Teaching Edwards

Teaching Jonathan Edwards in High School

"Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" Curriculum

“For generations, Edwards has been held up to the ridicule of every American high school student as the original preacher of hell, fire, and damnation. The typical high school English teacher in the required American literature course all too often perceives Edwards to be the source of all that made up the worst of American revivalism…In the popular imagination Edwards has a bad reputation, and the protestations of serious scholars have only been heard by intellectuals.” –Hughes Oliphant Old

One of the areas of cultural engagement with Jonathan Edwards that is in crucial need of development is that of teaching Edwards in high school.

“Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” is historically the most anthologized American sermon, and, thus, for many students it is all that they will ever read of Edwards. While it is certainly a great sermon, filled with forceful rhetoric flourish, it is a very narrow window through which to see such a central figure in early American history.

In order to help teachers and students gain a more life-like, balanced perspective on the life and works of Jonathan Edwards, the Jonathan Edwards Center has developed one and two day curricula which can be downloaded from this page. These curricula include texts, lesson plans, and background information, in order to provide teachers with a rich abundance of textual and material culture from which to construct the Edwards portion of the course.

Please try out our one-day and two-day curricula in your classroom and let us know how we can improve them. Enjoy!

Click here to see the One Day Curriculum

Click here to see the Two Day Curriculum

We would like to acknowledge the hard work of Jessica Johnson, Kathy Maskell, Steve Turley, Chris Torino, Rick Snyder, and Katie Levesque for their crucial participation in the summer colloquium that produced these curricula. It was their work that propelled this project forward.

Most of all, we would like to thank Ruth McCann, our faithful summer intern, who labored countless hours to put most of this curriculum together. Ruth is a star. You should try to hire her.