Audiobook5 hours
Short Life of Jonathan Edwards
Written by George M. Marsden
Narrated by Grover Gardner
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
4/5
()
About this audiobook
Jonathan Edwards is one of the most extraordinary figures in American history. Arguably the most brilliant theologian ever born on American soil, Edwards (1703-1758) was also a pastor, a renowned preacher, a missionary to the Native Americans, a biographer, a college president, a philosopher, a loving husband, and the father of eleven children. George M. Marsden - widely acclaimed for his magisterial large study of Edwards - has now written a new, shorter biography of this many-sided, remarkable man. A Short Life of Jonathan Edwards is not an abridgment of Marsden's earlier award-winning study but is instead a completely new narrative based on his extensive research. The result is a concise, fresh retelling of the Edwards story, rich in scholarship yet compelling and readable for a much wider audience, including students.
Author
George M. Marsden
George M. Marsden (PhD, Yale University) is professor emeritus at the University of Notre Dame. His many books include Fundamentalism and American Culture, The Outrageous Idea of Christian Scholarship, and Jonathan Edwards: A Life.
More audiobooks from George M. Marsden
Fundamentalism and American Culture: 2nd Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Edwards on the Christian Life: Alive to the Beauty of God Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Related to Short Life of Jonathan Edwards
Related audiobooks
Benjamin Franklin: The Religious Life of a Founding Father Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Life of David Brainerd Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Best of Jonathan Edwards Sermons Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sketch of the Life and Labors of George Whitefield Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Of the Mortification of Sin in Believers Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Personal Narrative of Jonathan Edwards and His Seventy Resolutions Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Concerning the End for Which God Created The World Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Treatise on Grace Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Calvin: Of Prayer and the Christian Life: Selected Writings from the Institutes Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Reformed Pastor Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Andrew Fuller: Holy Faith, Worthy Gospel, World Mission Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Justification by Faith Alone Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Christianity and Liberalism Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Rediscovering Holiness: Know the fullness of life with God Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5John Calvin and His Passion for the Majesty of God Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Taking God Seriously: Vital Things We Need to Know Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Christian Leaders of the Eighteenth Century Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Basic Christianity Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Bondage of the Will Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Select Sermons Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Religious Affections Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5An Enquiry into the Obligations of Christians to Use Means for the Conversion of the Heathens Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Weakness is the Way: Life with Christ Our Strength Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Religious Affections Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Essential Jonathan Edwards: An Introduction to the Life and Teaching of America's Greatest Theologian Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Reformation for Armchair Theologians Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Charity and Its Fruits: Christian Love as Manifested in the Heart and Life Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5J. I. Packer: An Evangelical Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Religious Biographies For You
Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5An Exorcist Tells His Story Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Women of the Bible Speak: The Wisdom of 16 Women and Their Lessons for Today Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Confessions of St. Augustine Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Sound of Gravel: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Twelve Extraordinary Women: How God Shaped Women of the Bible, and What He Wants to Do with You Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Autobiography of a Yogi: The Original 1946 Edition plus Bonus Material Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Unveiling Grace: The Story of How We Found Our Way out of the Mormon Church Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Faith Still Moves Mountains: Miraculous Stories of the Healing Power of Prayer Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Devil is Afraid of Me: The Life and Work of the World's Most Famous Exorcist Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Autobiography of a Yogi (Unabridged) Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5SEAL of God Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Seven Storey Mountain Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5In the Presence of My Enemies Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus: Third Edition with Bonus Content, New Reflections Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Pure Act: The Uncommon Life of Robert Lax Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Magic of Marie Laveau: Embracing the Spiritual Legacy of the Voodoo Queen of New Orleans Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Twelve Ordinary Men Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hiding Place Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Toltec Art of Life and Death Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Inside Scientology: The Story of America's Most Secretive Religion Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Paul: A Biography Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Bare-Faced Messiah: The True Story of L. Ron Hubbard Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Unorthodox: The Scandalous Rejection of My Hasidic Roots Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Finding God in the Waves: How I Lost My Faith and Found it Again Through Science Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5God's Smuggler Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Mothers and Daughters of the Bible Speak: Lessons on Faith from Nine Biblical Families Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Seven Men: And the Secret of Their Greatness Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Severe Mercy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Pure: Inside the Evangelical Movement that Shamed a Generation of Young Women and How I Broke Free Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related categories
Reviews for Short Life of Jonathan Edwards
Rating: 4.0217391630434784 out of 5 stars
4/5
46 ratings6 reviews
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5This was an okay read. Marsden does a good job of getting the setting down for Edwards which I think can be the biggest pitfall when presenting a not in full biography as Marsden did in his full biography of Jonathan Edwards. So there I am pleased with the book. However, the biggest problem I have with this book is that I don't feel like I ever met Edwards or really saw him stand out as he should have. There's a lot of pulling in other big names to provide context to the world Edwards was a part of, but I felt that Edwards was getting lost in the world. It seemed more of an account of the period rather than the man. I know Edwards is a big name in the Puritain world (almost post-Puritain) but this book hardly made me want to pick up any sermon or book other than the scientific look of God's performance of miracles in Edward's New England area, "A Faithful Narrative Of The Surprising Work Of God". If I didn't know that Edwards was an important figure and went solely on this book, I don't think I'd be impressed to read anything about him. Again, good establishment of the setting of the era so it will help when you read Edwards work. Final Grade - C-
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5We listened to the audiobook during recent road trips. This isn't an abridgment of Marsden's magisterial Life of Edwards (which I read for a Yale seminar some 7 years ago), but a revision of that work for a popular audience, well done in its own right. A surprisingly entertaining listen.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Great work on Jonathan Edwards. I enjoyed how Marsden paralleled Edwards and Franklin and mixed Edwards' life and works and I am more excited to read Marsden's larger work on Edwards.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Listened to this audiobook and thoroughly enjoyed it. While he is remembered as perhaps the most influential pastor/thinker in American history, this book helped me realize that he probably felt largely unsuccessful throughout his ministry. Very interesting.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I’ve just finished (took me a little under a week) this book about Jonathan Edwards. There were a few reasons I wanted to read about him. Firstly, he has inspired John Piper and I’ve heard Piper talk about Edwards many times. So I wanted to get a better understanding of the man who has influenced Piper so much, as Piper has influenced me. Secondly, Ridley is about to have some sort of Jonathan Edwards partnership with Yale going on, so I figured I was probably going to end up learning something about him in the future.The book is pretty good. It’s engaging and interesting and very easy to read. The only real criticism I have is that it implied way to much knowledge of colonial America and the American Revolution. I knew nothing really of these events and so it was obvious as I was reading I wasn’t getting a full picture of some of the important things that Edwards did. (For example the book talks a lot about Edwards in contrast to Benjamin Franklin, I really don’t know much about Franklin at all, except that he is some important old American dude). So I’m at least inspired from this book to go out and read some more on the history of Colonial America and Franklin.Edwards himself was a very interesting person. He was involved in revivals (aka Awakenings) that sounded to be very much like some of the more Pentecostal gatherings (eg. Toronto or Lakeland) we hear about, lots of physical and deep emotional response to the Gospel. Edwards recognised that these big displays of emotion could be used for ill, but defended them in general because it was a big deal for someone to realise that God had saved them a terrible sinner and why shouldn’t they feel a weight of emotion? I thought there was probably a rebuff to many of us who can tend to be hard nosed no emotion evangelicals. Edwards lived by his convictions and never apologised for that. Even if, as it did, cost him his job and therefore his security. I felt sad when Jonathan Edwards died in this book. It was like my new friend had just died, and all too soon. Edwards died in is 50s not long after becoming Principal of Princeton.If you’re interested in famous smart old Christians (like I seem to be) then I would definitely recommend reading this book. There is a bigger longer one by the same authour (Marsden) called Jonathan Edwards: A Life, which is probably also worth reading, though I haven’t.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5To those who have heard at least a bit of the life of Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758) you probably often remember as the preacher of the famous sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.” At times by unlearned historians he is given as the caricature of a hell-fire preaching of the Puritan age. In this biography George Marden, professor emeritus of history at the University of Notre Dame gives not an abridged version of the larger biography of Edwards called Jonathan Edwards: A Life (Yale, 2003). Instead he gives readers “the most essential and most engaging” aspects of the real Edwards. Marsden is acknowledged as the premier historian of Edwards in the world today; his full length biography called for nine book awards. This volume is a wonderful jumping off point for those who have never read anything on Edwards, especially church groups and American history students.Marsden does a masterful job of showing how Edwards’ life flowed and integrated into the larger story of early America. The often forgotten truth that this nation was founded not only in the midst of Revolution but also Revivalism helps us see how America can be simultaneously so religious and materialistic. Edwards epitomized the Puritan heritage of his pre-Revolutionary day with his calvinistic leanings, and this was at a time when clergy were the best educated and most influential citizens. He combined intellectual rigor, spiritual discipline, and pastoral care which made him a puritan of puritans. Whereas the Puritans were a beleaguered minority in England, they were the first and largest group to settle New England, and so enjoyed a sort of cultural monopoly. Edwards was the only boy in a family with ten sisters. He entered what became Yale College at the age of thirteen, and after a stint in New York City, in 1726 he moved to a church in Northampton, Massachusetts. Northampton was a town of 1,000 people about 100 miles west of Boston. For the next twenty-two years he cared for his flock, welcomed George Whitefield and became a leading advocate of the “Great Awakening” revivals, fathered ten children with his wife Sarah, and wrote some of the most important works in American religious history – one being his Treatise on Religious Affections. Late in 1748 Edwards was fired and ousted from the church for his more conservative views on church membership and the sacraments. After a brief time as a missionary to Indians in Stockbridge, Edwards was appointed president of Princeton in January of 1758, only to die of a smallpox inoculation eight weeks later at the age of 54. When writing about his death Marsden writes “He was just fifty-four years old….Almost all his life he had been preparing for this moment. He had often preached to others about how they should be ready for death and righteous judgment at any minute, and he had disciplined himself with a regimen of devotion so that he would be prepared. In the weeks when he was wasting away he must have wondered why God would take him when he had so much to do. But submission to the mysteries of God’s love beyond human understanding was at the heart of his theology.” Edwards even in death as in life found peace in solace in the high view of the soveriegnty of God. He concludes that Edwards most importantly was a man of “remarkable constituency of his life and though” and “God-centered integrity.”The last chapter of the book titled “What Should We Learn from Edwards?” Marsden explores Edwards towering influence on American cultural and his significant impact on the future reformed theology. Marsden concludes this work by examining the lasting theological insights that Edwards pursued and which are shared and treasured by a number of religious traditions today. Know after reading this short read of 144pgs my mind screams more and i now wanting to purchase and devour his schloraly work Jonathan Ewards: A Life all 513pgs of it. On a personal note if your interested in more on Edwards you can visit The Jonathan Edwards Center at Yale University where alot of his original writings are housed and they are in the process of still in the process of publishing his works for the public to have and see. Also in 2003 a the Desiring God Pastor’s National Conference the likes of John Piper, Donald Whitney, Mark Dever, and J.I. Packer spoke on a variety of theological topics pertaining to the theology of Jonathan Edwards. Something worth listening to those interested.