Jonathan Edwards
...Rev. Stoddard’s successor. Jonathan Edwards was unanimously selected. In 1727 Edwards was ordained and also married to Sarah Pierreport. In 1731 Edwards was invited to Boston to give a public lecture. Here is where Edwards his lecture known as “God Glorified in Mans Dependence.” This lecture would prove to be a starting point in the sparking the Great Awakening. In his lecture Edwards didn’t even touch the subject of “federal” theology. This did not make him a favorite among the audience in Boston. This subject was also very close to the audience and thought that it should be addressed. Edwards was the first person to really come out and publicly voice criticism over some of the ideals of the church. For this he was both criticized and praised among the public. The “Marrow of Puritan Divinity” of William Ames, was one of the biggest things that Edwards criticized. This was very clear when he didn’t even speak of it at his lecture in Boston. Edwards insisted on the dependence of man on god. In 1734, a revival began to break out in Northampton, Massachusetts. This revival was sparked by Edwards’s preaching’s in Boston, Yale and his own church. This revival was a bit different though from all of the other revivals in the past. This revival began among the young people. Most of the revivals up to this time had been started by older more educated adults. By directing his preaches towards young people of his time Edwards’s started a trend that exists even up to this day. Today young people are some of the most active followers of Christianity. The reason why this revival was started among the young people is because there mind are not as fixed or corrupted like the minds of older people. A lot of young people wanted to meet with Edwards personally after his lectures and sermons to talk with him about beliefs and there faith. Also in 1734 Edwards started working on publishing one of his most powerful books yet. It was called “A Faithful Narrative of the Surprising Work of God in the Conversion of Many Hundred Souls in North Hampton, and the Neighboring Towns and Villages.” This book had come from Edwards’s revival in North Hampton. The book was finally published in 1736 and a hundred years later it was still used as a tool for revival. The first Great Awakening started in the early 1730’s and ended in the mid 1740’s. Edwards probably made the biggest contribution toward the Great Awakening. It was said that Edwards spoke with such passion, and that he had a way with rhetoric words, that somebody in his congregation died of a heart attack. Edwards was the biggest appraiser of The Great Awakening. In 1733 Edwards gave his first real major public lecture. The message was entitled “A divine and Supernatural Light.” In his message he stressed that Christianity needs to be encountered with truth, but the truth must also be illuminated from the presence of the Holy Spirit. ...