Profession: Christian Preacher and Philosopher
Biography: Widely acknowledged to be America's most important and original philosophical theologian. An important preacher and writer, Edwards was one of the prime forces behind the 1740 Great Awakening, a Christian Protestant revival movement based on individual piety and renewed religious devotion.
Edwards was greatly influenced by the Enlightenment and the works of such figures as Isaac Newton. In 1727 he was first ordained as a minister in this grandfather's church at Northampton, taking sole charge in 1729. Edwards' ideas would help spark a great revival in Northampton in 1734-5.
Edwards' reputation began to spread and he was one of the leaders of the Great Awakening that began to spread across America and to England. However Edwards eventually became unpopular within his own congregation and was dismissed in 1750, though his writing continued to be widely influential.
Born: October 5, 1703
Birthplace: East Windsor, Connecticut Colony, USA
Star Sign: Libra
Married Life
- 1727-07-28 American philosopher and scholar-pastor Jonathan Edwards (23) weds Sarah Pierpont (17), until his death in 1758
Historical Events
- 1731-07-08 Theologian Jonathan Edwards preaches his sermon "God Glorified in Man's Dependence" in Boston, later his first published sermon
- 1741-07-08 Theologian Jonathan Edwards preaches perhaps the most famous of all American sermons "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" at Enfield, Connecticut, part of the Great Awakening
Francis Bacon
Hannah Arendt
John Locke
John Muir
Thomas Hobbes
William Penn