Jonathan Edwards Biography

Jonathan Edwards is one of America’s first greatest theologians. However, his life biography has many different opinions based on different biographers. According to Iain H. Murray one “school of opinion has considered Edwards worthy of remembrance as America’s first systematic philosopher and her ‘greatest thinker’ of the eighteenth century.”[1] He was a man of boldness. He also did not obtain his title of “greatest think of the eighteenth century” until the century after his life.[2] Some say that his beliefs were inspired by God and they were divine while others wanted to apologize for his beliefs. There were many mixed feelings about Edwards, especially in the next century after his death. In fact, modern interpreters hold that, “as a religious figure, his is the greatness of religious ‘tragedy’ – the ‘tragedy’ being that even for ‘the greatest intellect in the history of American Christianity’, his inherited Calvinistic beliefs were too strong for him to overcome.”[3] Although there are many different judgments on Edwards’ theology, in the end, most historians give Edwards the credit he deserves for impacting theology in many ways.

            Jonathan Edwards was born in 1703. He was the fifth of eleven children born of Timothy and Esther Stoddard Edwards.[4] His mother was the daughter of a preacher and he grew up on a farm learning from his mother and father while learning from the natural world around him.[5] Jonathan Edwards was an American. He was an American in new land that was developing and parting from the land of England. He grew up educated into the Calvinist intelligibility and because of this it led him to believe that the past and the present are only to prepare for the future.[6] Likewise, his growing up with ten sisters gave him the gentleness he displayed the rest of his life.[7] His father was ordained in 1695 and led the congregation of East Windsor. [8] Besides being the only boy with ten sisters, Edwards grew up learning a lot about nature and compassion in his life. His first life experience came when he was eight years old. It was the start of the American Revolutionary War and his father Timothy Edwards had to leave to become a chaplain for England in the north. This impacted Jonathan because Timothy was the only other male in his family and he influenced his life and his education the most during his childhood.[9] Timothy stressed “the need for all work to be done with pen in hand and he regarded accuracy in writing as essential.”[10] Edwards loved nature and delighted in it because he saw them “merely as the works of nature from the hand of his Creator and Savior, and he drew ever nearer to that lovely Entity.”[11] Although it is not known when he became converted, it is believed to be after March 1721. He became transformed that he referred to as, “‘that change by which I was brought to those new dispositions, and that new sense of things.’”[12] Edwards became a licensed preacher of the Gospel in 1722 at the age of 19. He was invited to be the minister of a Presbyterian Church in New York City.[13] He did not stay in New York long and returned to East Windsor to obtain his master’s degree in 1723. He eventually returned to his college of Yale in 1724 and became a tutor.[14] Edwards became an associate minister in Northampton in 1726. A year later he married Sara Pierrepont, the daughter of one of the founders of Yale.[15] They had eleven children and were happily married. He became one of the leading figures in the Puritan Movement. He went on to preach many different sermons, some controversial, and wrote a few books. Jonathan Edwards influenced many men and women and on March 22, 1758 he died uttering his last words, “‘Trust in God, and you need not fear.’”[16]

            Jonathan Edward’s wrote many things in his lifetime and the most significant writings were a compilation of sermons. His most notable sermons were called, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,[17] the Final Judgment,[18] a Chosen Generation, a Royal Priesthood, a Holy Nation, and A Peculiar People.[19] He also wrote in 1736 God, the Best Portion of the Christian.[20] Later, he wrote Jesus Christ, The Same Yesterday, Today, and Forever,[21] the Excellency of Christ,[22]the Preciousness of Time and the Importance of Redeeming It,[23] and Justification By Faith Alone.[24] Edward’s most popular sermon was written in 1741 called, The Distinguishing Marks of a Work of the Spirit of God.[25] These later contributed to his books, Thoughts Concerning the Present Revival of Religion in New England, A Treatise concerning Religious Affections, and The Life and Diary of David Brainerd.[26]

            Jonathan Edwards’ main theological study was that of Justification. He wrote on the Doctrine of Justification and mainly on Living Justification. He wrote a sermon on Justification by Faith Alone in 1734. He also preached about the Original Ultimate End that talked about God’s purpose and motive in creating the world.[27] His doctrine of atonement also had impact on later theologians. He believed in the Anselmic Satisfaction view of Atonement and he also “laid the theological foundation for the moral government theory of atonement.”[28] Although some view his philosophy as controversial, many took him to be very influential and enlightening.

            I believe that Jonathan Edwards was a great theologian. I do not consider any theologian perfect in doctrine and understanding, but all have made historical contributions to theology. Jonathan Edwards is a man who has made historical contributions to theology and doctrine. His view on atonement is interesting to say the least and is basically a combination of Anselm’s view of atonement and the penal substitutionary atonement. I think that his view of atonement has some merit and background, but I do not like the terms of it restoring God’s holiness. I do not believe that God has ever or will ever lose His holiness and it was never in need of restoration. I do find strength in his view of the Original Ultimate End. His purpose was to enlighten those around him by teaching others that “only thereby can created persons truly know God and worship him, delight in his presence, and love each other in genuine fellowship.”[29] Edward’s goal was to benefit others and there is strong merit in that goal. He goes beyond the beliefs of Baruch Spinoza that God is not perfect based on His ultimate end. I like that he strives to makes sure to overcome Spinoza’s view. Although this view is interesting and confusing doctrine, it is important that he realized the faults in previous views and he tries to put his own theology in it. Jonathan Edwards was America’s first great theologian and even though many may believe that he had some wrong doctrines and theology, he contributed to Christianity in America during a time of great need. I plan on looking more into Jonathan Edwards and learning more about his theology and doctrinal beliefs.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Carse, James, Jonathan Edwards & The Visibility of God, New York City, New York:       Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1967.

Hamilton, Mark S., Jonathan Edwards, Anselmic Satisfaction and God’s Moral     Government, International Journal of Systematic Theology, 2015.

Murray, Murray H., Jonathan Edwards A New Biography, Carlisle, Pennsylvania: The     Banner of Truth Trust, 2000.

Schultz, Walter J., Jonathan Edward’s Concept of an Original Ultimate End, Journal of     the Evangelical Theological Society, 2013.

Trigsted, Mark, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God: Jonathan Edwards, Gainesville,    Florida: Bridge-Logos Publishers, 2003.

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[1] Iain H. Murray, Jonathan Edwards A New Biography, (Carlisle, Pennsylvania: The Banner of Truth Trust, 2000), 19.

[2] Ibid.

[3] Ibid., 20.

[4] Mark Trigsted, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God: Jonathan Edwards, (Gainesville, Florida: Bridge-Logos Publishers, 2003), 3.

[5] Ibid.

[6] James Carse, Jonathan Edwards & The Visibility of God, (New York City, New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1967), 23.

[7] Iain H. Murray, 9.

[8] Ibid., 7.

[9] Ibid., 14.

[10]Ibid.

[11] Mark Trigsted, 7.

[12] Ibid., 6.

[13] Ibid., 8.

[14] Ibid., 9.

[15] Ibid., 10.

[16] Ibid., 29.

[17] Ibid., 37.

[18] Ibid., 57.

[19] Ibid., 101.

[20] Ibid., 137.

[21] Ibid., 151.

[22] Ibid., 173.

[23] Ibid., 217.

[24] Ibid., 235.

[25] Iain H. Murray, 233.

[26] Ibid.

[27] Walter J. Schultz, Jonathan Edward’s Concept of an Original Ultimate End, (Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, 2013), 1.

[28] S. Mark Hamilton, Jonathan Edwards, Anselmic Satisfaction and God’s Moral Government, (International Journal of Systematic Theology, 2015), 1.

[29] Walter J. Schultz, 1.