Jonathan Edwards

Jonathan Edwards

Jonathan Edwards was born 5 Oct 1703. His father was Timothy Edwards, which was a

Minister at East Windsor, Connecticut (modern day South Windsor). His mother was Esther Stoddard, daughter of Rev. Solomon Stoddard. Jonathon was the 5th of 11 children, he was their only son. His father and older sisters educated him, preparing him for his college career. He entered Yale in the year 1716, at age 12. He was very interested in human understanding, natural understanding, and mental philosophy. Jonathan graduated in September of 1720 as valedictorian of his class, then spent a couple years studying theology in New Haven.

For a while he was a clergy at a small Presbyterian Church in New York. In the mid 1720’s, he was a tutor at Yale, earning the nickname “pillar tutor”, for his dedication and loyalty to the college. Later, in 1727, he was ordained minister in Northampton and was assistant to his grandfather, Solomon Stoddard. Jonathan was a “scholar-pastor”, studying 13 hours a day.

His wife, Sarah Pierpont, which he married in 1727, was daughter of James Pierpont, a founder of Yale. She is also descendant of Thomas Hooker, a prominent Puritan colonial leader who founded the Colony of Connecticut. She was a woman of God, a good housekeeper, and a model wife, bearing all his 11 children.

In 1729, after the death of his grandfather, Solomon Stoddard, he was left in “charge of 1 of the largest and wealthiest congregations in the colony”.

Jonathan went on to be 1 of the leading ministers in the great religious movement the came to be known as “The Great Awakening”.