There have been numerous political and religious leaders in most eras throughout time. However, Jonathan Edwards put a spin on the type of sermons that he preached during his era. A fire and brimstone preacher, the hell and damnation type of preaching wasn’t always looked on with respect back in Jonathan’s day.

Known as a theologian and philosopher of British American Puritanism, Jonathan Edwards was a missionary to the Native Americans. He was at the forefront of his era for the Protestant missionary expansion of the 19th century.

Jonathan Edwards was born in 1703. He was the only boy out of eleven children total in the family. He was able to go to school at Yale and he entered the school in 1716.

From 1720-1726, he recorded a lot in his diary where he proposed seeking salvation and his pursuit to do so. He also tried to interpret Song of Solomon at the time.

In 1727, he became an ordained minister of Northampton. By 1731, it was apparent that Jonathan Edwards would be very outspoken about his religious views and by 1733; he was instrumental in a religious upheaval. It calmed down, or began to do so, by 1735.

The Great Awakening followers became known as New Light Calvinist ministers. Their work was inspired by Jonathan Edwards. Even today, in 2007, there are many aspects of his ministry that have carried over into modern day ministry. His influence has been profoundly etched in the minds of others through the writing that he left behind. Today, some of the same religious beliefs that were held by Jonathan Edwards continue to live on.