Coffee with Edwards

Fictitious Questions based on the real writings of Jonathan Edwards

B.A.-“When did you meet Sarah?”

J.E.-“I met Sarah when I was twenty, and was tutoring at Yale. She was thirteen when we first met.”

B.A.-“Was it love at first sight?”

J.E.-(I imagine a stoic look here) “I remember day dreaming at her while studying Greek” (which isn’t difficult. “I noted this in my textbook, ‘They say there is a young lady who is loved of that Great Being, who made and rules the world, and that there are certain seasons in which this Great Being, in some way or other invisible, comes to her and fills her mind with exceeding sweet delight; and that she hardly cares for anything, except to meditate on Him…You could not persuade her to do anything wrong or sinful, if you would give her all the world, lest should offend this Great Being. She is of a wonderful sweetness, calmness, and universal benevolence of mind; especially after this Great God has revealed himself to her mind. She will sometimes go about from place to place, singing sweetly; and seems to be always full of joy and pleasure…She loves to be alone, walking in the fields and groves, and seems to have some one invisible always conversing with her’.”

B.A.-“She must have been an incredible woman at thirteen. What were some of her other characteristics?”

J.E.- “She was from one of the most distinguished families in Connecticut. Her education had been the best a woman of that era typically received. She was accomplished in the social skills of polite society. She enjoyed music and knew how to play the lute. People who knew her mentioned her beauty and her way of putting people at ease.”

B.A.-“And when were you married?”

J.E.- “We were married on July 28, 1727. She was 17, and I was 24. I wore a new powdered wig, and a new set of white clerical bands given by my sister Mary. Sarah wore boldly-patterned green satin brocade.”

B.A.-“It was a good marriage correct?”

J.E.-“Sarah complimented me well. She was outgoing while I was introverted, shy, and uneasy with small talk. I ate sparingly and was not a drinker. I simply was not full of social graces.”

B.A.-“What were your study habits like?”

J.E.-“I would often write out my sermons as much as five times before preaching it. I would think deeply and often about a subject, mulling ideas over in my mind, taking them apart and putting them together with other ideas, and testing them against other parts of God’s truth. I would often become so engrossed in thought and study, that I would not want to be interrupted for dinner. I would often be in study some thirteen hours a day. This included lots of preparation for Sundays and for Bible teaching. But it also included the times when Sarah came in to visit and talk or when parishioners stopped by for prayer and counsel.”

B.A.-“In one of your journal entries you recommend rising early for prayer and study?”

J.E.-“ Yes. I think Christ has recommended rising early in the morning by his rising from the grave very early. So I would awake early. The family’s routine through the years was to wake early with me, to hear a chapter from the Bible by candlelight, and to pray for God’s blessing on the day ahead. I then would do physical labor sometime each day for exercise-for instance, chopping wood, mending fences, or working in the garden. But Sarah had most of the responsibility for overseeing the care of the property. In the evening we might ride into the woods for exercise and fresh air and to talk. And in the evening we would pray together again.”