Jonathan Edwards (1703 – 1758) was a colonial American Congregational preacher, theologian and missionary to Native Americans. He is considered to be one of America’s most brilliant thinkers. He was instrumental in helping to shape the First Great Awakening in the early 1700’s. His most famous sermon, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,” is considered a classic of early American literature. In 1758 he became the president of the College of New Jersey (now called Princeton). Sadly, after only being on the job for a few weeks he died from a smallpox inoculation that was designed to protect him from getting the disease. Below are some of his most famous quotations. I pray that they will get you to think about drawing closer to the Lord and living a more holy life.1
“You contribute nothing to your salvation except the sin that made it necessary.”
“Lord, stamp eternity on my eyeballs.”
“God’s purpose for my life was that I have a passion for God’s glory and that I have a passion for my joy in that glory, and that these two are one passion.”
“Nothing sets a Christian so much out of the devil’s reach than humility.”
“All truth is given by revelation, either general or special, and it must be received by reason. Reason is the God-given means for discovering the truth that God discloses, whether in his world or his Word. While God wants to reach the heart with truth, he does not bypass the mind.”
“Truth is the agreement of our ideas with the ideas of God.”
“How can you expect to dwell with God forever, if you so neglect and forsake him here?”
“When indeed it is in God we live, and move, and have our being. We cannot draw a breath without his help.”
“Prayer is as natural an expression of faith as breathing is to life.”
“Being sensible that I am unable to do anything without God’s help, I do humbly entreat Him, by His grace, to enable me to keep these Resolutions, so far as they are agreeable to His will, for Christ’s sake.”
“Love sought is good, but given unsought is better.”
“Saw so much of the wickedness of my heart that I longed to get away from myself…I felt almost pressed to death with my own vileness. Oh, what a body of death is there in me…Oh the closest walk with God is the sweetest heaven that can be enjoyed on earth!”
“Nothing grieves me so much as that I cannot live constantly to God’s glory.”
“There is a God in heaven who overrules all things for the best; and this is the comfort of my soul…How blessed it is to grow more and more like God!”
“Some make gods of their pleasures; some choose Mammon for their god; some make gods of their own supposed excellencies, or the outward advantages they have above their neighbors: some choose one thing for their god, and others another. But men can be happy in no other God but the God of Israel: he is the only fountain of happiness.”
“A true and faithful Christian does not make holy living an accidental thing. It is his great concern. As the business of the soldier is to fight, so the business of the Christian is to be like Christ.”
“Resolution One: I will live for God. Resolution Two: If no one else does, I still will.”
“It is not by telling people about ourselves that we demonstrate our Christianity. Words are cheap. It is by costly, self-denying Christian practice that we show the reality of our faith.”
“God is the highest good of the reasonable creature. The enjoyment of him is our proper; and is the only happiness with which our souls can be satisfied. To go to heaven, fully to enjoy God, is infinitely better than the most pleasant accommodations here. Better than fathers and mothers, husbands, wives, or children, or the company of any, or all earthly friends. These are but shadows; but the enjoyment of God is the substance. These are but scattered beams; but God is the sun. These are but streams; but God is the fountain. These are but drops, but God is the ocean.”
“Seek not to grow in knowledge chiefly for the sake of applause, and to enable you to dispute with others; but seek it for the benefit of your souls.”
“Christ is the true light of the world; it is through him alone that true wisdom is imparted to the mind.”
“The seeking of the kingdom of God is the chief business of the Christian life.”
“The smallest sin is an act of Cosmic Treason against a Holy God.”
“We are dependent on God’s power through every step of our redemption.”
1 All of these quotes are from the following two websites:
Inspirational Quotes by Jonathan Edwards (bibleportal.com)
TOP 25 QUOTES BY JONATHAN EDWARDS (of 179) | A-Z Quotes (azquotes.com)