(1703-1758)
Jonathan Edwards was born in East Windsor, Connecticut in 1703. He was the only boy among eleven children. His father, Timothy Edwards was the pastor of the church in that town. Jonathan was bright and scholarly. He entered Yale when he was almost thirteen years of age, and graduated at the top of his class at the age of seventeen.
He preached in New York in a Presbyterian Church in 1724, and returned to Yale two years later as a tutor in theology. In 1728 he was appointed to the pastorate of a church in Northampton, Massachusetts, which had previously been pastored by his grandfather. In 1750 he left there to minister to a congregation in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, and also worked with the Housatonic Indians.
On September 29, 1757, he was called to be president of Princeton University. At first he had declined, but a group of ministers prevailed upon him to accept. He came to Princeton in January of 1758. Unfortunately, his presidency was cut short by his untimely death at the age of 55 years, from a small pox vaccination. However, the influence of this man on the spiritual life and development of our nation cannot be overestimated.
Edwards was a consistent avid student of The Bible, sometimes studying fourteen hours a day. A deep thinker, he had an outstanding grasp of the Scriptures, and could study The Bible in the original languages of Greek and Hebrew. This understanding enabled him, by the power of the Holy Spirit, to present the concept of the depravity of the sinful nature of man, and God's wrath because of sin, in a highly systematic and forceful way. Edwards believed that only with the thorough presentation of the sinfulness of man, and the certainty of God's wrath and vengeance, would men, women and children be convinced that they must receive Christ as their Savior.
An excellent example of his ability to convince sinners that their sin is hateful in God's sight, can be seen in his sermon, "Sinners In The Hands Of An Angry God", which was delivered in Enfield, Connecticut on July 8, 1741. The text for this sermon was taken from Deuteronomy 32:35, "To me belongeth vengeance, and recompense; their foot shall slide in due time: for the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things that shall come upon them make haste." He spent a good portion of this sermon, which he read from a manuscript, describing how God hates their sin and is "dreadfully provoked". By the time he concluded his sermon, the entire congregation was crying out to God for mercy. The results of this sermon were phenomenal, and it subsequently sparked the Great Awakening in Colonial America.