The first thing I noticed is that Edwards spent hardly any sermon time on word studies.

Let me back up. Several months ago I decided to pretend I was in Jonathan Edwards’s 18th century parish. I began reading his sermons in chronological order (The Works of Jonathan Edwards, Vol. 10, Sermons and Discourses 1720-1723, edited by Wilson H. Kimnach). It’s been a great addition to my Bible readings and also an excellent homiletical exercise (doing rhetorical analysis on Edwards’s early sermons).

The first thing that struck me was how little Edwards defined key terms. It seemed odd because doing word studies was such an important part of my exegetical training. So, I had to ask myself, “What did Edwards spend all his sermon time doing if he wasn’t doing lots of word studies?”

Edwards’s first sermon was, Christian Happiness, based on Isaiah 3:10 “Say unto the righteous, it shall be well with him: for they shall eat the fruit of their doings.”

My hermeneutical/homiletical instincts would have me begin by explaining who are “the righteous.” Not Edwards.

He began by reasoning with his hearers in the same way Isaiah reasoned with his hearers: “Reasonable beings, while they act as such, naturally choose those things which they are convinced are best for them…” (p. 296). Reading Edwards’s first sermon made me realize how much God reasons with us.

Edwards preached, “…God always deals with men as reasonable creatures, and every [word] in the Scriptures speaks to us as such” (p. 296).

One thing to be gained by letting Edwards preach to you is that you will come away with a greater ability to reason with your congregants. Edwards has taught me so far that although God must act by His Spirit to convert sinners, God also believes that some will be persuaded by reasonable arguments. And, man, does Edwards spend time “arguing” with his congregants.

And, so far, he hasn’t defined one term.

Help your parishioners be reasonable people so God receives glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21),

Randal

P.S. If you are interested in homiletics as a discipline, you will benefit from Kimnach’s excellent insights concerning the preaching of Edwards’s day and his own method.