likeminded o pray as a group . prayer fort  childhood delight = “mistake it for grace” o false conversion o wore off, lost . returned to sin like a dog to its vomit  sick w/pleurisy o respiratory disorder o inflammation of the cavity that surrounds the lungs . **short-term memory of sick-bed conversions . How true! How human  rebel against ELECTION o “a horrible doctrine to me”  REASON : o “my reason apprehended the justice & reasonableness of it. However, my mind rested in it; & put an end to all those cavils & objections …”  God’s Sovereignty: o absolute o at his discretion, whatever he wants to do = just . redemption/salvation = God’s Grace **  emotional conversion: o 1st = mental, reasonable o 2nd = emotional, “sweet emotional,” “delightful conversion” . “sweet delight in God & divine things” . “enjoy” & “a new sort of affection”  visions: o calm, sweet abstraction of soul from all concerns of this world o sweetly conversing w/Christ o wrapt up in – swallowed up by  religious exercises: (as an adult) o time alone o in nature o meditating on God o singing  GOD in NATURE: o not DEISM o just communing w/God (at play in the fields of the Lord) o emotional reaction to God’s grace & majesty – in His Creation o sees the world differently . (like being in Love) . had “vehement longings of soul after God & Christ” . “in ejaculatory prayer” o heard & felt God in thunder & lightning  this conversion vs. childhood: o different kind of “delights” o “of a more inward, pure, soul-animating, & refreshing nature” o “Those former delights never reached the heart…”  1722/23: o preach in New York o to be a better Christian, to be more holy o Puritan (x10) *** . “to be continually examining myself, and study and contriving for likely ways & means , how I should live holily, w/far greater diligence & earnestness, than ever …” . came at a cost later in life . (“secret corruption & deceit” in his heart)  @ holiness: o more beautiful than any human beauty o “sweet, pleasant, charming, serene, calm” o “The Soul of a True Christian” . = little white flower  fragrant  God = sun, nourishing the flower  (“Chrysanthemums”) . = little child  Mark 10.15  humility, poverty of spirit  HEART + MIND: o Heart = emotion o Mind = contemplation, reason o Together = elation, exultation .  visions o (Counter-Enlightenment)  regrets past (#2)  dedicates self to God: o Jan. 12, 1722/23 o “solemn dedication of myself to God” o “constant rule of my obedience” . BUT I have failed “in answering my obligation”  PURITAN: o “I had great longings for the advancement of Christ’s kingdom in the world.”  The Smith family  1723: o leaving New York & Smiths o Connecticut – Windsor, New Haven  sick 4 months  “diverted in my mind” o from God & things holy o “temporal concerns”  1726: o Northampton, Mass. o “sweet complacency [contentment] in God” o PURITAN: . “The doctrines of God’s absolute sovereignty, & free grace, in showing mercy to whom He would show mercy; & man’s absolute dependence on the operations of God’s Holy Spirit…” . free grace, freely given by God, mercy . faith, not works – faith in Christ (John 3.16)  1737 o Song of Solomon (Canticles) o Christ & Church = lovers o Holy Spirit = “Sanctifier”  regrets past #3 o = self-reflection o appears (to himself) as the greatest sinner in the world . “When I look into my heart, & take view of my wickedness, it looks like an abyss infinitely deeper than hell.” . “my sins appear to me so great” . “I am so much worse” o self-flagellation . if you are that close to God, then sins seem that much worse . amplified, exaggerated, increased . (like a dirty windshield when driving in to the sun)  saved only by God’s free grace o total reliance on grace o nothing we do o not @ works, actions  “enlightened” by Christ  1738/9: o God’s ordering of creation o according to His pleasure ------ ENLIGHTENMENT: o emotional conversion . more than reasonable, logical . need more than appeals to the mind  (Bradford, Pilgrims, early Puritans) . delight, joy, exultation, rapture . wrapped up in, swallowed by God . (like being in love) o Heart + Mind . total, complete conversion . not just heart – doesn’t last (like a high) . both = exultation -- visions o structure = logical, though . organization of argument . not rambling, incoherent, emotional o ends w/enlightenment by Christ . God’s grace . “to learn of him, & to live to him” . Christ = role model  study the Bible (MIND)  take its lessons to heart (HEART)  live by Christ’s model (SYNTHESIS) o  PURITAN: o constant self-reflection o prayers, mediation o create Christ’s kingdom on earth o Scriptures = #1 . quotes or references Bible . had the “greatest delight” in reading them o God’s absolute authority when it comes to our salvation – Election o Election = God’s mercy & justice o Faith, not Works: way of salvation = Christ . total reliance on free grace, God’s mercy o Christ = role model o  SONGS: o Trace Adkins’ “I’m Tryin’” – climbing, stumbling, falling, climbing o Meat Loaf’s “Testify” – get off the floor again o ZBB’s “Knee Deep” – own kind of paradise

On SARAH PIERPONT  she = 13 o married in 4 years . she = 17 . he = 24  already in love w/her  respects her for her faithfulness  can’t win her heart w/trinkets, material goods  won’t get her to do anything wrong, sinful   true love o in a Puritan sort of way o Puritan wooing o “Puritans in Love” (Jackson Browne’s “Lawyers in Love”)

SINNERS in the HANDS of an ANGRY GOD  sermon o delivered in Enfield, Conn. o Sunday, July 8, 1741 o in a level voice o caused listeners to weep, sob, breath heavy  based on Deuteronomy 32.35 o vengeance is mine o their foot shall slide . threatened vengeance on wicked, unbelieving Israelites . God’s chosen people . remained w/o counsel & understanding . notwithstanding God’s efforts & creation & protection to/of them  J. Edwards applies that to PURITANS  God’s chosen people in New World  to those unbelievers in their midst  SINNER: o not necessarily one who commits a crime or breaks 10 Commandments o but “unconverted man” who belongs to hell (John 8.23) o “natural man” . still w/OS, stain of Adam . unregenerate, unsaved . hasn’t taken Christ as Lord & Savior  means of grace: o 10 Commandments o preach the Word o baptism o Eucharist  implications of “their foot shall slide in due time”: o dangerous path, slippery slope o unexpected ruin, w/o warning o own fault – fall b/c of their own fault/deeds, tricks (hoist petard) o God’s time . God in complete control . (like 4 winds in Revelation) . God’s choice, prerogative –  God’s arbitrary will  nothing to do w/us, what we do/don’t do – when HE decides it’s time  truth of God’s will = proven by: o God doesn’t lack the power o they deserve it – God’s justice o already convicted & sentenced (ready for punishment at any time) o God’s wrath = hell’s torture . So that it is not because God is unmindful of their wickedness, and does not resent it, that he does not let loose his hand and cut them off. God is not altogether such an one as themselves, though they may imagine him to be so. (He hasn’t forgotten @ them) . The wrath of God burns against them, their damnation does not slumber; the pit is prepared, the fire is made ready, the furnace is now hot, ready to receive them; the flames do now rage and glow. The glittering sword is whet, and held over them, and the pit hath opened its mouth under them. (hell is ready) o Devil = waiting for them o Hell fire = in sinner’s soul . “hellfire & brimstone” . Sin = destructive, ruin & misery . but God restrains it from bursting forth . otherwise, soul would burn o still damned though healthy now (no security #1) o still damned though take “care to preserve their own lives” (no security #2) . self-protection . wise man dies as the fool (smarts won’t save you)  anti-Enlightenment?? o still damned though schemes (no security #3) . contrivances . flatters himself  over-confidence, hubris o God = under no covenant w/the unrepentant . w/the sinners, natural men, unconverted . Covenant of Grace  w/Christians  who have accepted Christ of Lord & Savior (John 3.16)  salvation through Christ  non-believers = don’t believe in Christ, His covenant   no salvation for them  faith not works o faith o works can be faked (God not fooled by hypocrisy)  Conclusion: o unconverted, natural men o held by God o over fire o they deserve hell o already sentenced to hell o God’s anger toward them o nothing they can do to appease God’s wrath o no contract w/them o devil & hell = waiting o hell fire in their hearts = trying to break out, God restrains o they have no interest in Christ the Mediator o no security, no refuge o “all that preserves them every moment is the mere arbitrary will, and uncovenanted, unobliged forbearance of an incensed God.”

APPLICATION  PURPOSE: o “for awakening unconverted persons in this congregation” o for those “out of Christ”  PUNISHMENT: o hellfire & brimstone o “That world of misery, that lake of burning brimstone, is extended abroad under you. There is the dreadful pit of the glowing flames of the wrath of God; there is hell's wide gaping mouth open…”  nothing saving you BUT grace of God o “you have nothing to stand upon, nor any thing to take hold of; there is nothing between you and hell but the air; it is only the power and mere pleasure of God that holds you up” o God’s restraining hand  Creation doesn’t like you o anything contrary to the intended purpose . “made for men to serve God with”  no security: o health o care & prudence o best contrivances, schemes  wrath of God = dammed waters  SINNERS: o “all you that were never born again, and made new creatures, and raised from being dead in sin, to a state of new, and before altogether unexperienced light and life, are in the hands of an angry God”  FAITH vs. WORKS: o hypocrites o “However you may have reformed your life in many things, and may have had religious affections, and may keep up a form of religion in your families and closets, and in the house of God”  unrepentant at church – in the audience  description: o “O sinner! Consider the fearful danger you are in: it is a great furnace of wrath, a wide and bottomless pit, full of the fire of wrath, that you are held over in the hand of that God, whose wrath is provoked and incensed as much against you, as against many of the damned in hell. You hang by a slender thread, with the flames of divine wrath flashing about it, and ready every moment to singe it, and burn it asunder; and you have no interest in any Mediator, and nothing to lay hold of to save yourself, nothing to keep off the flames of wrath, nothing of your own, nothing that you ever have done, nothing that you can do, to induce God to spare you one moment.”  About God’s Wrath: o infinite – . worse than the worst tyrant (“absolute monarch”) o fierce – . no mercy, no quarter, no ½ measures, no compassion …when he strikes . He’ll only “laugh & mock” your fear & begging later o illustrative – . He’ll use His wrath as an example . to angels, Christ, those in heaven o everlasting – . eternal  here today o in this church, right now, next to you . don’t know who they are . (election??) o *** effective preaching tool : *** . “How dreadful is the state of those that are daily and hourly in the danger of this great wrath and infinite misery! But this is the dismal case of every soul in this congregation that has not been born again, however moral and strict, sober and religious, they may otherwise be. Oh that you would consider it, whether you be young or old! There is reason to think, that there are many in this congregation now hearing this discourse, that will actually be the subjects of this very misery to all eternity. We know not who they are, or in what seats they sit, or what thoughts they now have. It may be they are now at ease, and hear all these things without much disturbance, and are now flattering themselves that they are not the persons, promising themselves that they shall escape.” o remember this discourse in hell o some of you will be in hell soon – before the year’s out, today, sooner!!  opportunity: o repent today o come to Christ o “awake!”  Infomercial: o Everybody’s doing it, near & far o Don’t delay – act now . (Columbus, Cortez)  directly addresses: o men o young men & women o children  ENLIGHTENMENT?? o “hardness of heart & blindness of mind” o emotional & rational ignoring of God’s merciful opportunity  Matthew 3.10 o every tree that does not bear good fruit will be hewn down & cast into the fire o ax = ready to fall  Sodom : o Fly out of Sodom = personal, spiritual place, not geographical o Sodom = unconverted, unrepentant, unsaved (natural) state of existence . MBC as New Sodom, w/ENLIGHTENMENT idea??

------ Enlightenment: o anti-Enlightenment?? . wisdom, smarts won’t save the unconverted . MBC as New Sodom? o anti-absolute monarchs  God = in total control: o God’s restraining hand o God’s holding up the sinner over hell hole o God controls the Devil, devil has to wait until God turns sinners over to him  PURITAN: o God’s grace o God’s free, arbitrary will o faith vs. works o God’s justice o God’s mercy o Puritans = Israelites of the New World o God & covenants . Covenant of Grace  AUDIENCE: o “sinners” – unconverted, natural o complacent Christians – those luke-warm . already know Christian dogma, doctrine . but don’t yet feel it . in the congregation today  PURPOSE: o to convert sinners o to awaken complacent Christians . to make a personal commitment to God  FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE: o Similes & Metaphors o to compare to unlike things o to bring abstraction down to concrete level o to make it more personal . Edwards wants to reach people on a personal level, emotionally . So he uses items from everyday life to compare to Hell, torment, punishment, wrath/destruction  TONE: o writer’s attitude toward his subject & audience o Edwards is even-keel in delivery (we’re told) o BUT o he’s desperate in his attempt to reach people on emotional level o seems like he truly wants to save their souls o genuine, sincerely cares  RHETORICAL TRIANGLE: o Logos: . logic of test . proof . structure o Ethos: . credibility of writer . appeals to proof o Pathos: . emotions in the audience . emotional appeals  SERMON: o meant to be spoken & heard o vs. o meant to be written & read . polysyndeton (ands) . anaphora (repetitions) . “Oh sinners!” . directly addresses the congregation – you men, women, children  PERSUASION: o Claim (thesis, argument) o Grounds (proof, evidence) o Warrant (credible, relevant) . success of persuasion?   IMAGERY: o vivid description that evokes mental image o Descriptions of Hell, Brimstone (sulfur) o

 QUESTIONS: o How does FEAR motivate you? . to do good, what you should . most powerful motivator  cancer, speeding ticket, DUI, caught cheating, failure, pregnancy, STD,… o How do you shake off complacency? . coach, teachers o Which is more effective – appeals to your brain (logic) or heart (emotion)? o Find similes & metaphors AND what they do for the text. o What is his argument & what is his proof to support that argument?