Sermons by Jonathan Edwards on the Matthean Parables, Volume 1: True and False Christians (On the Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins)
Overview
The first volume of Sermons contains a previously unpublished series by Edwards on Jesus’ parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins from Matthew 25. It presents an important look into Edwards’ developing thought on the nature of sainthood and related topics of theoretical and practical Christianity, particularly in the context of widespread spiritual renewal. Edwards preached these sermons in the lull between the Connecticut Valley Revival of 1734–35 and the Great Awakening, which started in Massachusetts in late 1740. Two introductions describe Edwards’ preaching style and method, providing a historical context.
For the entire set of sermons, see Sermons by Jonathan Edwards on the Matthean Parables (3 vols.)
- Presents sermons from a prominent American theologian
- Uses rich imagery from the well-known parables of Christ
- Offers applicable and insightful teaching
Top Highlights
“Edwards urges his congregants to cultivate a reverential rather than a sinful fear of God, the difference being that a sinful fear makes one afraid to come to God, while a reverential fear makes one afraid to go away from him.” (Page 29)
“And according as you love and esteem the Lord Jesus Christ, will you desire to have your soul adorned to fit it for him. The more you love him, the more worthy will he appear in your eyes of your adorning yourself for him.” (Page 62)
“This sermon is a formal literary unit consisting of three main divisions, Text, Doctrine, and Application.” (Page 8)
“So it oftentimes is that false Christians are well received among true Christians. They have lamps as well as themselves, and that is all that is visible to them; as to the inside of their vessels, that is hid from ‘em, they can’t see whether they have any oil or no.” (Pages 79–80)
“So true Christians may sometimes resemble false in the ‘corrupt frames that they are in,’ motivated primarily by ‘natural principles’ and feeling no different from when they were unconverted.” (Page 22)
Any writings of Jonathan Edwards, one of the greatest and most influential of Evangelical theologians, are worthy of careful attention, but these sermons engage with the crucial question of distinguishing a true experience of grace from a hypocritical profession of conversion. They are therefore of central importance for understanding an enduring issue in Evangelical faith and practice.
—David W. Bebbington, professor of history, University of Stirling, Scotland
- Title: True and False Christians (On the Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins)
- Author: Jonathan Edwards
- Series: Sermons by Jonathan Edwards on the Matthean Parables
- Volume: I
- Publishers: Cascade, The Jonathan Edwards Center at Yale University
- Print Publication Date: 2012
- Logos Release Date: 2016
- Pages: 226
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
- Subjects: Ten virgins (Parable) › Sermons; Jesus Christ › Parables; Bible. N.T. Matthew › Criticism, interpretation, etc; Preaching › United States--History--18th century
- ISBNs: 9781610977142, 1610977149
- Resource ID: LLS:SRMNSJNTPRBLS01
- Resource Type: text.monograph.sermons
- Metadata Last Updated: 2022-09-30T03:08:37Z
Jonathan Edwards (1703–1758) is considered one of America’s greatest theologians. While attending Yale College, he encountered the same Calvinism that had influenced his own Puritan upbringing.
Three years after Edwards was ordained as a minister, the First Great Awakening began in his church, which prompted Edwards to study conversion and revival within the context of Calvinism. During the revival, Edwards preached his most famous sermon, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,” and penned many of his most popular works, including Distinguishing Marks of a Work of the Spirit of God, A Treatise Concerning Religious Affections, and Life and Diary of the Rev. David Brainerd.
In 1757, Edwards reluctantly became president of the College of New Jersey (Princeton University), where he hoped to complete two major works—an expansion of his treatise on the history of redemption and a study of the harmony of the Old and New Testaments. The Works of Jonathan Edwards (26 vols.) is a massive collection containing five decades’ worth of study and scholarship on and from Edwards.