Delightful Conviction: Jonathan Edwards and the Rhetoric of Conversion

by John C. Adams, Stephen R. Yarbrough

Overview

In analyzing Jonathan Edwards preaching in eighteenth-century colonial America, the authors demonstrate how his rhetoric distinguished between conversion and persuasion. The authors delineate the basic tenets of Puritan theology, place Edwards' noted sermons within an historical framework, and show how his psycho-spiritual ideas have had lasting impact on American literary, religious, and intellectual history. This reference provides a critical analysis, speech texts, chronology, and bibliography. Students and teachers of rhetoric, American history, literature, philosophy, and religion will find this in-depth study of an enigmatic great American orator pertinent for various uses.

The reference defines Edwards' doctrinal stance on key religious issues of the times, describes his methods of preaching and efforts to convert sinners into saints, and assesses his influence in the eighteenth century and later. The volume covers his life, his youth and education, his revival and role in the Great Awakening of religion in America, his church's rejection and his exile. This scholarly study relates his ideas to complex theological roots in European thought, to Christian and Enlightenment discourses, and it points to the enormous effect that he has had on thinking until the twentieth century. Texts of key sermons dealing with central concepts such as divine light, sinners, and true grace are provided.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780313275821
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	02/03/1993
Series:	Great American Orators , #20
Pages:	208
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.62(d)
Lexile:	1360L (what's this?)

About the Author

STEPHEN R. YARBROUGH, Associate Professor of English, Skidmore College, has written at length on critical theory and American literature.

JOHN C. ADAMS, Associate Professor of the Department of Speech Communication, Syracuse University, has written many articles for professional jourbanals on American rhetoric and the history of public address.

Table of Contents

Preface
Remarkable Seasons
The Little Awakening
The Great Awakening
An Apostle in Exile
The Richardsonian Heritage
The Edwardsean Legacy
Works Cited
Three Sermons by Jonathan Edwards
"A Divine and Supernatural Light"
"Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God"
"True Grace Distinguished From the Experience of Devils"
Chronology
Selected Bibliography
Index