Posted by
ValiantForTruth on Saturday, November 28, 2009 9:39:24 PM
Jonathan Edwards was a key figure in American history, because it was his ministry that God used to bring the Great Awakening to colonial America in the 1740s. He was the greatest American theologian in the tradition of Reformation Theology. His mind and spiritual fervor helped to permanently alter the face of American Christianity. Edwards’ preaching exploded the institutional shackles that had begun to weaken the Reformed Churches established by the Pilgrim Fathers.
At the age of 12, Edwards wrote an essay on colors, in which it was clear that he had studied the work of Isaac Newton on Opticks. But his primary interest was God. Even as a child he fasted and often took solitary walks in the forest where he meditated on God. His interest in science was merely a means to pursue more profound truths about the Creator.
In those days science had not yet turned against Christianity. Newton (1642-1727) was one on the greatest scientific minds in the history of the West and spent much of his time in the study of Bible prophecy. Science was then an inquiry into the laws that God had established to rule the material world. Faith and knowledge illuminated each other. Wherever one looks there is order and beauty in the universe, and this Newton thought was a cogent proof of God’s existence and love for man. This view would disqualify him from today’s ‘scientific’ community, which illustrates the radical beliefs that have corrupted modern science.
From an early age Edwards shared Newton's view of faith and science. So America owes much to Newton and to science in general. Good science influences good theology evident in the life of Jonathan Edwards. And as we know today, bad science influences bad theology.
For Edwards the study of insects, animals, and plants was a way to obtain a glimpse of God’s infinite creative powers. At age 13 he entered Yale College. There he continued his study of Newton and wrote his “Notes on Natural Science”. There was little doubt that Edwards could have become a great scientist, but he chose instead to follow his family heritage and become a minister of the Gospel.
[credits: Faith & Freedom by Benjamin Hart]
Next in series: The Conversion of Edwards