Jonathan Edwards from the frontispiece of Works of President Edwards, 1852
Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758)
Jonathan Edwards was one of America’s most accomplished intellectuals and theologians. Born in what is today South Windsor, Edwards became a leader of New England’s first Great Awakening. His 1741 sermon, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,” first heard by throngs of believers in Enfield, is considered one of the most famous and influential ever delivered in the United States. After 25 years of serving as a minister in Northampton, Massachusetts, Edwards served at a Native American mission in Stockbridge where he wrote some of his most influential works promoting the Puritan vision of Calvinist orthodoxy. In 1757 he accepted an appointment as president of the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University) but died the following year from complications brought on by a smallpox inoculation. His widely circulated works influenced subsequent generations of reformers, including abolitionists of the 18th and 19th centuries.
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Connecticut Origins Shape New Light Luminary Jonathan Edwards
One of the most significant religious figures in US history, this theologian, philosopher, pastor, revivalist, educator, and missionary spent his formative years in Connecticut. …[more]
