The sharpness of his intellect, the activitj' of his imagination, the liveliness of his sensibilities, and the
EDWARDS
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EDWARDS
depth of his j>iety, were regarded as signs of his being called of God to the ministry of the Gospel. Having been a resident scholar nearly two j^ears at Yale Col- lege after his graduation, and having pursued his the- ological studies during that period, he was " approba- ted" as a preacher in June or July, 1722, several months before he was nineteen years of age. From August, 1722, until April, 1723, he preached to a small Presbyterian church in New York city. His eloquence fascinated his hearers, but he felt compelled to decline their urgent invitations to become their pastor. In his solitary walks along the silent banks of the Hudson he learned more and more of "the bottomless depths of secret corruption and deceit" belonging to his heart, and of the beauty and amiableness of true holiness. " Holiness, as I then wrote down some of my contem- plations on it, appeared to me to be of a sweet, pleas- ant, charming, serene, calm nature, which brought an inexpressible purity, brightness, peacefulness, and rav- ishment to the soul. In other words, that it made the soul like a field or garden of God, with all manner of pleasant flowers, enjo3'ing a sweet calm, and the gentle, vivifying beams of the sun. The soul of a true Chris- tian, as I then wrote my meditations, appeared like such a little white flower as we see in the spring of the year, low and humble on the ground, opening its bos- om to receive the pleasant beams of the sun's glory ; rejoicing, as it were, in a calm rapture ; diffusing around a sweet fragrancj'; standing peacefully and lovingly in the midst of other flowers round about, all in like manner opening their bosoms to drink in the light of the sun." It was during his residence in New York that he wrote the first thirty-four of his well- known "Resolutions" for the government of his life.
In September, 1723, he was called to a tutorship in Yale College. Having passed the preceding winter and spring in severe study at the college, he entered on his tutorship in June, 1724, and left it in September, 172G. After having declined various invitations to take the oversight of churches, he was ordained Febru- ary 15, 1727, as pastor of the church in Northampton, a colleague with his celebrated grandfather, Solomon Stoddard. He rose at once into eminence as a preach- er, especially as a preacher of the divine law, of the divine sovereignt}', of man's entire sinfulness by na- ture, of justification by faith, and of eternal punish- ment. He often spoke extempore; he seldom made a gesture ; his voice was not commanding ; his power was that of deep thought and strong feeling. Dr. Trumbull sa3'S that when Mr. Edwards was preaching at Enfield, Conn., "there was such a breathing of dis- tress and weeping that the preacher was obliged to speak to the people and desire silence that he might be heard." A gentleman remarked to President D wight that when, in his youth, he heard Mr. Edwards describe the day of judgment, he fully supposed that immediate- ly at the close of the sermon "the Judge would de- scend, and the final separation take place." During the deliverj-of one of his most overwhelming discourses in the pulpit of a minister unused to such power, this minister is said to have forgotten himself so far as to ])ull the preacher by the coat, and try to sta}' the tor- rent of such appalling eloquence bj' the question, "Mr. Edwards ! Mr. Edwards ! is not God a merciful Be- ing .>"
In February, 1729, in consequence of the death of Mr. Stoddard, the entire charge of the congregation at Northampton was devolved on Mr. Edwards. In 173-1 and 1735 occurred a remarkable "awakening" of re- ligions feeling in his parish ; another occurred in 1740, at which period he became a bosom friend of George Whitefield. During both these developments of re- ligious activitj' he preached with a force which over- awed his hearers. While his parochial labors were '^lultifarious and earnest, he studied the phenomena of the revival with the keenness of a philosopher, and thev prompted him to write some of his most acute JII.-E
disquisitions. Indeed, nearly all the works which he published during liis ministry at Northampton indicate the degree in which he labored for the promotion or the regulation of those religious "awakenings" for which his ministry was distinguished. Some of these works are merelj' sei-mons, others are larger treatises. They bear the following titles : God f/loy-ijicd in 3Ians Be2)endence (1731) : — A divine mid supernatural L'r/lit imparted to the Soul by the Spirit of God (1734 ; a ser- mon noted for its S])iritual philosophy) : — Curse ye Meroz (1735) : — A faithful Narrative of the swprislvg Work of God in the Cani-ersion of many hundred Souls in Northamjjton, etc. (London, 173G) : — Five lAscourses prefixed to the Americaii Edition of this Narrative (1738) : — Sinners in the Hands of an angry God (1741 ; one of his most terrific sermons): — Sorrotps of the be- reaved spread before Jesus (1741): — Distinfiuinhing Marls of a Work of the true Spirit (1741): — Thoughts on the lierival in New England, etc. (1742): — The Watchman's Duty and Account (1743): — The true Ex- cellency of a Gosj)el Minister (1744): — A Treatise con- cerning religious Affections (1745 ; one of his most spir- itual and analytical works): — An humble Attempt to jwomofe explicit Agreement and visible Union among God's People in extraordinary Prayer (174G) : — True Sairds, when absent from the Body . present with the Lord (1747) : — God's awful Judgments in breaking the strong Hods of the Community (1748) : — Life and Diary of the Rev. David Brainerd (1749 ; a volume which exerted a decisive influence on Henry Martyn, and has affected the missionary spirit of the English as well as Ameri- can churches) : — Christ the Exampile of Gospel Ministers (1749) : — Qmditications for full Communion in the visible Church (1749 ; a treatise of historical as well as theo- logical importance) : — Farewell Sermon to ifie People of Northampton (1750; called "the best farewell sermon ever written").