Jonathan Edwards: The Great Awakener

Those who remember Jonathan Edwards (1703--1758) only for his sermon "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" overlook his many and varied contributions to American church history. A man of powerful intellect, Edwards is credited with instigating America's first Great Awakening. Beginning in 1734, six sudden conversions in his parish turned into a flood of thirty per week, ultimately drawing people from up to a hundred miles away. In addition to preaching, Edwards also wrote several books, including Treatise on Religious Affections, served as a missionary to Native American tribes, and was briefly president of the College of New Jersey (later Princeton). He died at age fifty-four after receiving a smallpox inoculation.