Edwards, Jonathan (1703-1758) American philosopher and theologian who
studied at Yale and received his bachelor's degree before his 17th
birthday. Edwards' preaching provoked the explosive beginnings of the
"Great Awakening," a religious revivalist movement in the American
Colonies of the 1740s. One of the most innovative of colonial
philosophers, he was also most conscientiously tied to the past; he is
often referred to as the last Puritan.
That the Devil can Cite Scripture for His Purpose (1746) Excerpted
from Edwards' "Treatise on Religious Affections," a work consisting
largely of sermons he preached from 1742-43. Here Edwards warns that
religious affections are not necessarily holy when they are "remarkably
brought to the mind." For, he preaches, "what evidence is there that
the devil cannot bring texts of Scripture to the mind, and misapply
them to deceive persons?"
