AP Language: Jonathan Edwards

Born in 1703; died in 1758

Lived in Northhampton, Massachusetts, and went to Yale at the age of 13.

Groomed to be a pastor of the Congregational Church

• Became a pastor in 1729

Vivid sermons he wrote helped to inspire the Great Awakening

• The Great Awakening was when the Church began to accept those who had not been “born again.”

• Edwards was extreme through his over-the-top sermons that sought to convert more people.

  • Instead, he actually scared people away and got fired.

He did missionary work in Stockbridge for 8 years.

Named as president of the College of New Jersey, now known as Princeton University.

Father of 11 children, and was a very present parental figure

He sought a balance between modernity and Puritanism.

• Believed in reason, education, and free will

• Felt closer to God when he was in nature

Wrote “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,” which was a fire and brimstone sermon that used extended metaphors to secure those who have not accepted Christ as their savior.

• Very heavy on tone and diction