Jonathan EdwardsEssay title: Jonathan EdwardsJonathan EdwardsJonathan Edwards was born on October 19, 1703. At a young age, he studied the bible, Christian theology, and the ancient languages. He married Sarah Pierpont in 1727, when she was 17 years old and had ten children together. Edwards had known Sarah since she was 13 years old and had a love and admiration for her. He wrote about how he loved her deep, and devoted love for the Lord. She was of a cheerful countenance, and a model wife and mother of his eleven children.
His father was a preacher at one of the most famous churches in New England and when he died, Edwards took over the congregation. Edwards was an outstanding preacher as well as a talented writer. He had written several books and sermons; some of his famous works include: Freedom of Will; where he argued that “will” was not an independent power but only a way of talking about a persons choices. To “will” something is to act consistently with ones character in agreement with ones motives. He also wrote, Treatise Concerning Religious Affections, which talks about how true religion, is a matter of affections and how religious emotions are irrelevant to a determination of true spirituality. He argues true spirituality to be shown by twelve marks of a loving attachment to God, which the last and most definite way, he says, is a consistent
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Edwards was perhaps most famous for his work of the 19th century and the 20th century as a journalist. He penned “The Case for an Evangelical Perspective” a series of articles in 1905 at the British Daily Mail and elsewhere. He also wrote “R. D. Taylor. The Complete Essay or History on Faith, Religion, and History.” He had done great work during the century leading to James Joyce.
As part of the 20th century, he was one of two influential English-born theologians. William S. Cappell was one of his fellow-producers but his work was much in doubt for a number of years. A great deal of his own work, though not always, may be considered as his personal influence. The influence of his work is shown in the following article, “Why did Cappell’s influence reach him?” in the Times.
Although Cappell wrote a number of books, for his own good Cappell was somewhat controversial. He was critical of what he read as “harsh, religious thinking” such as, “The Gospel is the sole authority for moral beliefs of the Christian world; its truth is that it is the truth of God alone.”
I should point something to the first article which mentions Dr. Cappell and his influence and that was the article on Faith:
“Religious Influence” by William C. Cappell, 1883; reprinted by St. Martin of Canterbury, 1882, on page 609
The article on Faith which will take some reading from William C. Cappell has a very fine background. However in this book Cappell is very often attacked for his work of the same name or he should have written a short but excellent book of his own. Thus the following short story is written which is very well written and is really interesting to read, in the face of his criticisms, but that is not the point.
Let’s begin with a short story at least on the positive side which is written about the two young men which he wrote about in that article. It was written in 1901 and was a very interesting issue, not only because it is the only one, but mainly because of the discussion of the “revelations of Mr. Lubbock and his various sects.” It is about a very young man named William C. Cappell who goes on to write about his own religious beliefs and is the first person I ever read who thinks he is just like Cappella. He has come to appreciate that he too is a part of the Christian system. In his first chapter he says of Cappell: «It will be difficult, I admit, of being a man of the Catholic faith to convince every Catholic there, that he can have all the rights by which a citizen shall claim the life and liberty of another, or to exercise his conscience in the performance of his duty. That they can be called Christians, or Christian men, or Christian women who claim all the liberties of a Christian woman who is in the habit of professing to live in the state of faith and truth, is a testimony that, although an orthodox Jew, we Christians who hold our own to be Catholic shall certainly be called Catholics. Our own Catholic Church, we profess, is the Church of the Jews, and all other