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Summary Of A Great Awakening By Jonathan Edwards

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In the mid 18th Century, in small Northampton, Massachusetts, a young preacher by the name of Jonathan Edwards was changing New England (Lawson, 2015, p.41). A Great Awakening was taking place, in part, due to Jonathan Edwards ideas. Many sermons and work were being both preached and published, most of which are still talked about to do this day. In the Bible, 1 Peter 5:1-4 lays out the basic responsibilities of a pastor. The Bible states,
5 So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: 2 shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful …show more content…

His messages from the pews were Biblically based, Christ-exalting, and God glorifying (Edwards, 2009). Edwards consistently brought the people to the God that was, that is, and that forever will be. Reading through Edward’s sermons it is abundantly evident that Edwards taught the entire bible--both Testaments (Edwards, 2009. He taught the tough subjects--”Sinners in the Hand of Angry God;” as well as the pleasurable matters--”Safety, Fullness, and Sweet Refreshment in Christ” (Edwards, 2009). Edwards powerfully proclaimed “The Eternity of Hell Torments” just as he preached “Heaven, a World of Love” (Edwards, 2009). Such messages, delivered from a pastor’s heart, surely would have challenged and convicted his congregation to come to God accept God’s mercy and grace for the abundant life only God can …show more content…

During the 18th Century there was a big emphasis put on logical thought and reasoning from philosophers such as John Locke (Lovelace, 1985, n.p). It was considered by many ministers that the the ideas of the first wave of Puritans was dying. Edwards brilliantly combined the new ideas of John Locke and the ideas of John Calvin. Using both a “sense of heart”, and emphasis on the awesomeness of Christ, he was able to awakening the people of New England. His work Freedom of Will discussed how we can do whatever we want, but our will should be set on glorifying God. Thus he believed that our will directed out heart's’ desires. If we were not transformed by the Holy Spirit then our will would remain bent against God. This new anti-Enlightenment theology from Jonathan Edwards was used to lead and care for his

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