Jonathan Edwards (theologian)
A fiery preacher who shaped America's religious landscape by framing faith as a profound, almost sensual, encounter with divine beauty.
1703–1758 (age 55)·American preacher and philosopher·Birthday: October 5
Biography
Jonathan Edwards, born in Connecticut in 1703, was a mind of startling intensity who saw the universe as a theater of God's glory. More than just the hellfire preacher of 'Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,' he was a rigorous philosopher who engaged deeply with the emerging ideas of the Enlightenment. His leadership during the Great Awakening of the 1730s and 1740s channeled emotional revivalism into a structured theological vision. Edwards argued that true virtue was rooted in a disinterested love for God's beauty, a radical idea that wove together Puritan piety and aesthetic philosophy. His later years as a missionary to Native Americans and president of the College of New Jersey (now Princeton) were cut short by an untimely death from a smallpox inoculation, but his dense body of work continues to challenge theologians and historians.
#1 When Jonathan Was Born
The biggest hits of 1703
Jonathan's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1703Born
1708Started school
1716Became a teenager
1719Could drive
1721Could vote
1724Turned 21
1733Turned 30
1743Turned 40
1753Turned 50
1758Died at 55
Key Achievements
- His sermon 'Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God' (1741) became a defining text of the First Great Awakening.
- Authored 'A Treatise Concerning Religious Affections' (1746), a sophisticated analysis of genuine religious experience.
- Served as the third president of the College of New Jersey, shaping early American higher education.
- Produced philosophical works like 'Freedom of the Will' (1754), engaging with Enlightenment debates on determinism.
Did You Know?
He entered Yale College at age 13 and graduated as valedictorian.
He was dismissed from his pulpit in Northampton, Massachusetts, after a dispute over communion requirements.
He died from complications of a smallpox inoculation, a then-new medical procedure.
His wife, Sarah Pierpont Edwards, was considered a spiritual partner and a model of piety in her own right.
“Resolved, never to do anything, which I should be afraid to do, if it were the last hour of my life.”
