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JONATHAN EDWARDS
During the spring of 1734, a young Puritan pastor in
colonial New England became distressed by the low spiritual
state of his congregation. In response, Jonathan Edwards began
to systematically preach about the need for individuals to be
justified before a holy God, not on the basis on personal piety,
but by the grace of God that comes through faith in his son
Jesus Christ.
Jonathan Edwards is considered to be the greatest theologian in
American history and has been described as the most brilliant
thinker this continent has ever produced. Edwards was born on
October 5th, 1703 in East Windsor, Connecticut - the only son of
a prominent Puritan pastor. After his conversion as young man,
his powerful intellect was often enraptured by his understanding
of God.
On one of his many solitary walks he notes, “As I was walking
there, and looking upon the sky and clouds, there came into my
mind so sweet a sense of the glorious majesty and grace of God,
as I know not how to express … God's Excellency, His wisdom, His
purity and love seemed to appear in everything … Prayer seemed
to be natural to me, as the breath by which the inward burnings
of my heart had vent.”1
After tutoring at Yale and marrying Sarah Pierpont, (together
they had 11 children) Edwards accepted the pastorate at
Northampton, Mass. in 1727; a church he inherited from his
grandfather.
As he preached the doctrines of salvation by the grace of God, A
series of conversions began in his church and extended to every
part of the town. There were more than 300 conversions in a few
months and the entire atmosphere of Northhampton began to
change. He and his congregation were being swept into the First
Great Awakening.
There were two major reactions in the Christian community to the
Awakening. One the one hand, there began to appear counterfeits
of the true revival that exhibited what Edwards called “shallow
emotionalism.”2 The Awakening’s emotional excesses included
“swoonings, shrieking & convulsions.”3
On the other hand, they’re were those who held the notion that
mans religion should be governed by enlightened reason alone.
Many established Pastors ridiculed the emotions generated by the
preaching of Edwards and others and rejected the Awakening as an
authentic movement of God. Reason and order, they claimed, were
more important than an emphasis on personal faith and assurance.
In contrast to these two extremes, Edwards played the dual role
of critic and defender of the Awakening. It was not uncommon for
him to spend thirteen hours a day in his study looking to the
Holy Scriptures as his guide in contemplating the nature of true
spirituality which he laid out in his pamphlet entitled,
Religious Affections.
For the Christian, he states, experience of God begins with a
new birth brought about by God's Spirit in the heart of the
individual. And that the Christians distinguishing
characteristic and most authentic fruit from an encounter with
God is not necessarily an overwhelming emotional experience or
rational comprehension - but a total change in the heart and
mind of the individual to love - to love God for Himself and to
love your fellow man.4 To Edwards, true Christianity was a
matter for both the head and the heart. He would not be drawn
into uniformed emotionalism or dispassionate intellectualism.
Hebrews 4:12 states that, "the word of God is living and active
and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the
division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able
to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart."
Our culture today is teeming with hundreds of teachings and
experiences - all claiming to be authentic encounters with God.
To the curious seeker after God, it is often a confusing maze to
navigate through what is authentic and what is counterfeit. Even
inside the evangelical Christian church there is a wide range of
experiences all professing to be the Christians genuine and
normative experience of his God. How are we to evaluate the
different movements?
As Edwards did - by giving our minds and hearts totally over to
the Scriptures as our final authority over doctrine and emotion.
As Christians, we are called to take the totality of our lives,
our thoughts, and yes, even our emotional experiences and hold
them up against the piercing light of God's Word. And as his
Word sifts and filters our being - we are to reject both thought
and experience that do not line up with His penetrating truth.
Far from extinguishing our emotions, this will ignite and
enliven our hearts - as our soul is brought closer to
experiencing the true and blessed realities of our God. As
Edwards would later write, "A man’s having much affection, does
not prove that he has any true religion: but if he has no
affection it proves that he has no true religion. The right way,
is not to reject all affections, nor to approve all; but to
distinguish between affections, approving some, and rejecting
others; separating between the wheat and the chaff, the gold and
the dross, the precious and the vile."5
Those affections that are genuinely divine are characterized by,
"deep humiliation, brokenness of heart .. mourning for sin, a
trembling reverence towards God, tenderness of spirit .. great
engagedness of heart after holiness of life and a readiness to
esteem others better than themselves."6
Edwards legacy is one that demonstrates the balance between
intellect and emotion - that intellectual apprehension of the
doctrines of Christ should fuel an informed, radiant experience
of Him!
1 - Edwards, Jonathan, "The Life of David Brainard"
Introduction
2 - Douglass, Philip "Ministry Development and Assessment",
Lesson 3
3 - Ibid.
4 - Edwards, Jonathan, "Religious Affections", Part 3: Section 3
5 - Edwards, Jonathan, "Religious Affections", Part 2: Section
12
6 - Edwards to James Robe, Works, 16:109
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