Sermons by Jonathan Edwards on the Matthean Parables, Volume 2: Divine Husbandman (On the Parable of the Sower and the Seed)
Overview
The second volume of Jonathan Edwards’ on the Matthean Parables contains a previously unpublished series of six sermons by Edwards on Jesus’ parable of the Sower and the Seed, as found in Matthew 13:3–7. Edwards preached these sermons in 1740 immediately following the visit of George Whitefield to Edwards’ church in Northampton, Massachusetts, in October of that year. This volume has historical significance for its place in the Great Awakening, and it contains important pronouncements on the preacher’s craft and the hearer’s responsibilities.
For the entire set of sermons, see Sermons by Jonathan Edwards on the Matthean Parables (3 vols.)
Key Features
- Presents sermons from a prominent American theologian
- Uses rich imagery from the well-known parables of Christ
- Offers applicable and insightful teaching
Top Highlights
“The Word of God is fitly compared to seed in the heart, as its end is bringing forth fruit. And this fruit is not brought forth any otherwise than by abiding in the ground in which it is sown, and taking root there; being well received, making deep impression, being understood, taking hold of the affections, having a durable effect in the temper and disposition of the soul.” (Page 34)
“This sermon is a formal literary unit consisting of three main divisions, Text, Doctrine, and Application” (Page 8)
“Ministers of the gospel are the servants of the owner of the field, that are sent forth to sow his seed” (Page 33)
“Third. Here is the ground in which the seed is sown, viz., the hearts of the hearers.” (Page 34)
“He notices first how hearers’ minds may be ‘impressed and affected,’ in that they may have ‘a sort of belief’ in what they hear—assent to the doctrines, assent to the truth of the Word, and conviction—but it is temporary. Providing a number of apparent allusions to Whitefield’s preaching style and its effects on auditors, Edwards points out that stony-ground hearers may even have initial joy in hearing the Word, but their joy arises from pleasure in the manner of preaching, being taken with the eloquence, fervency, and gestures of the speaker rather than having ‘joy in the things preached.’” (Pages 23–24)
Praise for the Print Edition
In the entire history of the church there have been few greater preachers than George Whitefield and Jonathan Edwards. Here we meet both of them in conversation with each other at the height of the Great Awakening. . . For students of homiletics, this could become an indispensable source on the art of great preaching.
—Stuart Piggin, director, Centre for the History of Christian Thought and Experience, Macquarie University, Australia
- Title: Divine Husbandmen (on the Parable of the Sower and the Seed)
- Author: Jonathan Edwards
- Series: Sermons by Jonathan Edwards on the Matthean Parables
- Volume: II
- Publishers: Cascade, The Jonathan Edwards Center at Yale University
- Print Publication Date: 2012
- Logos Release Date: 2016
- Pages: 140
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
- Subjects: Jesus Christ › Parables; Bible. N.T. Matthew › Criticism, interpretation, etc; Preaching › United States--History--18th century
- ISBNs: 9781610977159, 1610977157
- Resource ID: LLS:SRMNSJNTPRBLS02
- Resource Type: text.monograph.sermons
- Metadata Last Updated: 2022-09-30T03:08:38Z
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.