Jonathan Edwards is a towering figure in American history. A controversial theologian and the author of the famous sermon Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, he ignited the momentous Great Awakening of the eighteenth century.
In this definitive and long-awaited biography, Jonathan Edwards emerges as both a great American and a brilliant Christian. George Marsden evokes the world of colonial New England in which Edwards was reared―a frontier civilization at the center of a conflict between Native Americans, French Catholics, and English Protestants. Drawing on newly available sources, Marsden demonstrates how these cultural and religious battles shaped Edwards’ life and thought. Marsden reveals Edwards as a complex thinker and human being who struggled to reconcile his Puritan heritage with the secular, modern world emerging out of the Enlightenment. In this, Edwards’ life anticipated the deep contradictions of our American culture.
Meticulously researched and beautifully composed, this biography offers a compelling portrait of an eminent American.
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“Elegant prose and vivid, vivacious storytelling…Magisterial and definitive…A beautifully written book about one of America’s most important thinkers.”
— Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“A magisterial biography.”
— Wall Street Journal“A biography…of the mighty American preacher, logician, and theologian who lighted the fuse on the [eighteenth century] Great Awakening.”
— New York Times Book Review“Superb and engrossing…Marsden has given us the most comprehensive account we have of the man who is the spiritual godfather of our nation.”
— Washington Post“Thorough, dispassionate, and enlightening…Outstanding.”
— Sunday Telegraph (London)“A triumph of scholarship, but also of readability…[A] richly satisfying and interesting portrait of the man and his time.”
— Times Literary Supplement“This universally lauded biography portrays America’s greatest theologian, three hundred years after his birth.”
— Associated Press“Magnificent…This is a book that tells us as much about the intellectual foundations of America as it does about Jonathan Edwards.”
— Daily Telegraph (London)Be the first to write a review about this audiobook!
George M. Marsden is the Francis A. McAnaney Professor of History Emeritus at the University of Notre Dame. He has written extensively on the interaction between Christianity and the American culture and has published numerous books, including Jonathan Edwards: A Life, which won the prestigious Bancroft Prize given for the best work of history. He lives in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Jim Denison is an audiobook narrator and voice actor with over thirty years experience in professional public speaking, including five years as a radio personality.