Jonathan Edwards

Born in East Windsor, Connecticut, in 1703, this American revivalist preacher, philosopher, and Congregationalist theologian became one of the defining religious thinkers of colonial America. Reliable reference sources describe him as a central figure in the Great Awakening, the wave of Protestant revival that spread through the British colonies in the 1730s and 1740s.

He served for many years in Northampton, Massachusetts, where his preaching brought him wide attention, and later worked in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, ministering on the frontier and continuing to write. Among his best-known works are A Faithful Narrative of the Surprising Work of God, Freedom of the Will, and the sermon Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.

In 1758, he became president of the College of New Jersey, later Princeton University, but died soon afterward in Princeton, New Jersey. His legacy reaches beyond preaching alone: he is still remembered for bringing together intense religious experience, careful argument, and a lasting influence on American theology and intellectual life.