DOCSLIB.ORG

Jonathan Edwards, Pastor: Minister and Congregation in the Eighteenth-Century Connecticut Valley

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Jonathan Edwards, Pastor: Minister and Congregation in the Eighteenth-Century Connecticut Valley University of Massachusetts Amherst ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst Doctoral Dissertations 1896 - February 2014 1-1-1977 Jonathan Edwards, pastor: minister and congregation in the eighteenth-century Connecticut Valley. Patricia J. Tracy University of Massachusetts Amherst Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations_1 Recommended Citation Tracy, Patricia J., "Jonathan Edwards, pastor: minister and congregation in the eighteenth-century Connecticut Valley." (1977). Doctoral Dissertations 1896 - February 2014. 1358. https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations_1/1358 This Open Access Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctoral Dissertations 1896 - February 2014 by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. For more information, please contact [email protected]. JONATHAN EDWARDS, PASTOR: MINISTER AND CONGREGATION IN THE EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY CONNECTICUT VALLEY A Dissertation Presented by PATRICIA JUNEAU TRACY Submitted to the Graduate School of the University of Massachusetts in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY August 1977 History JONATHAN EDWARDS, PASTOR: MINISTER AND CONGREGATION IN THE EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY CONNECTICUT VALLEY A Dissertation Presented by PATRICIA JUNEAU TRACY Approved as to style and content by: Stephen Nissenbaum, Chairperson of Committee Gerald McFarland, Chairman Department of History i v ABSTRACT Jonathan Edwards, Pastor: Minister and Congregation in the Eighteenth-Century Connecticut Valley (September, 1977) Patricia Juneau Tracy, A.B., Smith College M.A., Ph.D., University of Massachusetts Directed by: Professor Stephen Nissenbaum Although renowned as a theologian, Jonathan Edwards was nevertheless a failure in the most essential task of the mini stry--persuading his congregation to share his vision. That failure illuminates the social history of the man, the community he served, and the problems of many eighteenth-century New England clergymen. Edwards was ill prepared for pastoral responsibilities by his training in philosophy and by the example of his father's vain life-long struggle for ministerial power. Succeeding his eminent grandfather in the Northampton pulpit, Edwards disciplin- found that Solomon Stoddard's reputation as an evangelist and especially arian made his own achievement of success more difficult— the traditional since the social evolution of the community was eroding frontier abundance of role of the church. As Northampton outgrew its abandoned submissi veness to the land, simplicity, and harmony, it also decay were rebellious will of the minister. Symbolic of social To restore piety and adolescents, who became Edwards' special concern. in the early 1730s preached old-fashioned communitarian behavior, Edwards V to the "young people" about the practical benefits of holiness. Even more successful were the 1734-1735 sermons on "justification by faith alone," which offered salvation as an escape from temporal dilemmas. For a brief period Edwards met the psychological needs of his flock and they met his, but the revivals of 1735 and 1741 did not provide Edwards with a permanent satisfactory role in the community. He fought declension with a new emphasis on behavior over emotion as the criterion for conversion. Unable any longer to lead the town through charisma, after 1742 Edwards battled his congregation for power—over money, discipline, and church admissions. By 1750 the community clearly rejected the central role for church and minister which was demanded by Edwards' vision of holiness, and he was forced to leave Northampton. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS ESS! Prologue vii PART ONE: PREPARATIONS I. Jonathan Edwards: Preparation for the Ministry, 1703-1729 ... 1 II. Solomon Stoddard: A Frontier Ministry, 1669-1729 21 III. Northampton: The Rising Generation, 1700-1740 43 PART TWO: ACHIEVEMENT AND FRUSTRATION IV. Pastoral Strategies and Success, 1730-1735 79 V. Surprising Conversions, 1735 98 VI. Re-Awakening and Reassessment, 1736-1746 117 VII. Challenges, 1743-1749 145 VIII. The Failure of the Northampton Pastorate, 1749-1750 170 Notes 195 Appendices: I. Demographic Measurements 263 II. Measuring Wealth 267 III. Measuring Political Power 274 Maps: A. Northampton in the Connecticut Valley 278 B. The Western Massachusetts Frontier 278 C. Northampton 1654-1750s 279 Selected Bibliography 281 Vll PROLOGUE Shortly after Jonathan Edwards arrived in Northampton, Solomon Stoddard wrote the name of his grandson and colleague in the list of church members as, simply, "Jonathan Edwards." When Stoddard died two year later, Edwards added the word "Pastor" next to his own name. Stoddard's shaky hand reflected his eighty-three years, and his inscription of the name without a specific category of membership was a symbol of what he had accomplished in almost six decades as a minister. Edwards was twenty-five when he wrote "Pastor," his hand was vigorous and assertive, and the word that he inscribed symbolized all that he hoped to be— and all that he would fail to become. Edwards seems more interesting to me for his failure as a pastor than for his success as a philosopher— in part, because the philosopher has already been studied so extensively. At least since Van Wyck "low- Brooks' influential essay on "highbrow" (intellectual) Edwards and Coming of Age brow" (pragmatic) Ben Franklin was published in America's : "practical" life as in 1915, historians have tended to dismiss Edwards reminiscent unimportant and dull. That stance, however, is uncomfortably faculties must rule the of Charles Chauncy's position that the "higher" rejected. In his full- "lower" ones, a position that Edwards himself absorbed was [Edwards] in length biography, Perry Miller wrote that "so said that his external this interior logic that it may truthfully be subjective. 1,1 But that is biography was virtually an adjunct to his and professional problems faced only part of the truth, for the practical of his theology. We can follow by Edwards were the building materials vin the "external" biography in the "subjective," as well as vice versa. Jonathan Edwards was a pastor--not just a professional "thinker" but a man whose vocation was to persuade others to share his own vision of divine glory and justice. How he conceptualized that spiritual insight is not more interesting than how he communicated it to his congregation, or how he failed to do so. The pastoral aspect of Edwards' ministerial career raises questions unanswered by the traditional analyses of his systematic theology. Why were his congregation "awakened" when he preached on "Justification by Faith Alone"? What is the significance of his special concern with the "young people" and his particular following among them? Why did his congregation approve his doctrines during the Great Awakening but refuse to do so just a few years later? These questions, moreover, reflect more than the particular circumstances of one life: they illuminate the eighteenth-century evolution of the relation between a minister and his Jonathan flock in the Congregational churches of New England. When serve as a lens through Edwards is seen as a pastor , his career can Winslow's which to examine the society in which he lived. Ola Elizabeth portrait. 2 excellent biography of Edwards began the task of a rounded in large part This dissertation aims to make it even rounder, and it is offered by recent commun- an attempt to synthesize a wide range of clues explorations of the history of ity studies, demographic analyses, and childhood in western society. the community context of the ministry Ity preoccupation with the social changes in New England in reflects a fundamental interest in century, which is still a "glacial age" the first half of the eighteenth I to historians. I had at first intended to write another "little commun- ity" study using Northampton as an example of a frontier town evolving into a commercial center. Something of that preliminary ambition remains evident in the present work, although much of the quantitative information has been left out because the numbers just did not answer most of the questions that seemed important. In my search for help in interpreting the numbers, I sought contemporary evaluations of life in eighteenth-century Northampton. Few letters and diaries from the com- munity survive, and so I turned to a source whose obvious biases had once rendered it unreliable in my eyes. In Jonathan Edwards' Faithful Narrative of the Surprising Work of God I found traces of the direction of change in the community, and the perceptions of the author became objects of interest in themselves. From the Northampton church records and genealogies I was able to identify groups who joined Edwards' church during the revival, and Edwards' own sermons and personal documents provided the other components necessary The minis- for a study of the interplay between leader and followers. Timothy terial careers of Edwards' grandfather Stoddard and his father, further Edwards, provided parallels to Edwards' problems that pushed me ministry in the towards considering broader changes in the role of the enhanced my Connecticut Valley. The insights offered by ego psychology of the understanding of Edwards' personal/professional problems and Northampton and who young people who were his special constituency in communities. I have come to led the Awakening movement in most Valley more complex story of three see the history of Northampton as part of a problems of the clergy generations of ministers, and the professional psychological history of the demographic, economic, and as part of the region. full-scale social fails short of being a While this dissertation eschews pretending to a century, it also Mstory of two colonies over character of Jonathan possible approaches to the synthesize all the many complement to the traditional to serve as a Edwards. It is intended removed from ,ts pursuit of philosophy to others the toerica." I leave of non-theologian's understanding trust that my ,etic gualities, and I of that his congregation suggest the "message" Edwards . doctrines can was, In.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Capper 1998 Phd Karl Barth's Theology Of
    Karl Barth’s Theology of Joy John Mark Capper Selwyn College Submitted for the award of Doctor of Philosophy University of Cambridge April 1998 Karl Barth’s Theology of Joy John Mark Capper, Selwyn College Cambridge, April 1998 Joy is a recurrent theme in the Church Dogmatics of Karl Barth but it is one which is under-explored. In order to ascertain reasons for this lack, the work of six scholars is explored with regard to the theme of joy, employing the useful though limited “motifs” suggested by Hunsinger. That the revelation of God has a trinitarian framework, as demonstrated by Barth in CD I, and that God as Trinity is joyful, helps to explain Barth’s understanding of theology as a “joyful science”. By close attention to Barth’s treatment of the perfections of God (CD II.1), the link which Barth makes with glory and eternity is explored, noting the far-reaching sweep which joy is allowed by contrast with the related theme of beauty. Divine joy is discerned as the response to glory in the inner life of the Trinity, and as such is the quality of God being truly Godself. Joy is seen to be “more than a perfection” and is basic to God’s self-revelation and human response. A dialogue with Jonathan Edwards challenges Barth’s restricted use of beauty in his theology, and highlights the innovation Barth makes by including election in his doctrine of God. In the context of Barth’s anthropology, paying close attention to his treatment of “being in encounter” (CD III.2), there is an examination of the significance of gladness as the response to divine glory in the life of humanity, and as the crowning of full and free humanness.
    [Show full text]
  • P E E L C H R Is T Ian It Y , Is L a M , an D O R Isa R E Lig Io N
    PEEL | CHRISTIANITY, ISLAM, AND ORISA RELIGION Luminos is the open access monograph publishing program from UC Press. Luminos provides a framework for preserving and rein- vigorating monograph publishing for the future and increases the reach and visibility of important scholarly work. Titles published in the UC Press Luminos model are published with the same high standards for selection, peer review, production, and marketing as those in our traditional program. www.luminosoa.org Christianity, Islam, and Orisa Religion THE ANTHROPOLOGY OF CHRISTIANITY Edited by Joel Robbins 1. Christian Moderns: Freedom and Fetish in the Mission Encounter, by Webb Keane 2. A Problem of Presence: Beyond Scripture in an African Church, by Matthew Engelke 3. Reason to Believe: Cultural Agency in Latin American Evangelicalism, by David Smilde 4. Chanting Down the New Jerusalem: Calypso, Christianity, and Capitalism in the Caribbean, by Francio Guadeloupe 5. In God’s Image: The Metaculture of Fijian Christianity, by Matt Tomlinson 6. Converting Words: Maya in the Age of the Cross, by William F. Hanks 7. City of God: Christian Citizenship in Postwar Guatemala, by Kevin O’Neill 8. Death in a Church of Life: Moral Passion during Botswana’s Time of AIDS, by Frederick Klaits 9. Eastern Christians in Anthropological Perspective, edited by Chris Hann and Hermann Goltz 10. Studying Global Pentecostalism: Theories and Methods, by Allan Anderson, Michael Bergunder, Andre Droogers, and Cornelis van der Laan 11. Holy Hustlers, Schism, and Prophecy: Apostolic Reformation in Botswana, by Richard Werbner 12. Moral Ambition: Mobilization and Social Outreach in Evangelical Megachurches, by Omri Elisha 13. Spirits of Protestantism: Medicine, Healing, and Liberal Christianity, by Pamela E.
    [Show full text]
  • Eleazar Wheelock and His Native American Scholars, 1740-1800
    W&M ScholarWorks Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects Theses, Dissertations, & Master Projects 1999 Crossing Cultural Chasms: Eleazar Wheelock and His Native American Scholars, 1740-1800 Catherine M. Harper College of William & Mary - Arts & Sciences Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.wm.edu/etd Part of the Indigenous Studies Commons, and the Other Education Commons Recommended Citation Harper, Catherine M., "Crossing Cultural Chasms: Eleazar Wheelock and His Native American Scholars, 1740-1800" (1999). Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects. Paper 1539626224. https://dx.doi.org/doi:10.21220/s2-0w7z-vw34 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses, Dissertations, & Master Projects at W&M ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects by an authorized administrator of W&M ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact [email protected]. CROSSING CULTURAL CHASMS: ELEAZAR WHEELOCK AND HIS NATIVE AMERICAN SCHOLARS, 1740-1800 A Thesis Presented to The Faculty of the Department of History The College of William and Mary in Virginia In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts by Catherine M. Harper 1999 APPROVAL SHEET This thesis is submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Catherine M.|Harper Approved, January 1999: A xw jZ James Axtell James Whittenfmrg Kris Lane, Latin American History TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iv ABSTRACT v INTRODUCTION 2 CHAPTER ONE: THE TEACHER 10 CHAPTER TWO: THE STUDENTS 28 CONCLUSION 51 BIBLIOGRAPHY 63 iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my thanks to Professor James Axtell for his thoughtful criticism and patient guidance through the research and writing stages of this essay.
    [Show full text]
  • Currents in Reformed Theology Vol
    UNION WITH CHRIST Currents in Reformed Theology Vol. 4, No. 1 / April 2018 4, No. Vol. Westminster International Theological Reformed Seminary Evangelical Philadelphia Seminary uniocc.com Vol. 4, No. 1 / April 2018 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF REFORMED THEOLOGY AND LIFE Editorial Board Members Africa Flip Buys, North-West University, Potchefstroom, South Africa Henk Stoker, North-West University, Potchefstroom, South Africa Philip Tachin, National Open University of Nigeria, Lagos, Nigeria Cephas Tushima, ECWA Theological Seminary, Jos, Nigeria Asia In-Sub Ahn, Chong Shin University and Seminary, Seoul, Korea UNION WITH CHRIST Wilson W. Chow, China Graduate School of Theology, Hong Kong Matthew Ebenezer, Presbyterian Theological Seminary, Dehra Dun, India Editorial Committee and Staff Benyamin F. Intan, International Reformed Evangelical Seminary, Jakarta, Indonesia Editor in Chief: Paul Wells Kevin Woongsan Kang, Chongshin Theological Seminary, Seoul, Korea Senior Editors: Peter A. Lillback and Benyamin F. Intan In Whan Kim, Daeshin University, Gyeongsan, Gyeongbuk, Korea Managing Editor: Bernard Aubert Billy Kristanto, International Reformed Evangelical Seminary, Jakarta, Indonesia Book Review Editor: Brandon D. Crowe Jong Yun Lee, Academia Christiana of Korea, Seoul, Korea Subscription Manager: Audy Santoso Sang Gyoo Lee, Kosin University, Busan, Korea Assistant: Lauren Beining Deok Kyo Oh, Ulaanbaatar University, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia Copy Editor: Henry Whitney Moses Wong, China Reformed Theological Seminary, Taipei, Taiwan Typesetter: Janice Van Eck Australia Mission Statement Allan M. Harman, Presbyterian Theological College, Victoria, Australia Peter Hastie, Presbyterian Theological College, Victoria, Australia Unio cum Christo celebrates and encourages the visible union believers possess Mark D. Thompson, Moore Theological College, Newtown, Australia in Christ when they confess the faith of the one holy catholic and apostolic church, the body of Christ.
    [Show full text]
  • Essential Rights and Liberties of Religion in the American Constitutional Experiment John Witte Jr
    Notre Dame Law Review Volume 71 | Issue 3 Article 2 6-1-1999 Essential Rights and Liberties of Religion in the American Constitutional Experiment John Witte Jr. Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarship.law.nd.edu/ndlr Part of the Law Commons Recommended Citation John Witte Jr., Essential Rights and Liberties of Religion in the American Constitutional Experiment, 71 Notre Dame L. Rev. 271 (1996). Available at: http://scholarship.law.nd.edu/ndlr/vol71/iss3/2 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by NDLScholarship. It has been accepted for inclusion in Notre Dame Law Review by an authorized administrator of NDLScholarship. For more information, please contact [email protected]. ARTICLES The Essential Rights and Liberties of Religion in the American Constitutional Experiment John Witte, Jr.* INTRODUCTION ...................................................... 372 I. THE "GENESIS" OF THE AMERcAN EXPERIMENT ................ 376 A. Four Views of Religious Rights and Liberties in the Later Eighteenth Century ........................................ 377 1. Puritan Views ........................................ 378 2. Evangelical Views .................................... 381 3. Enlightenment Views ................................ 383 4. Civic Republican Views .............................. 385 B. The Essential Rights and Liberties of Religion ................ 388 1. Liberty of Conscience ............................... 389 2. Free Exercise ........................................ 394 3. Pluralism ...........................................
    [Show full text]
  • Romans 2 Sermon.Key
    Keeping the Law Romans 2 Presented at the Lighthouse by Garrett O’Hara on 24 January 2014. http://cadencelighthouse.org/ "Always preach in such a way that if the people listening do not come to hate their sin, they will instead hate you." ! ~ Martin Luther This is my first “sermon” as an adult, if you will, so I hope you come away from this thinking the former. LAW Maintains civil order / restrains sin ! Confronts sin; points us to Christ ! Teaches way of righteousness One of the most important points I’ve learned as of late is the distinction between law and gospel. Note that this isn’t OT versus NT. It’s also not just the Pentateuch. In fact, Paul uses the term ‘law’ in various contexts here, but I !want to examine what law means here. !Law does three things, and note that the Reformed and Lutheran versions of this may vary slightly. I’m really giving you the simple version here. Law [read the slide]. When we understand #2, the confrontation of sin and being pointed to Christ, two things happen. One, our faith inevitably produces good works. “I will show you my faith BY my works!” That’s the way of righteousness part. The other thing that happens is we begin to understand more and more how much we need Christ, because the way of righteousness is pretty darn hard, and no man will be justified by the law. In this period of redemptive history, I opine that we will always be bouncing between #2 and #3.
    [Show full text]
  • FEMALE PROPHETIC FIGURES in SHAKESPEARE's PLAYS by ALAN
    “BECOMES A WOMAN BEST”: FEMALE PROPHETIC FIGURES IN SHAKESPEARE’S PLAYS by ALAN MORRIS COCHRUM Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of The University of Texas at Arlington in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT ARLINGTON December 2015 Copyright © by Alan Morris Cochrum 2015 All Rights Reserved ii Acknowledgements I would like to acknowledge the helpfulness and professional dedication of my dissertation committee chair, Dr. Amy Tigner, in shepherding this work to completion. I am also grateful to Dr. Jacqueline Fay and Dr. Kevin Gustafson for their willingness to serve as the other members of my committee, and to Dr. Jim Warren, who along with Dr. Tigner and Dr. Fay served on my comprehensive-exams committee. In addition, I would like to thank Dr. Penny Ingram for her help during the prospectus process. I received a great deal of support over the years from many relatives, friends, and fellow students, for whose encouragement and prayers I am grateful. I would also like to thank my children, Lindsay, Blair, Nathaniel, and Alexander; my parents, Morris and Bonnie Cochrum; and my late mother-in-law, Jimmie Frazier. And, most important, this project could not have been completed without the constant love and support of my wife, Dr. Jennifer Cochrum, DPT. Nov. 9, 2015 iii Abstract “BECOMES A WOMAN BEST”: FEMALE PROPHETIC FIGURES IN SHAKESPEARE’S PLAYS Alan Morris Cochrum, PhD The University of Texas at Arlington, 2015 Supervising Professor: Amy Tigner This dissertation argues that female characters in Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale, Henry VIII, Richard III, Macbeth, and 1 Henry VI function as prophets in the style of the Old Testament.
    [Show full text]
  • By Alan D. Strange
    MJT 14 (2003) 57-97 JONATHAN EDWARDS AND THE COMMUNION CONTROVERSY IN NORTHAMPTON by Alan D. Strange JONATHAN EDWARDS CAME to Northampton, Massachusetts in 1727 to serve as assistant pastor to his renowned maternal grandfather, Solomon Stoddard. He and his grandfather agreed on most things, including what it meant to be a true Christian. Stoddard taught that a saving work of the Holy Spirit was necessary for one to be a true Christian and to be admitted to heaven.1 Edwards agreed with this and taught the same throughout his life.2 Stoddard also taught that whether or not someone had experienced such a saving work of the Holy Spirit was not necessarily discernable by others. Because the saving work of the Holy Spirit remained ultimately undetectable, Stoddard taught that anyone who agreed with the doctrines of Christianity and was moral in life could partake of Holy Communion, whether they professed such a saving work or not.3 Edwards came to disagree with this and argued that 1Many examples of this from Stoddard’s preaching and writing might be adduced. See his Safety of Appearing in the Righteousness of Christ (Northampton: S. & E. Butler, 1804; rpt., Morgan, PA: Soli Deo Gloria, 1995), 161-261, and The Tryal of Assurance (a lecture-day sermon preached by Stoddard in Boston on July 7, 1698, published there by B. Green and J. Allen), 6-7. 2Edwards’s emphasis on the necessity of a saving work of the Holy Spirit is such a pervasive theme that the entirety of his corpus demonstrates his unshakeable conviction of the necessity of “A Divine and Supernatural Light Immediately Imparted to the Soul by the Spirit of God …” as seen in Wilson M.
    [Show full text]
  • An Histokical Study of the Powers and Duties of the Peesidency in Yale College
    1897.] The Prendency at Tale College. 27 AN HISTOKICAL STUDY OF THE POWERS AND DUTIES OF THE PEESIDENCY IN YALE COLLEGE. BY FRANKLIN B. DEXTER. Mr OBJECT in the present paper is to offer a Ijrief histori- cal vieAV of the development of the powers and functions of the presidential office in Yale College, and I desire at the outset to emphasize the statement that I limit myself strictl}' to the domain of historical fact, with no l)earing on current controA'ersies or on theoretical conditions. The corporate existence of the institution now known as Yale University dates from the month of October, 1701, when "A Collegiate School" Avas chartered b}^ the General Assembly of Connecticut. This action was in response to a petition then received, emanating primarily frojn certain Congregational pastors of the Colon}', who had been in frequent consnltation and had b\' a more or less formal act of giving books already taken the precaution to constitute themselves founders of the embiyo institution. Under this Act of Incorporation or Charter, seA'en of the ten Trustees named met a month later, determined on a location for tlie enterprise (at Sa3'brook), and among otlier necessary steps invited one of the eldest of their numl)er, the Reverend Abraham Pierson, a Harvard graduate, " under the title and cliaracter of Kector," to take the care of instrncting and ordering the Collegiate School. The title of "Collegiate School" was avowedly adopted from policy, as less pretentious than that to Avhich the usage at Harvard for sixty years had accustomed them, and tliere- 28 American Antiquarian Society.
    [Show full text]
  • The Relationship of Religion and Consumerism in Eighteenth Century Colonial America
    ABSTRACT Evangelical Jeremiads and Consuming Eves: The Relationship of Religion and Consumerism in Eighteenth Century Colonial America Amanda S. Mylin, M.A. Mentor: Thomas S. Kidd, Ph.D. This thesis examines the commercial world of the American British colonies from the Great Awakening to the American Revolution through the lens of eighteenth century American religious history. It examines evangelical and Quaker responses to the consumer market through published sermons and other religious rhetoric. Colonial ministers discussed the dangers of consumerism through the format of jeremiads, seeing God’s punishment for indulgence in luxury through the turmoil of the eighteenth century. However, revival ministers also used commercial methods to spread the gospel. Additionally, women in particular were a focal point of religious discussion about consumerism. While many historians have focused on the consumer revolution, and many have focused on early American religion, little has been done to unite these threads. This thesis hopes to do that by showing that religious discussion was essential to the American tradition of participating in the marketplace. Evangelical Jeremiads and Consuming Eves: The Relationship of Religion and Consumerism in Eighteenth-Century Colonial America by Amanda S. Mylin, B.A. A Thesis Approved by the Department of History Kimberly R. Kellison, Ph.D., Chairperson Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Baylor University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts Approved by the Thesis Committee Thomas S. Kidd, Ph.D., Chairperson Andrea L. Turpin, Ph.D. Julie Holcomb, Ph.D. Accepted by the Graduate School August 2015 J. Larry Lyon, Ph.D., Dean Page bearing signatures is kept on file in the Graduate School.
    [Show full text]
  • Jonathan Edwards' Life: More Than a Sermon
    Jonathan Edwards 1 Running Head: JONATHAN EDWARDS Jonathan Edwards' Life: More Than a Sermon Matthew Ryan Martin A Senior Thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for graduation in the Honors Program Liberty University Spring 2003 Jonathan Edwards 2 Acceptance of Senior Honors Thesis This Senior Honors Thesis is accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for graduation from the Honors Program of Liberty University. Chairman of Thesis ~~Ha.rVeY man, Th.D. .. Committee Member Branson Woodard Jr., D.A. Committee Member JrJdy,/, ,.IS ndlin, Ph.D. ASSIstant Honors Program Director Jonathan Edwards 3 Abstract Jonathan Edwards, born, (1703-1758), was a great man. He is often known only for a sermon, "Sinners in the Aands of an Angry God." This is unfortunate because followers of Christ should know this man's life. This paper focuses on Jonathan Edwards as a godly family man and on his missiological work. An emphasis is not carefully analyzed by many. The research for this essay originated from the author's desire to know more about Mr. Edwards. The texts studied are The works ofJonathan Edwards, along with many scholarly books and essays. The main modern books used are from Perry Miller and Elizabeth Dodds. All in all, the following research adds clarity and context to Edwards' legacy and to its enduring value to Christians. Jonathan Edwards 4 Jonathan Edwards' Life: More Than a Sermon Introduction Even after growing up in the church as a child, the writer did not discover the name of Jonathan Edwards until the beginning of his high school freshman year.
    [Show full text]
  • Jeremiad Lamentations
    JEREMIAD LAMENTATIONS >, OJ oo QJ co .c .;;:u co .S! :0ro C') m m Assyrian soldiers with battering ram attacking Lachish (2 Kings 18:13-14) The career of the prophet Jeremiah prophet as well as the book that bears his spanned the most turbulent years in the his­ name, let's sketch briefly the main historical tory of Jerusalem and Judah. Called to be a events of Jeremiah's day. prophet in 626 B.C., his last activity of The time of Jeremiah's call coincided which we have knowledge occuned in the with the beginning of the demise of the late 580's. For almost forty years he carried hated Assyrian Empire. For over one hun­ the burdens of Judah's life. But he could dred years the Assyrians had ruled most of not tum the tide that eventually led to the the Near East, including Judah. They had destruction of the state, the holy city of governed with an iron hand and a heal1 of Jerusalem, the sacred Temple, and the cho­ stone. War scenes dominated Assyrian art­ sen dynasty of the Davidic family. towns being captured, exiles being led In order to understand the career of this away, prisoners being impaled on sharp BOOKS OF TIlE BIBLE 86 people's obedience to God and to God's qUESTIONS FOR transformation of the world. Read the DISCUSSION words about the future in Isaiah 65:17-18. 1. Scholars hold the opinion that our pres­ Read Isaiah 55:6-11 and answer the ques­ ent book is actually made up of the work of tions below.
    [Show full text]