Jonathan Edwards The First Great Awakening: Theological Determinism

God has gifted modern society with many exceptional men and women. One of those men is Jonathan Edwards. Jonathan Edwards was a great theologian during the time of Colonial America. He is often regarded with being “a key figure in what has come to be called the First Great Awakening” (“Jonathan Edwards American Puritan Theologian and Philosopher”). The First Great Awakening was a religious revival that swept colonial America, and forever changed protestant America. Edwards was also an incredibly intelligent man, graduating from Yale at seventeen, as well as achieving the honor of valedictorian. He then went on to receive his masters three years later (“Jonathan Edwards American Puritan Theologian and Philosopher”).

On October 5, 1703 in East Windsor, Connecticut, Jonathan Edwards was born to Timothy Edwards, the pastor of the area. “As a youth, Edwards was unable to

accept the Calvinist sovereignty of God” (“Jonathan Edwards American Puritan Theologian and Philosopher”). Although he was the child of a pastor, Jonathan Edwards did not come to conviction until the age of 18 because of his inability to accept the sovereignty of God. While reading 1 Timothy 1:17, Jonathan Edwards came to understand the sovereignty of God and “delighted” in it, which he recognizes as his conversion to Christ (“Jonathan Edwards American Puritan Theologian and Philosopher”). In 1727 Edwards became a student minister to his grandfather, Solomon Stoddard, minister at Northampton. Edwards went on to take his grandfather’s place when he past in 1729. During his time at Northampton (1730s-40s) he began to preach, and his sermons brought about great revivals, which made him key in the First Great Awakening (“Jonathan Edwards American Puritan Theologian and Philosopher”). In 1750, Edwards was dismissed from the Northampton congregation because he did not continue his grandfather’s practice of communion as a part of conversion (“Jonathan Edwards American Puritan Theologian and Philosopher”). After his dismissal from the congregation, Edwards went on to write The Freedom of the Will (1754). Four years after writing his work, on March 22, Edwards died of a fever after “experimental inoculation for small pox” (“Jonathan Edwards American Puritan Theologian and Philosopher”).
Though much of Edward’s teachings were generally wide-ranging, he most commonly covered the topics of “reformed theology, the metaphysics of theological determinism, and the Puritan heritage” (“Jonathan Edwards American Puritan Theologian and Philosopher”).

Theological determinism is the “view that God determines every event that occurs in the history of the world” (“Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy”). Ironically, theological determinism is the exact aspect of Christianity in which Edward’s was puzzled by as a child. He defends theological determinism in his book Freedom of the Will (“Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy”).

In my own opinion theological determinism is a hard topic to wrap my brain around. Man was created to have free will but if God has already determined the events of one’s life then ‘how is it free will?’. This is one question I have always asked myself, not that it affects my beliefs. In class we covered God’s Decreed will, which has clarified some of my confusion on the subject. God knows when things will happen and how they will happen, even if we do not know

ourselves.
Jonathan Edwards made a major impact in not only the Great Awakening but in modern day society as well. Edwards has taken a place in many American history books that are still taught today, and I speak with experience from my American History class last year in which we were taught about Jonathan Edwards. Not only has he taken a place in history books but his sermon Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God has as well. The major topics of the sermon are: “corrupt sinners face a fearful judgment”, “time is short for the unrepentant”, and now is the time to repent (Julich, Daniel). All of these topics still hold prevalent in today’s society. In fact, they are topics that will always hold a place in Christian theology.