Jonathan Edwards: The Great Awakening Movement

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Jonathan Edwards was born to a highly puritan family on October 5 1703 in Connecticut USA . He preached British American Puritanism and is regarded by many as the greatest American theologian of all times . He is also regarded as the founder of the “Great Awakening” movement in America2. The Great Awakening movement was targeted at the religious revival of the American people, who were facing hardships because of the rising population due to British migration. Because of the rising population, the competition for resources and jobs, money, etc. increased. It also resulted in the reduction of the standard of life that people were enjoying earlier. This positively impacted the struggle among the people for worldly pursuits, which made Jonathan Edwards to believe that people have shifted away their focus from God. This …show more content…

Some of the sermons given by other preachers triggered extreme reactions from the audiences and even mass conversions. Even though John Edwards successfully managed to keep his entire congregation peaceful, he also employed various elements of “Pathos” in his sermons that directly appealed to the emotional senses of the people2. His sermons like Sinners in the hands of Angry God and The peace that Christ gives to his True Followers, are some of the examples3. He was a firm proponent of Calvinism (believing in the supremacy and sovereignty of God) and most of his sermons communicated it to the people. His major work, besides his sermons, is his book titled “Freedom of the Will”, in which he compares the conflicting and contradicting Calvinistic and Arminian concepts of Free will and the morality related to choice . In this book he has not only maintained a theological outlook, but has also referenced many philosophers involved in the enlightenment movement. Even though challenging to read because of its philosophical contents, it remains among his popular

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