Let Edwards speak on the Great Awakening, acknowlegding the divine work of God, and mixed in it, the work of the devil:

"There being a great many errors and sinful irregularites mixed with the this work of God, arising from our weakness, darkness, and corruption, does not hinder this work of God's power and grace from being very glorious...How unreasonable is it that we should be backward to acknowledge the glory of what God has done, because the devil, and we in hearkening to him, have done a great deal of mischief......

If we look back into the history of the church of God in past ages, we may observe that it has been a common device of the devil to overset a revival of religion; when he finds he can keep men quiet and secure no longer, then he drives them to excesses and extravagances. He holds them back as long as he can; but when he can do it no longer, then he will push them on , and if possible, run them upon their heads....." {Some Thoughts concerning the Present Revival, p. 397-398}

Let Ian Murray's excellent biography of Edwards lay to rest any facile attempt to tie modern "pentecostalism' to Edwards:

"There were some orthodox Christians in New England who believed that a glorious revival in the latter days 'would partly consist in restoring those extraordinary gifts of the Spirit'. For Edwards, that belief was erroneous and dangerous, and its existence, in his view, was partly responsible for the readiness of some to treat 'impulses' as God-given. He saw it as dangerous because a wish for the restoration extraordinary gifts suggested a wrong view of what are indeed the great and abiding influences of the Spirit in the Church. The extraordinary gifts had no necessary connection with the power of godliness; indeed, he asserts, a man might have them and 'go to hell'. The glorious work of the Spirit is that in which he imparts regenerating and sanctifying grace to the soul". {Murray, p. 242, 243}.

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Mark Van Der Molen
Immanuel URC
DeMotte, Indiana