The Works of Jonathan Edwards, vol. 17: Sermons and Discourses, 1730–1733
Overview
In his new role as pastor of the Northampton church, Jonathan Edwards turned his attention to the political, social, and economic activities of his congregation, shaping his preaching to the day-to-day occurrences in their lives. This volume contains eighteen sermons that Edwards composed in Northampton from the beginning of 1730 through mid-September 1733—such classics as God Glorified in Man’s Dependence and A Divine and Supernatural Light, along with many previously unpublished works. The selections illuminate Edwards’ development as a preacher and theologian. They also provide unique insights into the development of the themes that came to characterize his mature evangelical thinking: the viciousness of the unregenerate life, the importance of evangelical humiliation as a religious exercise, and the necessity of a radical conversion from worldliness to godliness.
The prolific period encompassed by this volume, though outwardly quiet, was crucial to Edwards’ maturation. Taking on the responsibilities of his calling—working with his congregation, finding his voice as a town religious leader, exercising moral and spiritual guidance, consulting with other pastors, and most of all developing a mature preaching style—Edwards came to see revival as the only solution to the social and moral ills of his time.
Top Highlights
“[3.] But to see God is this: it is to have an immediate and certain understanding of God’s glorious excellency and love.” (Page 64)
“This spiritual light is not the suggesting of any new truths, or propositions not contained in the Word of God.” (Page 412)
“There is such a thing, as a spiritual and divine light, immediately imparted to the soul by God, of a different nature from any that is obtained by natural means.” (Page 410)
“This spiritual and divine light don’t consist in any impression made upon the imagination.” (Page 412)
“It is not rational to suppose, if there be any such excellency in divine things, that wicked men should see it. ’Tis not rational to suppose, that those whose minds are full of spiritual pollution, and under the power of filthy lusts, should have any relish or sense of divine beauty, or excellency; or that their minds should be susceptive of that light that is in its own nature so pure and heavenly.” (Page 421)
- Title: Sermons and Discourses, 1730–1733
- Author: Jonathan Edwards
- Series: The Works of Jonathan Edwards
- Volume: 17
- Publisher: Yale University Press
- Print Publication Date: 1999
- Logos Release Date: 2014
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
- Subjects: Congregational churches › Sermons; Sermons, American
- ISBNs: 9780300078404, 0300078404
- Resource ID: LLS:EDWARDS17
- Resource Type: text.monograph.collected-work
- Metadata Last Updated: 2022-09-29T23:37:19Z
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.