Christian History Home > Issue 77 > Language of Ecstasy
Language of Ecstasy
Edwards's interest in religious psychology arose from his own almost mystical encounters with God.
David W. Kling | posted 1/01/2003 12:00AM
Edwards first encountered God in an intensely experiential way while reading 1 Timothy 1:17: "Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honor and glory for ever and ever." He was overcome with "a sense of the glory of the Divine Being; a new sense, quite different from anything I ever experienced before."
The only language that seemed adequate, as he later recorded in his Personal Narrative (c. 1739), was that of ecstasy: "I thought with myself, how happy I should be, if I might enjoy that God, and be wrapped up to God in heaven, and be as it were swallowed up in him." Deeply moved, Edwards retreated to "a solitary place" outdoors where, under a broad sky, he was again transfixed by "a sweet sense of the glorious majesty and grace of God, that I know not how to express."
The Narrative is suffused with the same vividly empirical vocabulary of sense experience that marks his published works on revival.
Edwards wrote it out of a keen, Enlightenment-influenced interest ... To view this item, you must be a member of ChristianHistory.net.
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