American revivals Archives

Jonathan Edwards: A Life

Jonathan Edwards: A Life, George M. Marsden. Yale University Press (ISBN: 9780300105964) 2004.

Summary: A biography that features the thought, cultural and religious context, revivals, and ministry among Native Americans.

Many who hear the name of Jonathan Edwards never get beyond one lurid passage in “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,” one of the thousands of sermons Edwards preached. Sadly, because they haven’t even read the whole of that sermon, they fail to grasp that the theme is actually the saving mercy of God. Even less, they fail to grasp what a profound thinker Edwards was, perhaps one of the greatest the United States has produced. However, this Bancroft Award-winning biography more than amply redresses the balance for anyone who wishes to understand Edwards’ contribution to the cultural and religious history of New England and the what would eventually become the United States.

Rather than discuss the outline of Edwards’ life, with which this biography deals in careful detail, I want to discuss some of the distinctive insights I found in its pages. Whereas we might think of Edwards as a severe person, one of the things I realized was his absolute delight in God and his world. As he wrote in one of his journals, he believed the Creator made all things for “the communication of happiness” to his creatures. This insight was reflected in his own devotional life and contemplative walks. Likewise, it makes sense both of his love of natural science and his passion that his people would be on fire with the love of God.

I was also struck by the importance to Edwards’ career of powerful families who were for many years his patrons and then adversaries. Two families were especially important: the Stoddard and Williams families. Solomon Stoddard preceded Edwards as pastor of the Northampton church and was Edwards grandfather. The invitation to join Stoddard late in his life and succeed him established Edwards among the religious elite. The ongoing support of Colonel John Stoddard and the Williams family helped make his ministry secure both ministerially and financially. That is, until changed his standards concerning who might be a communicant member of the church.

Marsden traces the tension throughout Edwards ministry between his father’s ideas and those of Solomon Stoddard on communicant membership. His father believed it necessary for candidates for church membership to show evidences of spiritual conversion beyond mere profession of faith. Stoddard took a more relaxed stance, allowing those who professed faith to become members. He thought membership, the hearing of preaching, and communion could draw people into a deeper relationship with Christ. And when Edwards came to Northampton, this was the position he adopted, opposing his father. Marsden traces how Edwards eventually adopted his father’s stance, and how the Stoddard and Williams clans turned on him, spelling the end of his Northampton ministry.

Before that, however, came the revivals. Marsden traces the history of the local awakenings of the 1730’s, culminating in the Great Awakening of 1740-42, both locally in Northampton and on both sides of the Atlantic. He discusses the strategic partnership of Edwards and George Whitefield. And he covers Edwards role in defending the revivals against Old Light critics while addressing excesses. We learn of his efforts to extend and deepen those revivals into ongoing holiness, including the failed “solemn covenant.”

As significant as his pastorate was, perhaps Edwards’ writing was his major contribution. Not only did he write several accounts of revivals but he also addressed genuine versus counterfeit spirituality in Religious Affections. Coming out of a Reformed tradition, he was active in countering the rise of Arminianism. Particularly, this was so in The Freedom of the Will. Toward the end of his life, he worked on more extensive theological works. This included, A History of the Work of Redemption including a View of Church History. A feature of this biography is the in-depth summaries of Edwards’ works as well as the context in which they were written.

One of the other influential works of Edwards was his The Life of David Brainerd. The Edwards family supported Brainerd’s efforts in mission work among indigenous peoples. And when he succumbed to tuberculosis, Edwards’ daughter Jerusha nursed him, and was a companion on good days. She followed him in death four months later. Brainerd left journals describing his spiritual life, calling, and ministry. Edwards edited and published these, which became a classic mission work which I read in early adulthood.

Jonathan Edwards was a slave owner. Marsden documents this as well as Edwards’ defense of slavery. This does not occupy a major part of the book. However, it shows Edwards as a man of his time. The biography also discusses Edwards ministry among indigenous people in Stockbridge after leaving Northampton, his efforts to launch a school for their children, as well as the challenges of the war with France and opposition from powerful local elements. Marsden discusses the growing awareness of Edwards and others of how indigenous missions could be manipulated for colonial control.

Marsden’s biography provides a highly readable narrative while describing Edwards’ intellectual life. We also glimpse a pastor deeply concerned for the spiritual life and growth in holiness of his people. He understood human nature, although at times dealt clumsily with situations like the youth who were reading sexual material. He had a strong marriage, an able partner in Sarah, as well as godly children. Marsden weaves accounts of the family life into the narrative throughout. I would recommend this as the “go-to” work on Edwards.

The Divine Dramatist

The Divine Dramatist (Library of Religious Biography), Harry S., Stout. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing (ISBN: 9780802801548) 1991.

Summary: A biography of George Whitefield focusing on the drama of his preaching and his impact on American religious life.

The Library of Religious Biography is a series of scholarly but accessible biographies published by Wm. B. Eerdmans since 1991. This volume was one of the first of the series and helped set the standard for combining careful scholarship and readable prose that has marked this series. Harry S. Stout is an American religious historian at Yale Divinity School.

George Whitefield was born in Gloucester, England to parents who were innkeepers. His youth reflected a conflict between love of the theatre and a call to preach. For a long time, it looked like theatre would win, but in the end ministry did. A central theme of the biography was that the dramatist was always present in his preaching. In fact, this was so much so that Whitefield struggled to separate his private self from the public persona.

Whitefield, while ordained within the Anglican Church, was not cut out for parish ministry. Stout traces the development of his itinerant ministry, and the distinctive aspect of open air preaching, when pulpits were closed to him. While modeling his work on Howell Harris, a Welsh preacher, the combination of his preaching gifts and skills at self-promotion enabled him to exercise a far more extensive ministry on both sides of the Atlantic.

His skill at promotion was another distinctive. He leveraged clerical refusals to let him preach to draw larger crowds. In America, he partnered with a young printer, Ben Franklin to promote his revivals through both newspapers and printed sermons. This led to a lifelong friendship between these two men, very unalike. However, each commanded the deep respect and affection of the other.

He came to America, sent to establish a mission in Georgia. This led to an orphanage and school that became a lifelong cause for which he raised money. On most of his speaking engagements, offerings were designated for the orphanage and he raised huge sums. He was a model of integrity, living modestly and conveying the funds for their intended purpose.

Stout also notes Whitefield’s profound Calvinism. Although at points he associated with lowercase methodism, he disagreed with and eventually distanced himself from John Wesley. They only reconciled toward the end of his life.

Finally. Stout traces how Whitefield’s itinerant preaching gave rise to evangelicalism, from his preaching of the new birth, to open air work, to the means of promotion. Sadly, he destroyed his own health in the process and died while itinerating.

Stout thus portrays both Whitefield’s life and larger significance, particularly for American religious history. This is an important book for American evangelicals, for better or worse, to understand their roots.