Edwards studied simplicity in style in order that the power of the message would be in the assertions, and reassertion, of the truth. Each sermon consisted, generally, of a text, a doctrine, and a set of applications. The text was usually short but explained in a brief expository manner within a canonical context. From this was derived a doctrine, usually a single sentence of the leading truth of the passage which he would then expand with several propositions. Third, Edwards would reiterate the doctrine in an intense manner as he applied every aspect of it with its several implications to the
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