"Echoes of “The Great Awakening”

Jonathan Edwards is primarily remembered today as a gifted and influential theologian. But in eighteenth-century America, his preaching resounded from pulpits throughout New England, sparking the flame of revival that became the “Great Awakening.” As the fame of this Puritan pastor and preacher of revival spread far and wide, his sermons galvanized many of his listeners into reexamining their lives and faith.

Ever alert to the dangers of the religiously complacent—those who only observed the surface requirements of religion—Edwards tirelessly proclaimed the overpowering majesty and grandeur of God, and humanity’s hopelessness for moral improvement short of his grace. This stirring selection of 20 messages allows readers to experience the words that swept through this young nation with a message of repentance and a call to action.

Jonathan Edwards (1703–1758) began his education at Yale College when he was thirteen years old. He served as pastor of the Congregational Church in Northampton, Massachusetts, for over twenty years. His published sermons were widely circulated in America and England. He also served as a missionary to native Americans, and he was called to be president of the College of New Jersey (Princeton) just prior to his untimely death.