A short biography of
Jonathan Edwards
by Richard D. Gelina
Resolved ... Never hence-forward, till I die, to act as
if I were any way my own, but entirely and altogether God's
—Jonathan Edwards, age 19
Historical Background
The American colonies were experiencing a spiritual dearth in the early
years of the 18th century. The commitment to holiness and dedication to
Christ that so characterized the Puritan settlers had relaxed. The people
had become complacent. Morality had dropped at an alarming rate and the
New World had fallen into a spiritual cesspool that, according to some
historians, has been unequaled even in our present times. Iain Murray,
editor of Edinburgh's Banner
of Truth Trust, wrote of this time period in the American colonies
saying, "a vast change was visible in the churches of New England: the
discipline was relaxed, the doctrine was diluted, and the preaching tame
and spiritless" (Banner of Truth Trust, 1987, p. 19).
One reason for the spiritual decline was the "half-way covenant," a
non-voting membership status in a local church that did not require a testimony
of conversion. The members who were part of the half-way covenant were
permitted to partake of the Lord's Supper, but did not have voting rights
in the church. This introduced many non-Christians into the churches and,
eventually, into the ministry (but not necessarily into the faith).
God introduces Edwards
Into this culture of spiritual darkness, God placed Jonathan Edwards who
was to have a strong and lasting impact on the moral climate of this land.
In 1703, Jonathan was born to Timothy and Esther Edwards, who had resisted
the decline in piety that was so rampant in their day.
Timothy Edwards was determined to provide an excellent education in
spiritual matters as well as in the arts and sciences for Jonathan, his
only son out of eleven children. Before Jonathan had reached his teen years,
his father had taught him to read Latin, Greek and Hebrew, and at age 13
he headed off to college at Yale University.
Pursuing his graduate studies at Yale
in 1722, Edwards experienced a life-changing event while reading scripture,
Although he had come to Christ as a young boy, the Lord now impressed on
the 19-year-old young man the absolute necessity of God's grace in overcoming
the sin of man, Edwards realized afresh that his sins were an abomination
to God and resolved to live an upright and holy life. At this time, he
began to write a series of resolutions, dedicating his life to God.
God calls Edwards
In August of 1726, Edwards accepted the call to become the assistant pastor
of his grandfather's church in Northampton, New England. Three years later,
the 26-year-old Edwards became the senior pastor when his grandfather passed
away. As he came to terms with his newfound responsibilities as senior
pastor, Edwards wrote what he saw as the duties of a minister of the Word:
A minister by his office is to be the guide and instructor
of his people. To that end he is to study and search the Scriptures and
to teach the people, not the opinions of men, ...but the mind of Christ.
As he is set to enlighten them, so a part of his duty is to rectify their
mistakes, and, if he sees them out of the way of truth or duty, to be a
voice behind them, saying, "This is the way, walk ye in it."
God reveals His sovereignty to Edwards
Edwards's understanding of his own sinfulness and inability to please God
led him to be a strong champion of the absolute sovereignty of God. This
he did in the face of a growing Arminian influence, which sprang from the
Anglican Church and from the new Episcopalianism. Realizing the desperate
wickedness of his own heart, Edwards could not imagine a way to salvation
apart from the free and sovereign grace of Almighty God. In his personal
diary, Edwards wrote, "I should appear sunk down in my sins below hell
itself; far beyond the sight of everything but the eye of sovereign grace,
that can pierce even down to such a depth."
Within the first decade of his Northampton pastorate, Edwards noticed
"a terrible noise of Arminianism" creeping into society of the church.
Even some of Edwards's relatives called on him to avoid controversy and
refrain from publishing his comments regarding these matters. But Edwards
would accept only those doctrines he found "most harmonious with the Holy
Scriptures." He proclaimed that the "Bible is supreme: everything is subordinate
to the Word of God."
God ignites the Great Awakening
The complete wickedness of man and the absolute sovereignty of God became
a common theme in Edwards's writings and sermons. In December of 1734,
the Spirit of God moved mightily among the members of the Northampton church.
Edwards wrote:
Our public assemblies were beautiful: the congregation was
alive in God's service, everyone earnestly intent of public worship....
The assembly in general was, from time to time, in tears while the word
was preached; some weeping with sorrow and distress, others with joy and
love, others with pity and concern for the souls of their neighbors.
The winter of 1734–1735 witnessed
the conversion of no less than 300 people in Edwards's Northampton church.
Edwards claimed the revival was indicative of God's "approbation of the
doctrine of justification by faith alone." Edwards now began to emphasize
personal holiness and Christian growth in his sermons. The revival at Northampton
had matured and was now being noticed internationally by such eminent men
of God as Isaac Watts and John Wesley. Wesley and others formed a prayer
group of ministers who began to petition God for a "great awakening" of
the people to the things of God. After some time, this prayer group came
to Edwards's attention and he joined these ministers in their daily petitions
to the throne of grace. God heard the prayers of the ministers who had
so sought His will, and He answered their requests by sending a revival
to the English-speaking people of the world. We now know this period as
the "Great Awakening," which began in the late 1730s and lasted through
most of the 1740s.
The volume of conversions during this time exceeds all accounts since the
days of the apostles. God showered his saving grace on multitudes of people
throughout the Americas, England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales. George Whitefield
was one of the principle evangelists carrying the gospel through England
and the American colonies. Eventually Whitefield visited Jonathan Edwards's
Northampton church, where the fires of revival had originally begun. Remembering
and three-day stay at this church, Whitefield later wrote: "Preached this
morning and good Mr. Edwards wept during the whole time of the exercise.
The people were equally affected; and in the afternoon the power increased
yet more. I have not seen four such gracious meetings together since my
arrival."
As the Great Awakening progressed, Edwards was often called to other
churches as a guest speaker. One such church had seemingly missed the moving
of the Holy Spirit that was apparent throughout the colonies. This church
in Enfield appeared to be mired in its old ways, not willing to submit
to the moving of the Spirit. The pastor of the Enfield church, concerned
for the souls of his congregation, asked Edwards to speak at his church,
The sermon that Edwards preached at the Enfield church, "Sinners in the
Hands of an Angry God," is considered the most famous American sermon ever
preached. The Enfield pastor later wrote that the people of his church,
upon hearing Edwards's sermon, were "bowed down with an awful conviction
of their sin and danger." When the sermon was over, the congregation gathered
into groups for prayer, Some of the people were "so affected, and their
bodies so overcome, that they could not go home, but were obliged to stay
all night where they were," Edwards wrote.
God changes Edwards's direction
But the revival eventually came to an end, passions faded and some of the
old ways began to creep back into the people of the Northampton church.
One particular division, caused by a disagreement about the half-way covenant,
became so reproachful that the people of Northampton turned against Edwards,
who had spent most of his life selflessly serving them. This faction finally
succeeded in removing him from the pastorate of their church.
Inspired by David Brainerd, missionary to the American Indians, Edwards
moved to Stockbridge in 1751 to work with the Housatonic and Mohawk Indians.
In spite of increasing health problems in himself and his family, Edwards
preached four sermons every Sunday at Stockbridge—one for the Housatonics,
one for the Mohawks and two for a small white congregation there. During
the week, Edwards educated the people in the Westminster catechism.
Although Edwards had always been a prolific writer, while at Stockbridge
he wrote some of his greatest theological dissertations. In 1752, he wrote
Careful
and Strict Inquiry into the Modern Prevailing Notions of the Freedom of
Will which is supposed to be Essential to Moral Agency. This four-part
series showed how God's sovereignty is compatible with human responsibility.
This work, it is said, is enough to establish Edwards as America's greatest
philosopher-theologian.
God calls Edwards home
In 1758, Edwards's work in Stockbridge
came to a close when he accepted the invitiation to become the president
of the College of New Jersey (now
Princeton).
When he arrived at
Princeton, school officials
advised Edwards to be inoculated for smallpox, a disease that was prevalent
at the time. He was inoculated, but shortly thereafter contracted the disease.
In March 1758, Edwards died in his bed after uttering the words, "Trust
in God, and you need not fear."
David J. Vaughan concluded his biography of Jonathan Edwards with these
words, which I cannot improve upon, so I will close with them as well:
[Edwards] gave everything to God: his mind, his body, and his
soul. He offered himself as a living sacrifice. He resolved to strive in
all ways and at all times to please God. He counted all things as refuse
compared to the excellency of Christ, whom he loved above all others. Not
content to flicker as a candle, he burned as the sun, giving light to all
around him. Fortunately for us, the light continues to shine to this day.
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