The Life & Preaching of Jonathan Edwards

Paul ShirleySubmitted in Partial Fulfillment for D.Min

Historical and Contemporary Models of Expository Preaching (DMN 915)Summer, 2013

Introduction:

The life of Jonathan Edwards is a jewel that continues to be examined from different angles and continues to produce new shades of refracted light. The purpose of this project is not look for new angles or shades of light, but rather to reflect on the light that has already been produced by studying the life of Edwards. Specifically, we will focus on the the major events of Edwards’ life, his major written works, his theological contributions, his pastoral ministry, and finally his pulpit ministry. Special attention will be paid to Edwards’ pulpit.

I. Edwards the Man: His Life

Jonathan Edwards was a product of the times in which he lived. Many of his great works were written in the throws of controversy, and his pastoral ministry was discharged in remarkably human circumstances. His life story is littered with health concerns, discontent congregants, family deaths, and ecclesiastical battles. To understand Edwards one must understand his life and his time. For instance, one cannot fully grasp A Farewell Sermon unless they understand the circumstances surrounding his dismissal from Northampton that led to the Farewell Sermon. Nor can one fully appreciate Religious Affections without understanding the controversy over the Great Awakening between the “Old Lights” and the “New Lights.” The following outline provides a roadmap of Edwards life. Many details have been omitted or left unexplained. The significant markers, however, are present to circumnavigate the life of Edwards.

A. 1703 - October 5: born at East Windsor, Connecticut

B. 1710 - January 9: Sarah Pierpont born at New Haven, Connecticut

C. 1718 - Begins studies in New Haven at newly established Yale College

D. 1719

1. June 24: Writes "Of Insects"

2. Suffers bout of pleurisy during last year of college

E. 1720

1. May: completes baccalaureate degree

2. September: delivers Valedictory Address

3. October: begins graduate studies at Yale

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F. 1722

1. May: completes graduate studies at Yale

2. June 14: returns home from New Haven

3. August 10: begins pastorate in New York City in Presbyterian Church

4. December 18: first dated entry in Resolutions

G. 1723

1. April: pastorate in New York City ends when his church reunited with another congregation they had previously split with.

2. Reassumes position as tutor at Yale

H. 1726

1. August 29: Called by First Church in Northampton to assist Solomon Stoddard (grandfather) in Pastorate

2. September: resigns tutorship at Yale

3. October 26: assumes ministry responsibilities in Northampton

I. 1727

1. February 15: ordained at Northampton as assistant pastor

2. July 28: marries Sarah Pierpont in New Haven

J. 1728 - August 25: daughter Sarah born

K. 1729

1. February 11: Solomon Stoddard dies

2. February: Edwards assumes role as sole pastor

L. 1730

1. April 26: daughter Jerusha born

2. October: first entries in "Blank Bible"

M. 1732 - February 13: daughter Esther born

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N. 1734

1. April 7: daughter Mary born

2. December: revival Begins in Northampton lasting into 1735

O. 1736

1. August 21: sister Lucy dies

2. August 31: daughter Lucy born

P. 1738 - July 25: son Timothy born

Q. 1739 - Spring thru Summer: preaches “History of the Work of Redemption”

R. 1740

1. March: measles epidemic affects Edwards household

2. June 20: daughter Susannah born

3. October 17-19: George Whitefield preaches in Northampton

S. 1741

1. July - preaches Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God at Enfield

2. August-September: Awakening crescendos in Northampton

3. September 10: Preached “Distinguishing Marks of the Work of the Spirit of God” at Yale commencement.

T. 1743 - May 9: daughter Eunice born

U. 1744

1. May 26: son Jonathan born

2. July 15-17: Whitefield makes another visit to Northampton

V. 1746 - June: Religious Affections published

W. 1747

1. May 6: daughter Elizabeth born

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2. May 28: David Brainerd arrives in Northampton

3. June 9: Brainerd and Jerusha Edwards leave for Boston

4. July 25: Brainerd and Jerusha Edwards return to Northampton

5. October 9: Brainerd dies at Edwards parsonage

6. October 12: preaches Brainerd's funeral sermon

X. 1748

1. February 14: daughter Jerusha dies

2. December: finishes An Account of the Life of the Late Reverend Mr. David Brainerd

Y. 1750

1. Winter: Conflict between Edwards and Northampton church over Communion

2. April 8: son Pierpont born

3. June 11: daughter Sarah marries Elihu Parsons of Northampton

4. June 19: final council meets to consider controversy between Edwards and Northampton church

5. June 22: dismissed as pastor of Northampton

6. July 1: preaches “Farewell Sermon”

7. October: preaches in Stockbridge

8. November 8: daughter Mary marries Timothy Dwight of Northampton

Z. 1751

1. January: preaches in Stockbridge

2. February 22: called to be minister of Stockbridge

3. March 31: preaches in Northampton

4. May 16: group in Northampton seeks to form a second church with Edwards as pastor

5. June 17: returns to Stockbridge

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6. August 8: formally installed as pastor to English and Indian congregations at Stockbridge

7. October 13: preaches at Northampton

8. October 18: family moves to Stockbridge

AA.1752

1. February: Edwards' Northampton house sold

2. May 26: preaches lecture at Northampton

3. June 29: daughter Esther marries Rev. Aaron Burr

BB.1753

1. April: first draft of Freedom of the Will

2. June: preaches at Northampton

CC.1754

1. January: considers call to the Presbyterian Church of New York City

2. June: preaches in Northampton

3. July: experiences prolonged period of poor heath.

4. Summer: house fortified and quartered with soldiers due to fear of Indian attacks

5. December: Freedom of the Will published

DD.1755 - September 1: Stockbridge attacked by Indians; four English killed

EE.1757

1. May: completes Original Sin

2. September 29: College of New Jersey asks Edwards to become president

FF.1758

1. January 4: Edwards released from pastorate in Stockbridge to pursue presidency of College of New Jersey

2. January 27: father dies

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3. February 16: assumes presidency of College of New Jersey

4. February 23: received inoculation for smallpox

5. March 22: died of complications from inoculation

6. April 7: daughter Esther Edwards Burr died

7. October 2: wife Sarah Pierpont Edwards dies of dysentery

II. Edwards the Writer: His Major Works

The lasting impact of Jonathan Edwards on the Church has come primarily from his writing ministry. Martyn Lloyd-Jones gave this advice about the writings of Edwards, “Read Jonathan Edwards. Stop going to so many meetings; stop craving for the various forms of entertainment which are so popular in evangelical circles at the present time.” He went on to say, “Revivals have often started as the result of people reading volumes such as these two volumes of Edwards’ works. So read this man. Decide to do so. Read his sermons; read his practical treatise, and then go on to the great discourses on theological subjects.”1

A. Selected Works from His lifetime

1. Resolutions (1722-1723)

The Resolutions were the guiding principles of Edwards’ life. The first dated resolution, No. 35, was penned on December 18, 1722. The last resolution, No. 70, was penned on August 17, 1723. This means that at least half the resolutions were written during Edwards brief pastorate in New York, and all of them were written before his twentieth year.

2. Faithful Narrative of the Surprizing Work of God in the Conversion of Many Hundred Souls in Northampton, and the Neighboring Towns (1737)

Faithful Narrative records the events of the revival of 1734-35 in Northampton. Edwards specifically records the death bed conversion of Abigail Hutchinson and the conversion of four-year-old Phebe Bartlett. Edwards’ report was expanded for publication in London. John Wesley in particular was captivated by Edwards’ account.

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1 D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, “Jonathan Edwards and the Crucial Importance of Revival,” Puritians: Their Origins and Successors (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1987), 361.

3. Discourses on Various Important Subjects, nearly concerning Salvation (1738)

Discourses on Various Important Subjects, nearly concerning Salvation is Edwards’ major work on soteriology. Contained within it is one of the most important and neglected discourses by Edwards, Justification by Faith Alone. This discourse is a keenly polemical work against Arminian theology.

4. Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God (1741)

Sinner in the Hands of an Angry God was first preached to Edwards’ own congregation with little effect. It was preached again in July of 1741 to the people of Enfield, Massachusetts (the specific location later became a part of Connecticut) to great effect. The material from the sermon was published later in 1741.

5. Distinguishing Marks of a Work of the Spirit of God. Applied to that Uncommon Operation that has lately appeared in the Middle Colonies.(1741)

The content of Distinguishing Marks was originally presented in September of 1741 as the commencement address at Yale College. At the height of the Great Awakening Edwards sought to moderated between the extremes of the pro-revival “New Lights” and the anti-revival “Old Lights.” Edwards certainly fell into the former rather than the latter, but was eager to speak out against the dangerous excesses and negative fruits he recognized among some “New Light” revivalists.

6. Some Thoughts Concerning the Revival (1743)

Much like Faithful Narrative, Some Thoughts Concerning the Revival provides Edwards’ report on the later revivals of the Great Awakening. The key difference between these two reports was the increased discretion showed by Edwards in reporting specific numbers, and the admission of what he deemed to be excesses.

7. A Treatise Concerning Religious Affections (1746)

Religious Affections is considered by some to be Edwards’ most important work. Written in the continuing controversy caused by the revivals of the Great Awakening, Edwards sought to show the true nature of revival and spiritual life. In this work Edwards moderated between intellectualism and emotionalism. One of the great results of this book was the impact it had on preaching. Edwards argued that “the impressing divine things on the hearts and affections of men is evidently one great and main end for which God has ordained that His word delivered in the holy Scriptures should be opened, applied, and set home upon men, in preaching.”2

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2 Jonathan Edwards, Religious Affections (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth Trust, 1986), 44.

8. An Account of the Life of Rev. David Brainerd (1749)

David Brainerd died of tuberculoses in the home of Edwards in 1748. Brainerd’s fervency and faithfulness as a missionary to American Indians is captured in Edwards biography. In terms of publication, the Life of David Brainerd is Edwards most popular work.

9. An Humble Inquiry into the Rules of the Word of God, concerning the Qualifications Requisite to compleat Standing and full Communion in the Visible Christian Church. (1749)

An Humble Inquiry was written to provide theological justification for his change in position from the “half way covenant” of Solomon Stoddard to the position that all communicants must make a credible profession of faith. Edwards position caused significant controversy in Northampton and beyond. An Humble Inquiry, while explaining Edwards position, did little to lesson the controversy.

10. A Farewell Sermon. (1751)

A Farewell Sermon was the last sermon preached by Edwards after his dismissal from the First Church in Northampton on July 1, 1750. The text for the sermon was 2 Corinthians 2:14 and the subject was that “Ministers and people that are under their care, must meet one another before Christ’s tribunal at the day of judgment.”

11. A Careful and Strict Enquiry into the modern prevailing Notions of Freedom of the Will (1754)

In the Freedom of the Will Edwards provides the church’s most extensive philosophical treatment of the compatiblist view of human agency and divine sovereignty. Freedom the Will is best understood in conjunction with the Calvinist doctrine of regeneration, to which Edwards adhered. Edwards’ point is that the human will is bound by the human nature. In other words, righteous acts can only come from a righteous nature, which is the result of regeneration.

12. The Christian Doctrine of Original Sin Defended (1758)

In The Christian Doctrine of Original Sin Defended Edwards defends the Calvinist doctrine of total depravity. Edwards ties the depravity of man to the federal headship of Adam and argues that the only solution to man’s original sin is the sovereign grace of God. It was in the process of being printed at the time of Edwards death.

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B. Selected Works from his Posthumous Publications

1. The End for which God Created the World (1765)

At the time of his death Edwards was working on The End for Which God Created the World and The Nature of True Virtue. In these companion works Edwards contended that human happiness is neither the end for which God created the world, nor is it the most virtuous goal for man to pursue. In contrast, God’s glory and obedience are the greatest aim of life.

2. History of the Work of Redemption (30 sermons preached in 1739 and posthumously published in 1774)

History of the Work of Redemption represents the material of 30 sermons preached by Edwards in 1739. Edwards was not able to finish the what he hoped would be his magnum opus before his death. However, the work that was posthumously published provides a explanation of salvation history beginning with the Covenant of Redemption.

3. Charity and its Fruits. (16 sermons preached in 1738 and published by Banner of Truth Trust in 1969)

Charity and its Fruits is a collection of sermons on 1 Corinthians 13 that demonstrate the importance and virtue of Christian love. Consistent with Edwards, it contains a healthy blend of thorough analysis and convicting appeals.

C. Selected Collected Works

1. Edwards, Jonathan, and Perry Miller. The Works of Jonathan Edwards. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1957.

2. Edwards, Jonathan, Sereno Edwards Dwight, and Edward Hickman. The Works of Jonathan Edwards. Edinburgh: Banner of Truth Trust, 1974.

III. Edwards the Theologian: His Theology

It is often stated that Edwards is the greatest American born theologian in church history. This opinion was popularized for many by Perry Miller, who, as John Gerstner points out, “claimed that Jonathan Edwards’s treatise Freedom of the Will alone was enough to establish him as the

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greatest philosopher-theologian ever to grace the American scene.”3 Edwards’ theology is almost universally admired, but often from afar.

A. Edwards on Calvinism

Edwards’ Calvinism was the centerpiece of his theology. His writing and his preaching were absorbed with defending Calvinism against Arminianism and articulating Calvinism in new ways.

1. Calvinistic Credentials Questioned

a) The Questioners of Edwards’ Calvinistic Credentials

(1) Questions about Edwards Calvinism have come primarily from Neo-Calvinists (i.e. Dutch Calvinist).

(2) “Dutch Calvinism tends to view the Puritan doctrine of the covenant as the hole in the dike through which the Arminian flood poured. Jan Ridderbos, De Theologie van Jonathan Edwards (The Hague, 1907), p. 316, has much praise for Edwards but says his theology is not a pure Reformed system. Ymen Pieter De Jong, De Leer der Verzoening in de Amerikaansche Theologie (Grand Rapids, 1913), p. 17, is more explicit when he writes that Edwards was not only unfaithful to the historic Calvinism, but his revival theology was itself the cause of Edwardean theology later passing into Arminianism.”4

(3) Herman Bavinck was another Dutch Calvinist who was suspicious of Edwards’ reformed credentials. See especially Herman Bavinck and John Bolt, Reformed Dogmatics: Abridged in One Volume (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2011), 48 & 429.

b) The Questions about Edwards’ Calvinistic Credentials

(1) The questions concerning Edwards’ Calvinism focus on three of Edwards’ views:

(a) Edwards’ view of the Covenants

Edwards saw more unity within the covenants than most Covenantal Reformed Theologians. For instance,

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3John H. Gerstner, Jonathan Edwards: A Mini-Theology (Wheaton, Ill: Tyndale House, 1987), 9.

4 Carl W. Bogue, Jonathan Edwards and the Covenant of Grace (Cherry Hill, N.J.: Mack Pub. Co, 1975), n. 1.

“But if we speak of the covenant God has made with man stating the condition of eternal life, God never made but one with man to wit, the covenant of works; which never yet was abrogated, but is a covenant stands in full force to all eternity without the failing of one tittle. The covenant of grace is not another covenant made with man upon the abrogation of this, but a covenant made with Christ to fulfill it. And for this end came Christ into the world, to fulfill the law, or covenant of works, for all that receive him.” (Misc. 30)

(b) Edwards’ view of Regeneration

Edwards articulated the doctrine of regeneration with a different emphasis than the Dutch Calvinists to follow him. Dane Ortlund points out this difference, which is especially seen when comparing Bavinck to Edwards:

“It is therefore striking to note that when it comes to delineating the very heart of Christian salvation, there appears at first glance to be a fundamental difference. Edwards tends to speak of salvation as the implantation of something completely new. Bavinck prefers to speak of salvation as the healing of what was there, though marred through sin. Edwards emphasizes discontinuity between one’s past and what one now is as a believer, while Bavinck emphasizes continuity. For Edwards, salvation is cast most frequently in terms of regeneration; for Bavinck, in terms of restoration.”5

(c) Edwards’ view of the Atonement

“Some later New England theologians championed the governmental (Grotian) theory of the atonement, thinking they had Jonathan Edwards as a father.”6 Some of Edwards’ statements about the atonement could be interpreted to support this. For example,

It hardly carries a right idea with it, to say that God is obliged in justice to punish sin. 'Tis a mere act of justice to punish sin; yet if he did not punish it nobody could charge God with any wrong. It seems to me to exhibit the thing more properly to say that God is obliged in holiness and in wisdom to punish sin. It would not be a

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5 Dane C. Ortlund, “‘Created Over a Second Time’ or ‘Grace Restoring Nature’? Edwards and Bavinck on the Heart of Christian Salvation,” The Bavinck Review 3 (2012): 11.

6 Gerstner, Jonathan Edwards: A Mini-Theology, 60.

prudent, decent and beautiful thing for a being of infinite glory and majesty, and the sovereign of the world, to let an infinite evil go unpunished. And as God's nature inclines him to order all things beautifully, properly and decently, so it was necessary that sin should be punished; God in his infinite wisdom saw that there was such a necessity as this. There is this necessity, besides what arises from the veracity of God. (Misc. 306)

(2) The questions concerning Edwards’ Calvinism were exacerbated by two contributing factors:

(a) In the generations immediately following Edwards, New England Theology turned away from Calvinism.

(b) Edwards articulated his Calvinism using the language of Philosophy rather than the confessional language. Even when he taught the same doctrine he did not do it in the same language. This certainly contributed to the questions, and helps us understand how so many modern scholars can interpret Edwards in so many diverse fashions.

c) The Questions of Edwards’ Calvinism Answered

(1) Answer to Questions about the Covenants:

“It is significant that Edwards, as a Calvinist, wrote and preached about the covenant of grace most frequently in the context of distinctly Reformed doctrines. When Edwards preached a series of sermons on Romans 4:5, they not only sparked a revival but exhibited Calvinism’s (Scripture’s) attack on Arminianism as clearly and purely as any author has. Subsequently published in expanded form, this discourse concludes with a treatment of the importance of the doctrine of justification by faith alone, and Edwards states: ‘It is in this doctrine that the most essential difference lies between the covenant of grace and the first covenant.’ This pattern prevails throughout the writings of Edwards. Whenever he speaks of the covenant of grace, it is never as an appendage to his Calvinism; the covenant of grace is always integrally related to the great doctrines of Reformed theology.”7

(2) Answer to Questions about Regeneration:

Edwards’ view of regeneration is well within the bounds of historic Reformed doctrine, even if his emphasis differs from other streams of Calvinism (i.e. Neo-Calvinism).

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7 Bogue, Jonathan Edwards and the Covenant of Grace, 2.

“Edwards, for his part, spent much of his life seeking to stem the tide against an encroaching Arminianism that elevated the ability of man and softened the need for a radical, divinely wrought work of God on the human heart. Edwards engages Arminianism head-on in his Freedom of the Will. One thinks also of Edwards’s engagement with John Taylor in Original Sin. Edwards was arguing against Taylor’s diminution of both the nature of sin and the grace required to counteract it, so an emphasis on the change required was of course natural and appropriate.”8

It is also important to note that Edwards was seeking to counter the neonomianism of men like Richard Baxter, who saw the work of Jesus as making man’s righteousness acceptable to God. By emphasizing an ontological change in regeneration he was defending the imputed righteousness of Christ as the only basis of justification.

(3) Answer to Question about Atonement:

Questions about Edwards view of the atonement almost instantaneously evaporate when his views are studied apart from the views of those who followed him. In numerous places Edwards espoused a Penal Substitutionary view of the Atonement. Miscellany 779, The Necessity of Satisfaction presents an explanation of the atonement that is irrefutably reformed in its orientation.

d) Edwards’ spent much of his life defending the doctrines of Calvinism against the encroachment of Arminian and Semi-Palagian theology. His sermons and books are teeming with positive articulations and polemic defenses of reformed doctrine.

B. Edwards on Forensic Justification

“And by that righteousness being imputed to us, is meant no other than this, that that righteousness of Christ is accepted for us, and admitted instead of that perfect inherent righteousness that ought to be in ourselves: Christ's perfect obedience shall be reckoned to our account, so that we shall have the benefit of it, as though we had performed it ourselves: and so we suppose that a title to eternal life is given us as the reward of this righteousness. The Scripture uses the word impute in this sense, viz. for reckoning anything belonging to any person, to another person's account....”9

C. Edwards on Bibliology

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8 Ortlund, “‘Created Over a Second Time’ or ‘Grace Restoring Nature’? Edwards and Bavinck on the Heart of Christian Salvation,” 22.

9 Sermon on Romans 4:5

“Though miracles ceased with the apostolic age, the good obtained by the Bible lasts forever, and God never fails his Word.”10

D. Edwards on Hell

“American revivalism underwent an important change from the time of Jonathan Edwards to that of Charles Finney (1792-1875). When Edwards preached to the unconverted he spoke of God’s wrath and the torments of hell; conversion moved the sinner from dread and fear to comfort and peace. Finney proceeded from the assumption that human beings are sinners voluntarily and urged them to make a decision to give their heart to God now....”11

E. Edwards on Sin

“There is an infinite demerit in all sin against God which must therefore immensely outweigh all the merit which can be supposed to be in our virtue....”12

F. Edwards on Revival

Through his historical narratives and theological defenses, Edwards provided more on the topic of revival than any other writer in the history of the church. Edwards' theology of revival is "the most important single contribution that Edwards has to make to evangelical thinking today"13 Edwards saw the revival as being effectuated by two factors: The Regenerating work of the Holy Spirit & The Preaching of Justification by faith (Works 4:116: So that this was the doctrine (justification by faith) on which this work in its beginning was founded, as it evidently was in the whole progress of it.”). In other words, Edwards credited the outworking of monergistic theology as the basis for revival. He conveyed this to the people of Northampton through a thirty-nine week sermon series entitled, “A History of the Work of Redemption.” In this series Edwards “examined the course of Christian history from the beginning, and discovered… that the times of most terrible darkness in the affairs of men invariably were followed by remarkable and surprising outpourings of the Spirit.” 14

G. Edwards on the Holy Spirit

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10 Sermon on Psalm 19:7-10

11 Herman Bavinck and John Bolt, Reformed Dogmatics: Abridged in One Volume (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2011), 546.

12 The Christian Doctrine of Original Sin Defended, 130.

13 J.I. Packer, A Quest for Godliness. The Puritan Vision of the Christian Life (Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway Books, 1990), 316.

14 Alan Heimert, Religion and the American Mind, from the Great Awakening to the Revolution (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1966), 34.

“Oil well represented excellence and love because of its flowing smoothness, and because it was used by them for the sake of beauty; as the Psalmist says (Psalms 104:15), it was to make the face to shine; which is the proper effect of an extraordinary effusion of the Holy Spirit and exercise of divine grace, as in Moses and Stephen. The shining of man's face, we know, is put for beauty, excellence and joy; and of God's countenance, [for] his love and favor. Especially did the holy anointing oil resemble love and excellence by its great preciousness and fragrance. Love is compared to this anointing oil by the Psalmist; ‘Like the precious ointment,’ says he, etc. (Psalms 133). 'Tis again compared to ointment (Canticles 4:10) and to the spices with which the holy oil was perfumed, all over that song.”15

H. Edwards on Heaven

Edwards taught that there would be degrees of blessedness in heaven. he explained what this might look like and why it will not be problematic:

“The saints whom we shall so ardently love loving others as well as ourselves, will be so far from raising jealousy in us, that it would raise jealousy if they did not. For their love of other saints is so much for the same things, and is so much the same principle, that 'tis equivalent to love to ourselves; it will be only the love to us multiplied. We shall not be jealous of those that are higher in glory, not only because we shall love them most, and because they will be most humble, but because they will love us most; because the highest will be the holiest, and the most holy will love holiness best, and they that love holiness best will love the saints best.”16

IV. Edwards the Pastor: His Ministry

Edwards was a pastor from the age of 19 until just before the time of his death. His work and lasting impact cannot be divorced from his pastoral ministry. Pastoral ministry is the context in which Edwards distinguished himself as a theologian, author, and preacher.

A. The Spiritual Disciplines of Edwards’ Ministry

1. Prayer

“The sacrifice that was commanded to be offered morning and evening, is from time to time called the continual burnt offering; which intimates that when we are

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15 Misc. 226.

16 Misc. 230.

bid to pray always, and to pray without ceasing, 'tis intended that at least, every morning and every evening we offer up our solemn prayers and praises to God.”17

2. Personal Holiness

“There are no other idols but self and the world; but all that is positive in the corruption of heart is man's regard to idols. The great contest for the heart of man is between the true God and idols. ”18

3. Study

Edwards discipline in study is evidenced by his famous habit of spending thirteen hours a day in his study. The specificity of thirteen hours derives from Samuel Hopkins comments about his brother-in-law. Though, as Iain Murray reminds us “Edwards’ ‘thirteen hours’ in his study were by no means always spent alone.”19

4. Exercise

Edwards was disciplined in all he did, including exercise. Edwards made it a daily habit to walk for several miles, ride his horse, or in the winter to chop wood for at least half an hour.

5. Family

“The Edwards’ family made it a point to single out individual children from the humming family hive, to get to know each one in turn by himself. ‘He took opportunities to converse with them singly and closely.’”20

B. Edwards’ Ministry to His Congregation

1. Edwards does not have the reputation of being an outgoing and gentle shepherd with his people.

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17 Misc. 1115.

18 Misc. 1032.

19 Iain Hamish Murray, Jonathan Edwards: A New Biography (Edinburgh. Banner of Truth Trust, 1987), 184. See also pp. 184-187 for an extended discussion on the realities of Edwards study life. It is important to note, as Murray does, that “Edwards’ relationship with his children suggests that they also did not view their father as aloof and remote.” (p. 186)

20Elisabeth D. Dodds, Marriage to a Difficult Man: The "Uncommon Union" of Jonathan and Sarah Edwards (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1971), 51.

2. Carrick characterizes Edwards’ ministry as “pastorally available, but he was not pastorally proactive.”21 Samuel Hopkins observed that “He did not make it his custom to visit his people in their own houses, unless he was sent for by the sick, or he heard that they were under some special affliction.”22

3. There were times in Edwards’ ministry when he was frustrated with the laxity of his people and they simply did not understand his seriousness. Marsden in particular is critical of Edwards in this regard, “his brittle, unsociable personality contributed to the breakdown of the once-warm relationship with the townspeople....”23 Marsden’s evaluation of Edwards leans toward a caricature and does not seem to take into consideration the faults on the part of the Northampton people. That being said, it is impossible to ignore the this aspect of Edwards’ pastoral ministry.

4. Edwards himself recognized his shortcomings in this regard. In written response to the College of New Jersey’s request for him to accept the position of president Edwards admitted:

The chief difficulty in my mind, in the way of accepting this important and arduous office, are these two: first my own defects, unfitting me for such an undertaking, many of which were generally known; besides others, which my own heart is conscious to. I have a constitution in many respects peculiar unhappy... often occasioning a kind of childish weaknesses and contemptibleness of speech, presence, and demeanor with a disagreeable dullness and stiffness, much unfitting more for conversation, but more especially for the government of a college. (Works, 16:726)24

5. In the final evaluation of Edwards’ pastorally ministry several factors must be taken into consideration:

a) The preaching of Edwards reveals the compassionate heart that he had for his people, but he did not possess the gregarious personality to express that love.

b) In the wake of his grandfather’s affable ministry, Edwards’ pensive personality was difficult for many in his congregation to understand.

c) Edwards’ possessed an almost unparalleled intellectual gift, but he lacked the practical pastoral wisdom to match that gift.

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21 Carrick, The Preaching of Jonathan Edwards (Edinburgh, UK: Banner of Truth Trust, 2008) 452.

22 Citied in Murray, Jonathan Edwards: A New Biography, 184.

23 George M. Marsden, Jonathan Edwards: A Life (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2003), 344.

24 Carrick also calls attention to this letter on p. 455.

d) Edwards is a reminder that no pastor possesses every gift and it would be a mistake to expect this from any pastor.

V. Edwards the Preacher: His Pulpit

“Edwards has been appraised by those who have been attracted by his philosophy. His worth as a preacher has been neglected.”25 Most of the biographical and scholarly work on Edwards has focused on his theology, his philosophy, his place in the Great Awakening, or his impact on American thought. By comparison, few historians have tackled the preaching ministry of Edwards. However, it is impossible to understand the ministry of Edwards apart from his pulpit.

A. The Primacy of Preaching for Edwards

1. “The sermon is the primary literary genre for Edwards. Very few of his ideas did not first find public expression in one of his sermons. This, of course, is not surprising, as Edwards’s primary vocation was pastor.”26

2. “And the impressing divine things on the hearts and affections of men is evidently one great and main end for which God has ordained that His word delivered in the holy Scriptures should be opened, applied, and set home upon men, in preaching.”27

B. The Method of Preaching for Edwards

1. Carrick accurately categorizes the preaching of Edwards as “textual-topical.” “Very often... Edwards’ doctrinal exposition is developed and amplified in such an expansive manner that his sermons are perhaps best described as textual-topical.”28 In other words, the content of his sermons was rooted in the content of the text.

2. Edwards preached through many specific texts, and his blank bible provides expository notes on the bible. His preaching, however, did not follow the pattern of consecutive exposition.

3. Edwards’ “was heir to the tradition of the sermon as explicato et applicatio verbi Dei. His sermons are, accordingly, divided into Doctrine and Application.”29

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25 Ralph G. Turnbull, Jonathan Edwards the Preacher (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1958), 20.

26 Stephen J. Nichols, Jonathan Edwards: A Guided Tour of His Life and Thought (Phillipsburg, N.J.: P & R Pub, 2001), 195.

27 Jonathan Edwards, Religious Affections (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth Trust, 1986), 44.

28 Carrick, The Preaching of Jonathan Edwards, 137.

29 Ibid., 132.

4. The normal pattern was for Edwards to announce a single proposition as the doctrine of the text, defend that doctrine from a chosen text of scripture, and finally apply that doctrine to the lives of his listeners, usually in the form of a list.

5. Structurally Edwards’ sermons were often divided by doctrine and application, but practically the entire sermon was interlaced with instruction and application.

C. The Style of Preaching for Edwards

1. Theocentric

The preaching of Edwards is unmistakably about God. Indicatives are accomplished by God and imperatives are given by God. There is one hero in Edwards’ preaching, God. “Indeed, such is Edwards’ emphasis upon the concept of divine immediacy that this concept has justifiably been regarded as the controlling idea or principle of correlation that runs throughout his Works.”30

2. Intensity

The notion that Edwards delivered his sermon with little or no emotion as he read from his manuscript seems to have been fueled by George Fisher’s description in History of Christian Doctrine.31 Wherever it originated it does not represent reality. Edwards did use a full manuscript in the pulpit early in his ministry, but he eventually replaced the manuscript with an annotated preaching outline. As Edwards grew as a preacher he “experimented with many ways to free himself from the total reliance on his manuscripts.”32 Edwards believed the mind and the affections should be engaged through preaching. The intensity of Edwards preaching reflects this commitment. There were times when Edwards minimized his emotion with an excitable congregation as a shepherding tool. More frequently, Edwards allowed his intense passion for the truth of God to flow through him to the congregation.

3. Vivid

Edwards preaching is filled with vivid and concrete imagery. The most famous example is the spider dangling over the fire in Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God. Edwards knew how to engage the imagination of his listeners. When

19

30 Carrick, The Preaching of Jonathan Edwards, 23.

31 George Park Fisher, History of Christian Doctrine (New York: Scribner's Sons, 1896), 525.

32 Works, 14:12, Cited in John Carrick, The Preaching of Jonathan Edwards, 413.

Edwards employed an extra-biblical illustration it was usually an extended analogical illustration.

4. Canonical

Edwards’ text are filled with scripture. If he used every cross-reference found in his sermon texts it is difficult to imagine following him from text to text. However, for each text he demonstrates a mastery of the word. His preaching reflects a firm commitment to Analogia Scriptura.

5. Introductions & Conclusions

“There is... a certain elusiveness about Edwards’ Conclusions, considered in toto. Whereas his Introductions generally constitute a formal, and therefore easily identifiable, entity in his sermons, his Conclusions tend to be much more amorphous; they do not generally constitute a formal unit within the sermon... there appears to be no stereotypical approach to his Conclusions.”33

6. Confrontational (i.e. an emphasis on sin)

“His revival preaching did see tears of joy and hearts full of praise, but it also witnessed the harsh realities of sin and its consequences. He spoke plainly and straightforwardly of the plight of humanity, noting that because of our dreadful corruption, pride, unbelief, and stubborn and obstinate wills, God is ‘wholly just and righteous in rejecting [us], and all that [we] do, and casting [us] off forever.’ This emphasis on sin sets Edwards apart from those who in later centuries would tout a gospel to so-called good-hearted people who just want to be a little better, a gospel that finds humanity not hopeless and helpless, but essentially good.”34

7. Engaging

Edwards commonly engaged his congregation with a rhetorical question or series of questions as he applied the doctrine of the sermon to the listeners. Preaching on 1 Kings 18:21 Edwards transitioned into the application section of the sermon with these questions:

Whether or no you ever yet came to a full determination with respect to the truth of the things of religion. Have you ever yet been fully convinced? Has it been a question that has been answered and determined with you whether you have ever yet been fully convinced of the truth of religion or

20

33 Carrick, The Preaching of Jonathan Edwards, 189-190.

34 Nichols, Jonathan Edwards: A Guided Tour, 94.

no? Or does it not yet remain a question with you, a thing unresolved? Are you not yet to seek whether there be any future state, and whether or no the story about Jesus Christ be any more than a fable?

Again he addresses his listeners with questions:

Examine yourself therefore by this: is not your heart chiefly in this world? Is it not more your concern, and care, and endeavor to further your outward interest than to have eternal life? And is not this the very reason, because you never have seen the reality of eternal things?

Conclusion:

The impact of Jonathan Edwards has been summarized and analyzed by some of the most significant historians and theologians of the Church. None of these observers have been able to capture the impact Edwards more appropriately than Sarah Edwards did on the day she learned of her husbands early demise:

What shall I say? A holy and good God has covered us with a dark cloud. O that we may kiss the rod, and lay out our hands on our mouths! The Lord has done it. He has made me adore his goodness, that we had him so long. But my God lives; and he has my heart. O what a legacy my husband... has left us!35

The legacy of Jonathan Edwards will live on through his preaching and writing until the Lord returns and we see the glory Jonathan Edwards spent his life describing.

21

35 Cited in Murray, Jonathan Edwards: A New Biography, 442.

Selected Bibliography

Bogue, Carl W. Jonathan Edwards and the Covenant of Grace. Cherry Hill, N.J.: Mack Pub. Co, 1975.

Carrick, John. The Preaching of Jonathan Edwards. Edinburgh, UK: Banner of Truth Trust, 2008.

Dodds, Elisabeth D. Marriage to a Difficult Man: The "Uncommon Union" of Jonathan and Sarah Edwards. Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1971.

Gerstner, John H. Jonathan Edwards: A Mini-Theology. Wheaton, Ill: Tyndale House, 1987.

Heimert, Alan. Religion and the American Mind, from the Great Awakening to the Revolution. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1966.

Lawson, Steven J. The Unwavering Resolve of Jonathan Edwards. Orlando, FL: Reformation Trust Pub, 2008.

Lloyd-Jones, D. Martyn. “Jonathan Edwards and the Crucial Importance of Revival,” Puritians: Their Origins and Successors. Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1987.

Marsden, George M. Jonathan Edwards: A Life. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2003.

McClymond, Michael James, and Gerald R. McDermott. The Theology of Jonathan Edwards. New York: Oxford University Press, 2012.

Murray, Iain Hamish. Jonathan Edwards: A New Biography. Edinburgh. Banner of Truth Trust, 1987.

Nichols, Stephen J. Jonathan Edwards: A Guided Tour of His Life and Thought. Phillipsburg, N.J.: P & R Pub, 2001.

Ortlund, Dane C. “‘Created Over a Second Time’ or ‘Grace Restoring Nature’? Edwards and Bavinck on the Heart of Christian Salvation.” The Bavinck Review 3 (2012): 9-29.

Packer, J.I. A Quest for Godliness. The Puritan Vision of the Christian Life. Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway Books, 1990.

Piper, John, and Justin Taylor. A God Entranced Vision of All Things: The Legacy of Jonathan Edwards. Wheaton, Ill: Crossway Books, 2004.

Sweeney, Douglas A. Jonathan Edwards and the Ministry of the Word: A Model of Faith and Thought. Downers Grove, Ill: IVP Academic, 2009.

Turnbull Ralph G. Jonathan Edwards the Preacher. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1958.