Jonathan Edwards
Robert Watson
History 1100: America to 1865
Mr. Lawrence Celani
October 9, 2015
Jonathan Edwards, a puritan born colonist who experienced an intense conversion at an early age, was one of the most influential religious leaders of his era. Edwards was born in 1703 in Connecticut. Edwards was a well-educated individual, whom had attended Yale specializing in theology and philosophy. Soon after, Edwards became a very important and well-known preacher in the historical event called the Great Awakening, in which people believe to be one of the most extreme spurts of God’s graces. Edwards usually read in a monotone voice, but got very into some of his preaching on occasion, but never went as far as screaming and …show more content…
The Colonist’s beliefs are important to modern day studies of Edwards because they show the importance of God to the new settlers and how religious beliefs developed through time. The theme of Edwards’s sermon was God’s long restrained but impending wrath. Edward’s message was clear, the colonists must follow his preaching and rid of their sinful desires, or else they would suffer the fires of hell for all eternity. The importance of this is that the approach Jonathan chose was very unique because many preachers of the time did not speak of such bad consequences or results of not following God’s will. Many preachers fear scaring away followers, so they only preach what people want to hear and did not like to stress the chance of not obtaining infinite happiness and going to hell. Edwards on the contrary, was not afraid to tell people things the way they were. Perhaps the most impressive aspect of his ministry is how he was able to attract so many Colonists and bring them back even as they began to drift away. This ability that Edwards possesses makes him special; this characteristic makes him a leader. When looked upon, Edwards shares many of the traits, abilities, and characteristics any leader …show more content…
Edwards is still studied to this day was his sermons about free will and God’s righteousness. The reason this is important is because if one were to walk into a church of any sort these topics are still central themes of all preaching of almost all religions. His themes of his sermons are very much like most of the homilies many will hear at their church or even in a religious study group. As stated earlier in the paper, the way Edwards used fear served as an example. Through his movements, it is easy to state that fear is an ineffective way of promoting ideas, leading in general, or even influencing the way people act. Because in the end, people still held onto their sinful pleasures. It is clear to see that using fear, ultimately, leads to less unification and truthfulness as a community. In addition, Edwards is not the only one to fail using this strategy of compelling. In fact, there has never been a successful continuously lasting movement to
Robert Watson
History 1100: America to 1865
Mr. Lawrence Celani
October 9, 2015
Jonathan Edwards, a puritan born colonist who experienced an intense conversion at an early age, was one of the most influential religious leaders of his era. Edwards was born in 1703 in Connecticut. Edwards was a well-educated individual, whom had attended Yale specializing in theology and philosophy. Soon after, Edwards became a very important and well-known preacher in the historical event called the Great Awakening, in which people believe to be one of the most extreme spurts of God’s graces. Edwards usually read in a monotone voice, but got very into some of his preaching on occasion, but never went as far as screaming and …show more content…
The Colonist’s beliefs are important to modern day studies of Edwards because they show the importance of God to the new settlers and how religious beliefs developed through time. The theme of Edwards’s sermon was God’s long restrained but impending wrath. Edward’s message was clear, the colonists must follow his preaching and rid of their sinful desires, or else they would suffer the fires of hell for all eternity. The importance of this is that the approach Jonathan chose was very unique because many preachers of the time did not speak of such bad consequences or results of not following God’s will. Many preachers fear scaring away followers, so they only preach what people want to hear and did not like to stress the chance of not obtaining infinite happiness and going to hell. Edwards on the contrary, was not afraid to tell people things the way they were. Perhaps the most impressive aspect of his ministry is how he was able to attract so many Colonists and bring them back even as they began to drift away. This ability that Edwards possesses makes him special; this characteristic makes him a leader. When looked upon, Edwards shares many of the traits, abilities, and characteristics any leader …show more content…
Edwards is still studied to this day was his sermons about free will and God’s righteousness. The reason this is important is because if one were to walk into a church of any sort these topics are still central themes of all preaching of almost all religions. His themes of his sermons are very much like most of the homilies many will hear at their church or even in a religious study group. As stated earlier in the paper, the way Edwards used fear served as an example. Through his movements, it is easy to state that fear is an ineffective way of promoting ideas, leading in general, or even influencing the way people act. Because in the end, people still held onto their sinful pleasures. It is clear to see that using fear, ultimately, leads to less unification and truthfulness as a community. In addition, Edwards is not the only one to fail using this strategy of compelling. In fact, there has never been a successful continuously lasting movement to