Jonathan Edwards
From RationalWiki
Jonathan Edwards (1703 – 1758 CE) was a Minister of a Congregational church in Northampton, Massachusetts during the First Great Awakening. He is best known as the author of the classic "fire and brimstone" sermon Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God. However, his most important contribution to the Awakening was his book, A Faithful Narrative of the Surprising Work of God (London, 1737), which provided guidance to other clergy as to how to conduct a revival. He graduated first in his class from Yale University, and was serving as the president of Princeton University when he received a smallpox inoculation, having been assured it would be safe. Never in robust health, he died of the inoculation on March 22, 1758.
His inspiring preaching helped start the Great Awakening, which became a huge religious revival that helped unite the colonies prior to the American Revolution. Like most eighteenth century Congreationalists (who were derived from the the seventeenth century "Puritan" church) Edwards was a Calvinist; however, traditional Calvinists maintain that only the Elect, who had been chosen before the creation of the world, could achieve salvation[1]. By the time of the Great Awakening, most Calvinist clergy had altered their views to embrace the idea that one could alter their eternal fate (which was the point of most of Edward's sermons.)
Aaron Burr was a grandson of Jonathan Edwards.
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[edit] Other people you might have preferred to read about
Jonathan Edwards (a different one) is also a singer/songwriter, in case this article really confused you.
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There's also John Edwards, who is a former trial lawyer and Democratic senator, who ran for the Democratic nomination for President in 2008, and John Edward, who is a hack mentalist who pretends to talk to the dead by using bad cold reading and was named "biggest douche in the universe" by the prestigious celebrity auditing firm of Parker and Stone.
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[edit] See Also
[edit] Sources
- Frank Lambert, Inventing the “Great Awakening” (Princeton University Press, 1999)
