One of the more interesting tidbits in the Sinners saga is that the church at Enfield was not the first congregation to hear this sermon. Edwards preached this sermon to his Northampton congregation in June 1741, though it was a bit different than the Enfield iteration, and did not get near the response that it did there. To my knowledge, the text of the earlier version is not available today, but it was described as being a bit milder and more pastoral than the later version.

Though not representative of Edwards’s vast sermonic corpus, Sinners is quite representative of a certain genre of sermon often referred to as “awakening sermons.” Traditional sermons in the 18th century, and even today, will comprise a handful of points related to a biblical passage or particular topic or theme. Awakening sermons, however, generally harped on one theme, illustrated and repeated as many times as the preacher felt necessary, in as many ways as he felt was necessary. So it is with Sinners. The rhetorical genius of Jonathan Edwards finds little better example than this sermon as he employs a barrage of metaphors and descriptions to describe the one idea of God’s fury toward the damned and the horror they will undergo if they die outside God’s grace. It’s hard to recognize this genius and the literary prowess of this sermon, however, because emotion often overcomes the reader and they cannot see past their horror or disgust at what they are reading. Of course this is the point of the awakening sermon! To be shaken and stirred from one’s present complacency to an understanding of their state in hopes of their turning toward God and Christ for solace and assurance.

Such was the response of the Enfield congregation. Rev. Stephen Williams of Longmeadow, Massachusetts recorded the events of that day in his diary:

went over to Enfd, where we met Dear Mr E- of N. H. – who preachd a most awakening Sermon from those words Deut – 32.35 – and before ye Sermon – was done there was a great moaning – & crying out throughout ye whole House – what shall I do to be Savd – oh I am going to Hell – oh what shall I do for a christ &c &c – so yt ye minister – was obligd to desist – shreiks & crys – were piercing & Amazing – - after Some time of waiting – the congregation were still So yt a prayr was made by Mr W – & after that we descendd from the pulpitt and discoursd – with the people – Some in one place & Some in another – and Amazing & Astonishing – ye powr – God was Seen – & Severall Souls were hopfully – wrought upon yt – night & oh ye cheerfullness & pleasntness of thier countenances – yt receivd comfort – oh yt God – wd strengthen & confirm &c we Sung an hymn & prayd & despersd – ye Assembly.

So great was the response to Edwards’s preaching of this sermon at Enfield, that he “was obligd to desist.” In other words, Edwards did not even get through the whole sermon because the shrieks and cries were so great that he simply could not continue. Edwards, to some degree, accomplished what he set out to do in Enfield, and this sermon continues to evoke similar responses, at least at the emotional level, when it is read today.

So Sinners is an important sermon, one worthy of great study, particularly for its literary quality. But it must be kept in context. It must be remembered that this sermon, and other awakening sermons of the period, had a specific end in being written and preached, and that they were not characteristic of the period either in Edwards’s preaching or in the preaching of much of New England. With all the heightened interest in Edwards studies today, it is my hope that we will finally come around to appreciating Sinners for what it is, which is marvelous, and eschew the mostly unfair treatment and scorn that it has received over the last 268 years, particularly in American high schools and colleges.

For our final discussions, the topic was Jonathan Edwards’s legacy. This is one of the most popular topics in Edwards scholarship today, and one that is still very open to inquiry and work. It’s amazing that there is still so little on this important aspect of American religious history, but hopefully that is beginning to change. Edwards’s legacy can be looked at from a number of different angles, the first being his theological legacy. The latter half of the 18th century and beginning of the 19th century saw dramatic shifts in religion and theology, several groups forming rather quickly based largely on distancing themselves from other groups. Of course the first of these theologies are the Edwardsians or the New Divinity school. These folks defended revivalism, spoke in natural and moral ability/inability categories, championed a moral rigorism (largely through adapting Edwards’s Nature of True Virtue for their own ends), and sought to carry forward Jonathan Edwards’s ecclesiastical views, especially in repudiating the old Halfway Covenant.

In opposition to the New Divinity school, as mentioned in a previous post, were the Old Lights, or Old Calvinists, with their emphasis on social hierarchies and tradition-based practices. In addition to these, new opponents emerging from Scottish Common Sense philosophy began writing against the New Divinity movement. One of the more prominent men in this school was John Witherspoon, a Presbyterian minister, president of the College of New Jersey (later, Princeton), and, incidentally, the only clergyman to have signed the “Declaration of Independence.” Witherspoon, taking his cues from philosopher Thomas Reid, despised the idealism and occasionalism that Edwards espoused, so much so that when he got to Princeton he formally removed all traces to Edwards whatsoever, in favor of a more pragmatist, or realist, approach.

Other new theologies cropping up were those of the Methodists and the Baptists, particularly in the southern colonies. Both of these groups generally spread after the Great Awakening, with ecclesiastical power shifting away from the gentried clergy to a more democratic system of everyman preachers and evangelists. The Methodists were especially characterized by an emphasis on disciplined spirituality, universal grace, and a certain brand of perfectionism.

Other areas in which Edwards’s legacy can be seen is the culture of the 19th century, particularly in women’s fiction, of all places! Authors such as Susan Warner, Maria Cummins, and Louisa May Alcott were greatly influenced by Edwards and those who followed him. The James family is also a prime example of this. Henry James, Sr. preached a socialized gospel that largely stemmed from Edwards’s Nature of True Virtue, the novels of Henry James, Jr. were influenced by Edwards, and William James’s Varieties of Religious Experience cites Edwards a number of times in looking at religious experience from a psychological point of view.

Other areas that Edwards has been prominent in is the revivalism that was a big part of the 19th and 20th centuries, and missions, Edwards’s Life of David Brainerd being immensely influential and beneficial for a variety of global Christian missions boards. Even today we see Edwards in the resurgence of Reformed Theology, particularly among young evangelicals, that TIME magazine deemed the #3 idea changing the world right now.

One of my favorite quotes about Jonathan Edwards comes from Ezra Stiles, president of Yale from 1778-95. He said, “The works of Jonathan Edwards in another generation will pass into as transient notice perhaps scarce above oblivion, and when posterity occasionally comes across them in the rubbish of libraries, the rare characters who may read and be pleased with them will be looked upon as singular and whimsical.” Clearly, not all men were born prophets.

It is with this in mind that the editors of Jonathan Edwards at Home and Abroad sought to gather a group of scholars to begin the conversation in hopes of sparking further study into this important topic. In the introduction of this volume, the problem the authors observed is further spelled out: “Much work remains to be done on the long-term significance of his life and ministry, the dissemination of his many writings (both published and unpublished), his roles as a clerical and intellectual exemplar, his influence outside the world of religion, the appropriation and re-appropriation of his remarkably resilient cultural authority, and the convergence of these developments into discernible intellectual and ecclesiastical movements” (xii). That one sentence represents generations of further Edwards studies.

The book is divided into three parts, each offering a broad lens from which to approach the study of Edwards’s legacy. Part one, entitled “Remembering Edwards’s Ministry,” is comprised of four essays looking at how Edwards is remembered as a pastor in eighteenth century New England. George Marsden, more qualified than anyone to do so, muses on the various challenges faced by Edwards’s biographers. Michael McClymond speculates on the probable cultural shifts that may have occurred had Edwards lived to finish his History of the Work of Redemption, self-described by Edwards as “a body of divinity in an entire new method.” Catherine Brekus discusses Edwards’s ministry to children, specifically in how he thought and ministered in terms of the salvation of children, and the controversies that later developed out of it. Concluding part one of this volume, Ava Chamberlain probes the “bad book” controversy, seeing this episode as less to do with reputations in the community and everything to do with cultural transformations related to sex and speech that were coming to a head in the late eighteenth century.

Part two of this collection focuses on the influence of Edwards on American culture at large. Mark Valeri looks at how Edwards, and those who followed him, were influential on the development of the American market economy. James German explores Edwards’s doctrine of depravity and how that played into early American politics. Charles Hambrick-Stowe discusses the marriage of Edwardsian piety and the burgeoning abolition movements, particularly in the activism of Samuel Hopkins, Sarah Osborn, and Lemuel Haynes. Rounding out part two, Sharon Kim and Amanda Porterfield contribute articles tracing Edwardsian influence into pop culture, the former in the world of nineteenth century woman’s fiction, the latter in the film Runaway Bride.

Part three takes us abroad to get a better idea of how Edwards was received outside America. David Bebbington begins this discussion with a survey of the countries most known as having been penetrated by Edwards, whether through influence or published works. D. Bruce Hindmarsh focuses in on England, particularly early evangelicals in England. Moving north on the island, Christopher Mitchell explores the well-known “Scottish connection” that Edwards developed, primarily looking at this connection through the six correspondents with whom Edwards formed the closest friendships. Andrew Walls and Stuart Piggins focus on how missionary efforts were sparked by Edwards and those who followed him, first through the publication of Life of Brainerd and later through the efforts of the various evangelical missionary societies. The final essay in this volume comes from M.X. Lesser, best known for the extensive annotated bibliographies on Edwards that he has compiled and edited. Naturally, then, he briefly discusses how Edwards’s works have traveled across the globe, and then gives an extensive list of Edwards’s works published abroad.

This collection of essays is very helpful in bringing the various issues regarding Edwards’s legacy into view. Indeed, there is something here for all types of scholarly pursuit and can be very useful in thinking through ways to bridge disciplines in knowing how Edwards’s works have been used since his death in 1758. Hopefully this book has started the conversation and furthered the interest in this very important, yet very neglected, study of Jonathan Edwards and his works.