Jonathan Edwards
Article about Sarah Edwards at DesiringGod.org
Second article about Sarah Edwards at DesiringGod.org
How Could Jonathan Edwards Own Slaves?
Jonathan Edwards (1703–1758) was one of the greatest theologians and preachers in American history—a man whose intellect, passion, and devotion to God helped spark a spiritual revival that reshaped the early colonies. Known for his brilliant mind and burning heart, he was both a scholar and a shepherd, a man who sought above all to glorify God in every part of life.
Edwards was born in East Windsor, Connecticut, in 1703, the only son among eleven children in a deeply religious family. His father was a pastor, and his mother was the daughter of another minister. From an early age, Jonathan showed extraordinary intelligence. He was reading Latin at six, entered Yale at thirteen, and graduated at seventeen, already recognized as a prodigy.
But for all his brilliance, Edwards’s faith was not merely intellectual. As a teenager, he was deeply convicted of his sin and captivated by the beauty and majesty of God. He later wrote of his conversion, “The first instance that I remember of that sort of inward, sweet delight in God and divine things was on reading those words: ‘Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honor and glory forever and ever.’”
After completing his studies, Edwards became an assistant pastor to his grandfather, the famous Solomon Stoddard, in Northampton, Massachusetts. When Stoddard died in 1729, the twenty-six-year-old Edwards became the town’s pastor. He preached with deep conviction, urging his congregation to turn from empty religion to genuine, heart-transforming faith in Christ.
In the early 1730s, God began to move in extraordinary ways. Under Edwards’s preaching, Northampton experienced a powerful revival—the beginning of what would become known as the Great Awakening. People wept openly under conviction of sin, cried out for mercy, and found joy in the assurance of salvation. Edwards’s most famous sermon, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,” delivered in 1741, described both the horror of judgment and the hope of grace with such vivid power that listeners trembled in their seats. Yet Edwards’s goal was never fear—it was to awaken hearts to the beauty of God’s mercy.
At the height of the revival, Edwards became one of the most influential voices in the colonies. His writings, such as The Religious Affections and The Freedom of the Will, explored the relationship between reason, emotion, and true spiritual transformation. For Edwards, real faith was not cold knowledge but a new sense of the soul’s delight in Christ.
Despite his brilliance, Edwards faced opposition for his strict moral convictions and was eventually dismissed from his church in 1750. Yet he continued to serve faithfully, becoming a missionary to Native Americans in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, while writing some of his most profound theological works.
In 1758, he accepted the presidency of Princeton College (then the College of New Jersey), but only weeks after arriving, he died from complications following a smallpox vaccination. He was fifty-four.
Jonathan Edwards once said, “Resolved, to live with all my might while I do live.”
And he did. His mind stretched to grasp the glory of God, and his heart burned to make that glory known—a legacy of faith, intellect, and devotion that still inspires believers today.