Jonathan Edwards: Religous Prude or Passionate Preacher?

Rarely does a discussion about Jonathan Edwards progress far before prejudices become apparent. For some, he has nothing to contribute to history except a terrifying and awful sermon, preached in 1741. Still there are others for whom he is a guide, a resource, and a hero in American life and religious thought. How is it that so many people can have such opposing views of a real historical personage? It most certainly does not come from a lack of writings on or from the pen of Edwards. As historian Ian Murray writes, “Edwards is not some obscure figure, scarcely to be understood on account of lack of dependable source material. On the contrary, his thought and life is among the best documented of all the Americans of the eighteenth century. For a start there are over 1100 sermons existing in their original manuscript form[1].” Today we also posses many of Edwards’ own personal letters, his books, and notes from his own diary; there is plenty of evidence to support one of the afore mentioned views. An investigation of just some of this evidence should provide for adequate discernment as to which one is true.

Edwards had an outstanding formal education. He was the son of the Rev. Timothy Edwards and it was under his father that he first began his training. He spent his college years under the tutelage of Elisha Williams, a recent Yale Graduate, cousin to Edwards, and highly praised teacher who trained his students in the same curriculum from which he had been taught. This curriculum included: “languages (Latin, Greek, and Hebrew) in the first year; logic in the second, natural science in the third, and arithmetic, geometry, and some astronomy in the final senior year[2].” Edwards graduated at sixteen as the highest ranking student in his class, and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in September of 1720; he had not only been educated by some of the best but had himself become the best of those educated.

Edwards’ writings have proven to be quite famous, not only in religious circles but also in the secular world. His works on spiders in particular stands out. Again Murray writes, “His ‘Spider’ papers…have been widely praised, not only by students of Edwards’ thought but by professional scientists as well, for their contributions to the natural history of the spider[3].” Edwards was not, however, gifted only in science. The Encyclopedia Britannica echoes the thoughts of many others when it identifies him as an “American…philosopher[4].” His philosophical works are well known and ring with Platonism. To many others, Edwards was the greatest theologian that America has ever produced. His 1731 lecture at Boston was published under the title God Glorified in Man’s Dependence; this was Edwards’ first public attack on Arminianism. He would later write his most famous work The Freedom of the Will, defending Calvinism and the sovereignty of God. Edwards may have been all of these things but he was, however, first and foremost a pastor.

That Edwards was a pastor of a local congregation is all too often overlooked. After graduating from Yale he was invited, in 1726, to take an associate job in Northampton, Connecticut alongside his grandfather, the renowned Solomon Stoddard. Upon Stoddard’s death, not long after Edwards’ arrival to Northampton, Jonathan became the senior pastor of the congregation. During this time in Northampton America would witness the first of the Great Awakenings, as spiritual revival spread through New England. The leaders in this revival were English evangelists George Whitefield, and John and Charles Wesley, and Edwards himself. It was during this spiritual awakening that Edwards would preach his most famous sermon, though not in Northampton. This sermon has become so connected to his name and yet so misunderstood as to misrepresent the nature, intent, and theology of its preacher. It deserves a closer look if one is to discern the nature of this Puritan pastor.

Perhaps it is the most famous sermon ever preached in America, but it has contracted a bad reputation as a fire and brimstone sermon in which its preacher aims at scaring the hell out of his parishioners; some have even called it, says R.C. Sproul, “utterly sadistic[5]”. A simple glance at the title of this sermon may seem to support such a statement, for Edwards titled this sermon Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God; but does this sermon prove that Edwards was a religious prude? Only by examining the text itself, and understanding the theology behind it, can that question be answered accurately.

Edwards bases his sermon on the Old Testament verse of Deuteronomy 32:35, “Their foot shall slide in due time.” So he lists as his first point in the sermon, “That they were always exposed to destruction; as one that stands or walks in slippery places is always exposed to fall,” and also point three, “That they are liable to fall of themselves, without being thrown down by the hand of another; as he that stands or walks on slippery ground needs nothing but his own weight to throw him down[6].”

What Jonathan Edwards was pointing to in his initial statements was what Calvinists refer to as the Biblical doctrine of radical depravity. According to the Calvinist the Bible teaches that man is born corrupt and sinful and can do nothing to please God, nor does he desire to please Him. So it is said that man deserves punishment and the wrath of God will be poured out upon him[7]. It is with this understanding that Edwards opens his sermon, reminding his congregation of their awful state and the impending and sure doom that is to come upon man. Again Edwards says, “Unconverted men walk over the pit of hell on a rotten covering, and there are innumerable places in this covering so weak that they will not bear their weight, and these places are not seen[8].”

Edwards preaches on this subject for one great reason, and it is not the reason that some have suggested. Sproul identifies the purpose of his preaching this doctrine when he writes, “He did this not out of a sadistic delight in frightening people but out of compassion. He loved his congregation enough to warn them of the dreadful consequences of facing the wrath of God[9].” In the puritan mind if God exists (and He does) then He is perfect and this perfection requires that God be just; if God is just, however, (and He is) then man’s offense of the omnipotent being requires punishment.

Contrary to popular opinion Edwards was not a sadistic preacher but a concerned advisor. He saw the need for people to come to Christ and cry out for salvation. It was Jesus Christ who bore their punishment so that they might be saved and receive the mercy of God. The preaching of this very descriptive and frightening sermon was not from a delight in provoking fear in others, but from a love for his people. He testifies to this himself when he writes, “The use of this awful subject may be for awakening unconverted persons in this congregation. This that you have heard is the case of every one of you that are out of Christ[10].” Jonathan Edwards had a heart for people and love for their souls so much that he desired that none should perish in hell because they have not known the truth of God’s holiness and of their need for a savior.

If this sermon seems still to be a depressing and awful word on God’s wrath, it will benefit you to know that it is also a word on God’s grace. Edwards shows this truth in a most masterful way. One will note the descriptive imagery and elevated language as the preacher moves from God’s wrath to God’s grace.

The God that holds you over the pit of hell, much as one holds a spider, or some loathsome insect over the fire, abhors you, and is dreadfully provoked: his wrath towards you burns like fire; he looks upon you as worthy of nothing else, but to be cast into the fire; he is of purer eyes than to bear to have you in his sight; you are ten thousand times more abominable in his eyes, than the most hateful venomous serpent is in ours. You have offended him infinitely more than ever a stubborn rebel did his prince; and yet it is nothing but his hand that holds you from falling into the fire every moment. It is to be ascribed to nothing else, that you did not go to hell last night; that you was suffered to awake again in this world…but that God’s hand has held you up.[11]

He leads his listeners to the conclusion of the sermon with the following words:
And now you have an extraordinary opportunity, a day wherein Christ has thrown the door of mercy wide open, and stands in calling and crying with a loud voice to poor sinners; a day wherein many are flocking to him, and pressing into the Kingdom of God[12].

It is a sermon that does indeed speak of God’s wrath and man’s impending doom, but it is also a sermon that attests to God’s great grace, long suffering, and mercy. This is the type of sermon that Edwards had in mind and yet this is not the type of sermon that he was labeled by. I wise observer once noted that Jesus spoke more of hell than He did of heaven and yet He is labeled as kind and merciful; Edwards spoke more of heaven than he did of hell and he is called a fire and brimstone preacher. The real Edwards did speak of more beautiful things than this, the majority of his works and sermons are on the beauties of heaven and the joy found in God. He says to his congregation, “The enjoyment of God is the only happiness with which our souls can be satisfied. To go to heaven, fully to enjoy God, is infinitely better than the most pleasant accommodations here. Fathers and mothers, husbands, wives, or children, or the company of earthly friends, are but shadows; but God is the substance. These are but scattered beams, but God is the sun. These are but streams, but God is the ocean[13].” A simple list of other sermons preached by him will identify his desire to preach on more wonderful subjects: “Charity and its Fruits”, “The Excellency of Jesus Christ”, “Safety, Fulness, and Sweet Refreshment, to be Found in Christ”, “Heaven, A World of Love”.

Jonathan Edwards was a scientist, a philosopher, and a great American theologian; but, lest we forget, he was first and foremost a minister, whose heart was for the salvation of his congregation; indeed Jonathan Edwards was a passionate preacher.

[1] Ian Murray, Jonathan Edwards: A New Biography. (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 2003), xxiii.
[2] Ibid., 27.
[3] Ibid., 65.
[4] Encyclopedia Britannica. 11th ed. (New York: Encyclopedia Britannica Co., 1910) 9; 3.
[5] R.C. Sproul, The Holiness of God. (Wheaton: Tyndale, 1998), 175.
[6] Jonathan Edwards, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.” Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God and Other Writings. (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2000), 3-4.
[7] This doctrine they would support Biblically by quoting Romans 3:23, Ephesians 2:3, Psalm 51:5, etc.
[8] Edwards, 7.
[9] Sproul, 176.
[10] Edwards, 9.
[11] Ibid., 11.
[12] Ibid., 16.
[13] Jonathan Edwards, The Works of Jonathan Edwards. (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1974), 2; 244.