The American theologian and preaching
dervish Jonathan Edwards died on this day in 1758, at the age of 53.
“He believed in the worst God,
preached the worst sermons, and had the worst religion of any human being who
ever lived on this continent,” M. M. Richter said of Edwards in a biography
written in 1920, but no less harsh a critic than H. L. Mencken called him “a
virtuoso.” Edwards’ most famous sermon, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,”
is an often-anthologized literary tour de force.
“The God that holds you over the pit of hell, much as one holds a
spider, or some loathsome insect over the fire, abhors you, and is dreadfully
provoked,” begins a well-known passage in the sermon. Yes, God was – is – fed
up, and He’s not going to take it anymore, according to Edwards and his
spiritual descendants.
But if God is miffed, what about us? After all, isn’t He the one that
made us what we are? He’s the one who made everything, and the fact is, He
botched the job. Come on. He’s all-powerful, and this is the best He can come
up with?
Where is the preacher who will harangue the Almighty? Where is the
Church of Celestial Critics? If God listens to our prayers, most of which,
after all, are simply petitions for Him to alter the Divine Plan, why shouldn’t
He be willing to entertain our complaints?
Why shouldn’t He be invigorated, in fact, to hear our gripes once and again,
in place of so much tired and timorous sniveling veiled with praise? And from our perspective, venting can be so
much more cathartic than prayer.
Edwards undoubtedly would have disagreed. “Sincere friendship towards
God,” he wrote, “in all who believe him to be properly an intelligent, willing
being, does most apparently, directly and strongly incline to prayer.” But
sometimes, with any friend no matter how close, you just have to get things off
your chest.
No comments:
Post a Comment