Skip to main content

The Resolutions of Jonathan Edwards In Plain English. (#1-10)

Jonathan Edwards is known as one of the greatest and most profound of American theologians. His writings have benefited many Christians throughout the years. I was impressed with these resolutions and so I have attempted to translate them into the language of the day. I understand that I may have missed Edward’s full meaning at some level, but I made every attempt to capture the essence of the original author and summarize in such a way as to benefit the modern reader. There are 70 resolutions in all. I have summarized the first ten here. I hope you enjoy these.
________________________________
1. Resolved, that I will do whatsoever I think to be most to God's glory, and my own good, profit and pleasure, in the whole of my duration, without any consideration of the time, whether now, or never so many myriad's of ages hence. Resolved to do whatever I think to be my duty and most for the good and advantage of mankind in general. Resolved to do this, whatever difficulties I meet with, how many and how great soever.
Whatever I do, I will do to give the most glory to God, and also for my own good and pleasure, as long as I live, no matter how long it takes to master. I also will fulfill my calling to do good to all mankind as much as I am able, no matter how much difficulty I face.
2. Resolved, to be continually endeavoring to find out some new invention and contrivance to promote the aforementioned things.
I will continually strive to come up with new ways to accomplish the things mentioned in #1

3. Resolved, if ever I shall fall and grow dull, so as to neglect to keep any part of these Resolutions, to repent of all I can remember, when I come to myself again.
If I ever find myself becoming disinterested in keeping these resolutions, I vow to turn back as soon as I realize it, and do everything I can to remember and keep them.
4. Resolved, never to do any manner of thing, whether in soul or body, less or more, but what tends to the glory of God; nor be, nor suffer it, if I can avoid it.
I vow to never do anything, in thought or deed, whether it be a big thing or a little thing, except to do that which brings honor and glory to God. I will also stay away from those things that do not honor God as much as I possibly can, and whenever possible, I will try to put a stop to activities that bring God dishonor.
5. Resolved, never to lose one moment of time; but improve it the most profitable way I possibly can.
I realize the importance of the time I have been given by God. I vow to never lose one moment to worthless activities, but constantly think of ways to make the most of the time I have.
6. Resolved, to live with all my might, while I do live.
I vow to live my life with all the passion I can muster up until my very last breath.
7. Resolved, never to do anything, which I should be afraid to do, if it were the last hour of my life.
I vow to never do anything that I would be ashamed of if I knew that I was facing imminent judgment.
8. Resolved, to act, in all respects, both speaking and doing, as if nobody had been so vile as I, and as if I had committed the same sins, or had the same infirmities or failings as others; and that I will let the knowledge of their failings promote nothing but shame in myself, and prove only an occasion of my confessing my own sins and misery to God.
I vow to live with the understanding that I am no better than the most wicked person to ever live. I vow to allow this attitude to remind me that I am constantly in need of confession and God’s mercy.
9. Resolved, to think much on all occasions of my own dying, and of the common circumstances which attend death.
I vow to always remind myself that this physical life is temporary, and that death could come at any moment…I will think about questions like this: “What will people think of me when I’m gone?”… “What will they write on my tombstone?”
10. Resolved, when I feel pain, to think of the pains of martyrdom, and of hell.
I vow, that whenever I experience physical pain, I will remind myself of those who are suffering for the sake of Christ, and also to remind myself of the great mercies of God which saved me from the justice of eternal punishment in hell. I do this to increase my compassion for those who need Christ and motivate me to share the message of the gospel to those that do not believe.

Resolutions 11-20 In Plain English
Labels:

Comments

  1. UnknownNovember 25, 2013 at 2:05 AM

    Hey Chris,
    Thank you for reworking these. Now, would you get right with God, please and finish the other 60? I serve as a chaplain in the US Army and currently, I am in Afghanistan. Preached on a few of these ideas last week. Profound. So passionate he was! Thanks again.

    David Howell ~ Chap. (PS: Facebook: "CHAPLAIN DAVID HOWELL"

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Chris R. QuinlanNovember 25, 2013 at 6:45 AM

      Ten more here...
      http://chrisquinlan.blogspot.com/2009/12/resoultions-of-jonathan-edwards-in.html?m=1

      Delete
  2. AnonymousDecember 9, 2015 at 4:47 PM

    Hey Chris, great job on these. Have you finished any more?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Chris R. QuinlanDecember 9, 2015 at 4:57 PM

      Besides 11-20 linked above, I have not. It may be time to do the next 10. Thanks for the comment.

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

My Chiropractic Dilemma

So, I've had this back/neck/shoulder pain for two weeks now. It was getting so bad that I was really at the point of doing anything to get rid of the pain. Everybody kept telling me to go to the Chiropractor. I've actually only spoken to one person who has ever told me anything negative about their experience with Chiropractic treatment. Most people are convinced that it is helpful. A little history. About a year ago, I went to a Chiropractor here in town who was recommended by a friend. She told me that I could get a free exam and x-rays with a referral. Well, I figured if it was free how bad could it be. I was skeptical at that point. I do not like to be deceived, and from the things I was reading, Chiropractic treatment was pseudo-science and mostly "smoke and mirrors." I was in pretty severe lower-back pain at that time and figured I'd go ahead and give 'em a try and see what it was all about. I won't go into the whole story, but to sum it up, I was
2 comments
Read entire article

Removing Planks and Seeing Clearly

Is it ever appropriate to speak out about sin even though we all have sinned? Worded this way most of us would say, "sure!, of course. Especially if the Bible calls it sin."  And I would agree. What if I worded the question like this? "Since we have all sinned, and many of us sin terribly in secret, is it hypocritical to condemn the sin of someone else?" This one should make us all think a little more before answering.  I think Jesus spoke to this matter. In his famous Sermon on the Mount, Jesus spoke these words in Matthew 7:1 ff “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?  How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye?    You hypocrite, first take
Post a Comment
Read entire article