Northampton, Massachusetts, 1703-1758

Jonathan Edwards Sermon Notes: Where to Find Them (+ How to Make Your Own)

Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758) pastored the church at Northampton, Massachusetts for over twenty years and preached the sermon most American students still read in school: 'Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,' delivered at Enfield, Connecticut on July 8, 1741, during the First Great Awakening. Yale's Beinecke Library holds more than 1,200 of his sermon manuscripts, and the Jonathan Edwards Center at Yale has put the complete 73-volume Works of Jonathan Edwards online free.

That matters the same way it matters for Spurgeon: Edwards died in 1758, his sermons are in the public domain, and you can read the actual text tonight rather than hunting for a ministry's permission. Edwards also preached in a very specific, recognizable form — the New England Puritan 'plain style' sermon, built from a Text, a Doctrine stated as a single proposition, a numbered set of Reasons supporting it, and a closing Application (Edwards and his contemporaries called this section 'Improvement'). Once you can see that skeleton, a dense eighteenth-century sermon becomes far more tractable.

So if you are searching for Jonathan Edwards sermon notes, the question is not where to find the words — Yale already gives them to you free — it is how to read Puritan sermon architecture and pull the doctrine out of the reasoning that surrounds it.

Where to find official Jonathan Edwards sermon notes

Because the works are public domain, the sources are academic archives and text libraries rather than a ministry:

The Jonathan Edwards Center at Yale University

Hosts the complete 73-volume Works of Jonathan Edwards online, free, including sermon manuscripts, letters and notebooks. This is the definitive scholarly source and the best starting point for any specific sermon.

Christian Classics Ethereal Library

Carries a large set of Edwards's sermons and major works, including 'Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God' and 'A Divine and Supernatural Light,' in clean, freely reproducible text.

Printed collections

Because the text is public domain, inexpensive printed anthologies of his best-known sermons exist from many publishers. A physical copy is useful if you prefer to mark it up directly rather than working from a screen.

Modern audio readings

Volunteer recordings of Edwards's sermons exist because the text is free to record and distribute. A transcript of one of these readings is simply a copy of a public domain text.

A note on copyright: Jonathan Edwards's sermons and any official notes remain the intellectual property of The Jonathan Edwards Center at Yale. Everything below is about making notes for your own study — not about republishing the ministry's content.

How to create your own sermon notes from any Jonathan Edwards sermon

As with Spurgeon, you already have the text, so the work is compression and structure rather than capture. Expect about twenty minutes for a sermon worth keeping:

1

Get the sermon text

Find the sermon at the Jonathan Edwards Center or CCEL. Note the date and the occasion at the top of your page — 'Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God' is dated precisely because Edwards preached it as a guest at Enfield, not at his own pulpit, which is part of why the text survives so exactly.

2

Or transcribe an audio reading

If you are working from a recorded reading, upload the audio and get the text in minutes, first sermon free. Useful if you want to study a modern sermon on the same text alongside Edwards's original.

Transcribe an audio reading
3

Recover Text, Doctrine, Reasons, Application

Run the text through the free outline generator. Edwards states his Doctrine as a single sentence early in the sermon, then numbers his Reasons explicitly — the outline generator recovers that structure with unusual reliability because Edwards was unusually explicit about it.

Generate sermon notes free
4

Sit with the imagery separately

Edwards's most quoted passages are single images — a spider held over a flame, a bow bent and the arrow of wrath made ready, floods of wrath dammed up only by God's pleasure. List these separately from the numbered Reasons; they are doing rhetorical work the outline alone will not show you.

5

Note the Application last

The closing Application is where Edwards turns from argument to appeal. It is usually the shortest section and the one most worth rereading, since it is where the sermon tells you what it wants from you.

Note-taking template

The Doctrine-Reasons-Application Method

Text, Doctrine, Reasons, Application

This is the actual skeleton of a New England Puritan sermon, not a modern format imposed on it. Four sections on one page:

Text

The verse and its immediate context. Edwards typically explains what the words meant to their original hearers before doing anything else with them.

Doctrine

The single proposition the sermon exists to establish, usually stated as one sentence early on. Write it exactly as Edwards states it, then underneath it, in your own words.

Reasons

His numbered arguments for the Doctrine, in order. Edwards signals these explicitly ('First... Second...'); write the reason and the scripture or logic behind each one.

Application

What Edwards calls the 'Improvement' — the section addressed directly to the hearer. Note who he is speaking to and what response he is asking for.

Tip: Read the Application first, then the sermon, the same way you would read Spurgeon's closing Address first. Knowing what Edwards is driving toward makes the Reasons read as a path rather than a maze.

Study tips for Jonathan Edwards's preaching

Separate the argument from the imagery

'Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God' is remembered for its images, but the sermon is actually a tight logical argument that the images illustrate. Outline the Reasons first without the imagery, then go back and see which image belongs to which reason.

Notice what the delivery was not

Edwards is widely reported to have delivered this sermon in a calm, unemotional voice, reading from a manuscript, with the emotional response coming from the congregation rather than from theatrics in the pulpit. If that account is accurate, it is worth sitting with: the argument itself, not the performance, produced the reaction.

Read a second sermon for range

'A Divine and Supernatural Light' (on Matthew 16:17) shows a very different register — tender, exploratory, about how God gives spiritual understanding rather than about judgment. Reading it alongside 'Sinners' corrects the one-sermon caricature of Edwards as only a hellfire preacher.

Frequently asked questions

Are Jonathan Edwards's sermons public domain?+
Yes. He died in 1758, and his sermons and other writings have long been in the public domain. You can read, copy, print, quote and republish the original texts freely. The Jonathan Edwards Center at Yale hosts the complete Works online at no cost.
Where can I read 'Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God' for free?+
Both the Jonathan Edwards Center at Yale and Christian Classics Ethereal Library host the full text free, along with the sermon's Scripture text, Deuteronomy 32:35 — 'their foot shall slide in due time.'
Did Edwards really preach in a monotone?+
That is the most repeated account of his delivery, and it is well attested by contemporaries, but treat it as tradition rather than a certainty verified on tape — no recording exists from 1741. What is certain is the text itself, which you can read and evaluate directly.
What is the best format for notes on a Puritan sermon?+
A format with a dedicated place for the numbered Reasons, separate from the Application, works better than a generic points-and-takeaway grid, because that is the actual shape of the sermon. A format that flattens Text, Doctrine, Reasons and Application into one undifferentiated list loses the argument's structure.
Was Edwards only a preacher of judgment and hell?+
No. 'Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God' is his most famous sermon but not representative of his whole body of preaching, which includes tender, exploratory works like 'A Divine and Supernatural Light' and 'Heaven, a World of Love.' Reading more than one sermon gives a fairer picture.
Do I need a sermon notes template for reading Edwards?+
A template with the four Text-Doctrine-Reasons-Application sections drawn out saves you from reading a dense eighteenth-century argument with no plan for what to keep. Our free printable template gives you the frame to write into.

Transcribe any sermon free

Edwards's argument survives because it was written down precisely. Do the same for your own pulpit's reasoning. Your first full sermon is free — no credit card to start, then $19/month for unlimited sermons.

Start Transcribing Free

Then turn the transcript into notes with the free sermon outline generator.

Want the bigger picture on Jonathan Edwards's ministry and most notable messages? See our Jonathan Edwards sermon archive guide in the Famous Sermons library.

Sermon notes for other preachers

Mark Driscoll Sermon Notes

Trinity Church · RealFaith

Charles Stanley Sermon Notes

In Touch Ministries · 1932–2023

John MacArthur Sermon Notes

Grace to You · 1939–2025

Jack Hibbs Sermon Notes

Calvary Chapel Chino Hills · Real Life

Joseph Prince Sermon Notes

New Creation Church · Singapore

John Piper Sermon Notes

Desiring God · Bethlehem Baptist

David Jeremiah Sermon Notes

Turning Point · Shadow Mountain

Tony Evans Sermon Notes

The Urban Alternative · Oak Cliff

Billy Graham Sermon Notes

BGEA · Crusade Archive

Tim Keller Sermon Notes

Gospel in Life · Redeemer

Greg Laurie Sermon Notes

Harvest Christian Fellowship

Joel Osteen Sermon Notes

Lakewood Church, Houston

T.D. Jakes Sermon Notes

The Potter's House, Dallas

John Wesley Sermon Notes

Methodist Founder, 1703-1791

George Whitefield Sermon Notes

First Great Awakening, 1714-1770

D.L. Moody Sermon Notes

Moody Bible Institute, 1837-1899

Preaching this week? Get your own sermon transcribed free — upload the MP3, M4A or MP4 and get the transcript back in about 5 minutes. First sermon free, up to 90 minutes, no card.

Transcribe my sermon
Back to the sermon notes guide