[Illustration: JONATHAN EDWARDS]
Probably for most persons the influence of Edwards will longest
survive through his wonderful personality. "From the days of Plato,"
says a writer in the Westminster Review, "there has been no life of
more simple and imposing grandeur." There are four memoirs. The
earliest is from Samuel Hopkins, D.D., a pupil and intimate friend. It
"has the quaint charm of Walton's Lives." The second, by Sereno
Edwards Dwight, D. D., is much more complete. He first brought to
light the remarkable early papers on topics in physics, natural
history, and philosophy. Dr. Samuel Miller's, in Sparks's 'Library of
American Biography,' is mainly a brief compend. The latest Life is by
Professor Alexander V. E. Allen, D. D. It endeavors to show "what he
[Edwards] thought, and how he came to think as he did," and is an
interesting and important contribution to a critical study of his
works. There is still need of an adequate biography, which can only be
written in connection with a thorough study of the manuscripts. A more
full and critical edition of Edwards's writings is also much to be
desired.
Edwards's first publication (1731) was a sermon preached in Boston on
'God Glorified in Man's Dependence.' The conditions under which it was
produced afford striking contrasts to those attendant upon
Schleiermacher's epoch-making 'Reden ueber Religion'; but the same note
of absolute dependence upon God is struck by each with masterly power.
A yet more characteristic and deeply spiritual utterance was given in
the next published discourse, entitled 'A Divine and Supernatural
Light Immediately Imparted to the Soul by the Spirit of God, Shown to
be both a Scriptural and Rational Doctrine' (1734). These two sermons
are of primary significance for a right understanding of their
author's teaching. All is of God; faith is sensibleness of what is
real in the work of redemption; this reality is divinely and
transcendently excellent; this quality of it is revealed to the soul
by the Holy Spirit, and becomes the spring of all holiness. "The
central idea of his system," says Henry B. Smith, "is that of
spiritual life (holy love) as the gift of divine grace." All of
Edwards's other writings may be arranged in relation to this
principle,--as introductory, explicative, or defensive.
When the sermon on the 'Reality of Spiritual Light' was delivered, the
movement had begun which, as afterwards extended from Northampton to
many communities in New England and beyond, is known as "The Great
Awakening." The preaching of Edwards was a prominent instrumentality
in its origination, and he became its most effective promoter and
champion, and no less its watchful observer and critic. Among the
published (1738) sermons which it occasioned should be specially
mentioned those on 'Justification by Faith Alone,' 'The Justice of God
in the Damnation of Sinners,' 'The Excellency of Jesus Christ,' 'The
Distinguishing Marks of a Work of the Spirit of God, applied to that
uncommon operation that has lately appeared on the minds of many of
the people of New England: with a particular consideration of the
extraordinary circumstances with which this work is attended' (1741).
The same year (1741) appeared the sermon on 'Sinners in the Hands of
an Angry God.' Some five years previous, moved by the notice taken in
London by Dr. Watts and Dr. Guise of the religious revival in
Northampton and several other towns, and by a special request from
Rev. Dr. Colman of Boston, Edwards prepared a careful 'Narrative,'
which, with a preface by the English clergymen just named, was
published in London in 1737, and the year following in Boston. The
sermon on the 'Distinguishing Marks of a Work of the True Spirit of
God' was followed by the treatise entitled 'Some Thoughts Concerning
the Present Revival of Religion, and the way in which it ought to be
acknowledged and promoted' (1742); and four years later, by the
elaborate work on 'Religious Affections.' The latter sums up all that
Edwards had learned, through his participation in the movement whose
beginnings and early stages are described in the 'Narrative,' and by
his long-continued and most earnest endeavor to determine the true
hopes of the spiritual life which had enlisted and well-nigh absorbed
all the powers of his mind and soul. It is a religious classic of the
highest order, yet, like the 'De Imitatione Christi,' suited only to
those who can read it with independent insight. They who can thus use
it will find it inexhaustible in its strenuous discipline and
spiritual richness, light, and sweetness. Its chief defect lies in its
failure to discover and unfold the true relation between the natural
and the spiritual, and to recognize the stages of Christian growth,
the genuineness and value of what is still "imperfect Christianity."
The "revival," with the endeavor to discover and apply the tests of a
true Christian life, brought into prominence as a practical issue the
old question of the proper requirements for church membership. The
common practice failed to emphasize the necessity of spiritual
regeneration and conversion, as upheld by Edwards and his followers.
The controversy became acute at Northampton, and combined with other
issues, resulted in his dismissal from his pastorate. His meek yet
lofty bearing during this season of partisan strife and bitter
animosity has commanded general admiration. Before he closed the
contest he published two works which, in the Congregational churches,
settled the question at issue in accordance with his principles--viz.,
'An Humble Inquiry into the Rules of the Word of God concerning the
Qualifications requisite to a Complete Standing and Full Communion in
the Visible Christian Church,' and 'Misrepresentations Corrected and
Truth Vindicated in a Reply to the Rev. Solomon Williams's Book,' etc.
The reply to Williams was written and published after Edwards's
removal to Stockbridge. The period of his residence there (1751-1758,
January) was far from tranquil. His conscientious resistance to
schemes of pecuniary profit in the management of the Indian Mission
there, brought upon him bitter opposition. For six months he was
severely ill. In the French and Indian war a frontier town like
Stockbridge was peculiarly exposed to alarm and danger. Yet at this
time Edwards prepared the treatises on the 'Freedom of the Will,' the
'Ultimate End of Creation,' the 'Nature of Virtue,' and 'Original
Sin.' The first was published in 1754, the others after his death
(1758), as were many of his sermons, the 'History of Redemption,' and
extracts from his note-book ('Miscellaneous Observations,'
'Miscellaneous Remarks'). Early in 1758, having accepted the
presidency of the College of New Jersey, he removed to Princeton,
where he died March 22d.
That with enfeebled health, and under the conditions of his life at
Stockbridge, he should have prepared such works as those just
enumerated, is a striking evidence of his intellectual discipline and
power. It would probably have been impossible even for him, but for
the practice he had observed from youth of committing his thoughts to
writing, and their concentration on the subjects handled in these
treatises. A careful study of his manuscript notes would probably be
of service for new and critical editions, and would seem to be
especially appropriate, since only the work on the 'Freedom of the
Will' was published by its author.
It is impossible in the space of this sketch to analyze these
elaborate treatises, or to attempt a critical estimate of their value.
Foregoing this endeavor, I will simply add a few suggestions
occasioned principally by some recent studies, either of the
originals or copies of unpublished manuscripts.
Edwards's published works consist of compositions prepared with
reference to some immediate practical aim. When called to Princeton he
hesitated to accept, lest he should be interrupted in the preparation
of "a body of divinity in an entire new method, being thrown into the
form of a history." It was on his "mind and heart," "long ago begun,"
"a great work." The beginnings of it are preserved in the 'History of
Redemption' posthumously published, but this was written as early as
1739, as a series of sermons, and without thought of publication. The
volume of miscellanies, also published after his death, are extracts
from his note-book, arranged by the editor. Nowhere has Edwards
himself given a systematic exposition of his conception of
Christianity. The incompleteness of even the fullest edition of his
works increases the liability of misconstruction. It would not be
suspected, for instance, to what extent his mind dealt with the
conception of God as triune, or with the Incarnation.
His published works show on their face his relation to the religious
questions uppermost in men's minds during his lifetime. "He that would
know," writes Mr. Bancroft, "the workings of the New England mind in
the middle of the last century and the throbbings of its heart, must
give his days and nights to the study of Jonathan Edwards." And
Professor Allen justly adds, "He that would understand ... the
significance of later New England thought, must make Edwards the first
object of his study." Besides these high claims to attention, one more
may be made. The greatness of Edwards's character implies a contact of
his mind with permanent and the highest truth--a profound knowledge
and consciousness of God. Human and therefore imperfect, colored by
inherited prepossessions, and run into some perishable molds, his
thought is pervaded by a spiritual insight which has an original and
undying worth. It is not unlikely that the future will assign him a
higher rank than the past.
In one of the earliest, if not the first of his private philosophical
papers, the essay entitled 'Of Being,' may be found the key to his
fundamental conceptions. An exposition of his system, wrought out from
this point of view, will show that he has a secure and eminent
position among those who have contributed to that spiritual
apprehension of nature and man, of matter and mind, of the universe
and God, which has ever marked the thinking and influence of the
finest spirits and highest teachers of our race.
Edwards was born October 5th, 1703, in East Windsor, Connecticut. He
was the son of Rev. Timothy and Esther Stoddard Edwards; was graduated
at Yale College in 1720; studied theology at New Haven; from August
1722 to March 1723 preached in New York; from 1724 to 1726 was a
tutor at Yale; on the 15th of February, 1727, was ordained at
Northampton, Massachusetts; in 1750 was dismissed from the church
there, and in 1751 removed to Stockbridge, Massachusetts. He was
called to Princeton in 1757, and died there March 22d, 1758.
[Illustration: Signature of Egbert C. Smyth.]