Jonathan Edwards

Spencer Lambert
ENGL 48A
Journal for Jonathan Edwards
November 16, 2009

"You have reason to wonder that you are not already in hell."

Internet Quotation: "The first and greatest homegrown American philosopher." - Perry Miller

Summary: The first is something of a simple summary. This reading is a fire-and-brimstone sermon delivered to strike the fear of God into the hearts of the wicked -- and everyone else, apparently. Lines like the one quoted above make me, as a blasphemous heretic, laugh for a good long time, a nice little break from the constant threats of being cut by the sword of divine justice. Which sounds like a weapon from a cheesy fantasy novel, doesn't it?

The second quotation is from Perry Miller, the founder of the Yale edition of the Works of Jonathan Edwards. I include it here because it is interesting to think that this Christian theologian is our first real philosopher. I think it would explain a lot about our country's religious leanings, which I look into below.

My Ideas: As if I hadn't gotten enough sermons during my forced tenure at church (love you, mom), this one proves why I stopped going the moment I could. I even wrote at the end of the reading "Why I don't practice religion, QED." To be young and atheistic.



There is a simple reason why Puritanism isn't quite the hot religion these days: nobody wants this! As if life weren't bad enough, now I have to go to church every Sunday and listen to some man pontificate about how God hates me and how it's a wonder I'm not already in hell? I'm afraid that isn't going to work. If you wanted to stick around on the religious scene, you need to tone it down a bit, maybe make the salvation a little more than a quick note at the end, as it is in this sermon. After being scorched by the fire-and-brimstone of the sermon, the only recompense we get are a few measly, uninspired paragraphs on what we can expect if we follow the rules?

The sermon isn't bad from a technical level. The writing is prototypically American, all short, declarative sentences that leave lasting impressions. They can be easily spewed back by, say, little kids. Imagine, if you would, a scene in Sunday school:

Instructor: And how long is the wrath, children?
Children: "It is everlasting wrath."

Each point that Edwards makes is delivered succinctly for maximum effect. One would think that there were many converts on the day this one was given. But then again, they were usually like this one.

While I've mostly made fun, I will admit that this is scary stuff. The idea that even your omnipotent, merciful Creator utterly despises your poor, foolish soul is one that most wouldn't be so quick to scoff at, especially not during the period. We've since, in my opinion, given the whole religion thing a bit more thought, and certain scientific theories were developed that help to explain a universe without God. Even with these, the sermon has stopping power. Maybe if this were delivered at my benign little church back when I was a young, generally rebellious little teen I would have listened a little more intently. But probably not.



I perhaps need to stop joking. Sermons like this one are a reason this country has such deep religious inclinations, despite what our founding documents say. While we aren't really supposed to be a Christian nation, there are strong Christian undertones to much of what goes on in this country, especially in politics. Do you think, for example, that cutting abortion coverage from the health care bill recently passed in the House had nothing to do with the representatives' religious beliefs? Religion is everywhere in this country, and I believe we have people like Edwards to thank for that. We tried to escape the hellfire by leaving God out of our Constitution, upon which this country is based. Yet that great magical man in the sky just won't leave this country alone.

And that's a problem for the country, especially when the type of fundamental zealotry found in this reading was the norm. When people are so concerned with the spiritual -- whether or not they will get to heaven, whether or not God wants to smite them, etc. -- they neglect the physical. How can society possibly improve if everybody is trying so hard not to screw up and go to hell? Real life problems take a back seat to whatever the popular thing is to do to rid a person of sin. If we cast off religion as a whole, I have a feeling we would suddenly take a good look around, see the innumerable problems this world has developed, and get to work fixing them. But nobody wants to hear that, because what is the purpose of life without a place to go after it? We are working for something, aren't we?

Aren't we?!

(Aside: I found a social networking site just for Satanists called MySatan.net while searching for images. You learn something new everyday.)