THE GREAT AWAKENING AS AN “OUTPOURING OF THE SPIRIT” IN THE WORK OF REDEMPTION ACCORDING TO JONATHAN EDWARDS: A NEW INTERPRETATIVE FRAMEWORK

Abstract

Edwards’ magisterial work, The History of the Work of Redemption, offers a better interpretive framework in which to understand Edwards’ often quoted remarks in his Great Awakening writings, rather than the reverse, the method used by Goen and others to argue for Edwards’ postmillennialism. Rather, an analysis of History supports the claim made by McDermott and Smith that the revivals were seen by Edwards as forerunners of the millennium, and not descriptions of the millennium itself. Edwards’ revival writings clearly fit into the pattern of redemption that he laid out in History, a pattern which includes a typological, dispensational reading of history punctuated by outpourings of the Spirit amidst suffering and opposition in the church. Thus, the purpose in this essay was to question the use of Edwards’ revival writings as the basis for Goen’s thesis, by showing that Edwards understood the revivals to be another in the long progression of outpourings of the Spirit to prepare and revitalize the people of God for the final dispensation, not as events which themselves would inaugurate the millennial reign of Christ.