Jonathan edwards biography summary of thomas
Jonathan Edwards
1. Life
Edwards was born into a family of prominent Congregational ministers in East Windsor, Connecticut in 1703. In 1716 Edwards enrolled in Yale where he read Newton and Locke, and began “Notes on the Mind” and “Notes on Natural Science.” Locke's influence on his epistemology, philosophy of language, and philosophical psychology was profound. Edwards' metaphysics, however, appears more strongly influenced by Malebranche and, to a lesser extent, the Cambridge Platonists, and bears little resemblance to Locke's. After briefly serving congregations in New York and Bolton, Connecticut, Edwards returned to Yale where he completed his Masters of Arts degree and became senior tutor in 1724. In 1725, the church in Northampton chose Edwards to succeed his grandfather, Solomon Stoddard — the so-called “pope of the Connecticut valley.” The most notable events of his tenure were the revivals of 1734 and 1740–41, the latter of which came to be known as the Great Awakening. Edwards' defense of the revivals and criticisms of its excesses culminated in his first major treatise, the ReligiousAffections (1746). Worsening relations with his congregation came to a head in a dispute over qualifications for church membership. Rejecting the less rigorous standards of his grandfather, Edwards insisted on a public profession of saving faith based on the candidate's religious experiences as a qualification not only for Holy Communion but also for church membership. He was dismissed in 1750 by a margin of one vote. After refusing invitations to pulpits in North America and Scotland, Edwards retreated to the Indian mission at Stockbridge where he had charge of two difficult congregations, supervised a boarding school for Indian boys, and completed his last major works — Freedom of the Will (1754), Original Sin (1758), End of Creation, and True Virtue (both published posthumously in 1765). Edwards accept
Jonathan Edwards (theologian)
American preacher and philosopher (1703–1758)
The Reverend Jonathan Edwards | |
|---|---|
| In office 1758–1758 | |
| Preceded by | Aaron Burr Sr. |
| Succeeded by | Jacob Green(acting) |
| Born | (1703-10-05)October 5, 1703 East Windsor, Connecticut, British America |
| Died | March 22, 1758(1758-03-22) (aged 54) Princeton, New Jersey, British America |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 11, including Esther, Jonathan, and Pierpont |
| Relatives | |
| Alma mater | Yale College |
| Occupation | Pastor, theologian, missionary |
| Signature | |
Theology career | |
| Notable work | "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" (1741) Religious Affections (1746) |
| Theological work | |
| Era | Colonial period |
| Tradition or movement | EvangelicalCalvinist (Puritan) New England theology |
| Main interests | Revivalism |
Jonathan Edwards (October 5, 1703 – March 22, 1758) was an American revivalist preacher, philosopher, and Congregationalist theologian. Edwards is widely regarded as one of America's most important and original philosophical theologians. Edwards' theological work is broad in scope but rooted in the Puritan heritage as exemplified in the Westminster and Savoy Confessions of Faith. Recent studies have emphasized how thoroughly Edwards grounded his life's work on conceptions of beauty, harmony, and ethical aptness, and how central the Age of Enlightenment was to his mindset. Edwards played a critical role in shaping the First Great Awakening and oversaw some of the first revivals in 1733–35 at his church in Northampton, Massachusetts. His work gave rise to a doctrine known as New England theology.
Edwards delivered the sermon "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God", a classic of early American literature, during another revival in 1741, following George Whitefield's tour of the Thirteen Colonies. Edwards is well known for his many books, such as The End for Which God Created the World and The Life of David Braine At the dawn of the 18 century, the third and fourth generations of Puritan settlers in the new world were “thinking and living on a lowered plane. Not merely spirituality, but plain morality was suffering some eclipse.” (Warfield 222) Out of this morally decadent and intellectually unexceptional setting emerged a “saint and metaphysician, revivalist and theologian [who] stands out as the one figure of real greatness in the intellectual life of colonial America.” (Warfield 221) Born into a religious and social climate being redefined by the Enlightenment, Jonathan Edwards took upon himself the task of redefining and revitalizing a traditional theological position for a new era. Edwards was born to Timothy and Esther Stoddard Edwards on October 5, 1703. He was the fifth of eleven children, and the only son. His family, both matrilineally and patrilineally, was of solid Calvinistic and Puritan foundations. It was also a family that could be considered part of the unspoken colonial aristocracy, which included those families which were highly educated, culturally enlightened, and held positions of power and influence. Entering life in such a milieu, Edwards had all the privileges associated with the elites of New England, including a sound and thorough education and access to the most contemporary scholarly works available. On the frontiers of the “new world,” Jonathan Edwards appears somewhat of an anomaly to historians. In childhood Edwards was precocious and inclined to study. His father, Thomas Edwards, aware of his son’s ability, began to teach him Latin at age six. Edwards’ early education was rigorous enough that, when he entered college he could already read Latin, Greek and Hebrew. In childhood Edwards was keenly interested in the operations of the mind and at one point kept careful notes on his dreams in order to determine more carefully his tendencies Hopkins, Samuel (ed.).Memoirs of the Rev. Jonathan Edwards, President of the College of New Jersey. London: J. Black, 1815. Visit the Works of Jonathan Edwards Online, a complete online critical edition of Edwards. Search any or all of the seventy-three volumes by word or phrase, or browse the table of contents of each volume. Edwards, Jonathan. A History of the Work of Redemption [Unpublished sermons, 1739]. New York: The American Tract Society, 1774 [edited by John Erskine]. __________. “Christian Charity, or The Duty of Charity to the Poor, Explained and Enforced.” 1732. No pages. Online at the Bible Bulletin Board. __________. “Speech to the Mohawks.” Transcription of manuscript (notes) that retains abbreviations and phrases struck by author. Sermons, Series II, 1751 (WJE Online Vol. 69). _____. The Works of Jonathan Edwards. 2 vols. Carlisle, PA; Edinburgh: Banner of Truth Trust, 1974. _____. Christian Charity, or The Duty of Charity to the Poor, Explained and Enforced. 1732. _____. An Humble Attempt to Promote Explicit Agreement. Boston: n.p., 1747. _____. Charity and Its Fruits. 1749. _____. A Dissertation Concerning the End for Which God Created the World. 1749. _____. A Dissertation on the Nature of Virtue. 1749. _____. Life and Diary of the Rev. David Brainerd. 1749. _____. A Careful and Strict Enquiry Into the Prevailing Modern Notions of That Freedom of the Will Which is Supposed to Be Essential to Moral Agency, Virtue and Vice, Reward and Punishment, Praise and Blame. 1754. _____. A Treatise Concerning Religious Affections. 1754. _____. Distinguishing Marks of a Work of the Spirit of God. 1758. _____. A
Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758)
1. Background
Edwards, Jonathan (1703-1758)
Bibliography
Digital Texts
Allen, Alexander V. G. Jonathan Edwards. Boston; New York: Houghton, Mifflin and Co., 1889.Primary
Edwards, Jonathan. The Works of Jonathan Edwards. 26 vols. New Haven; London: Yale University Press, 1957-2008.