Marriage To A Difficult Man Ch. 8 By Tb

Elizabeth Dods starts off chapter eight getting the reader's attention by explaining that for a month in 1742 Sarah Edwards fell to pieces emotionally.

During the first fourteen years of the Edward's marriage, Sarah was almost never sick. During that time she nursed her husband a lot more than he nursed her.

The breaking point for Sarah came when her husband reproved her for a poorly cooked supper. 

Part of Sarah's emotional meltdown came as a result of the fact that her husband was constantly travelling. His travels placed a tremendous responsibility on her to manage everything.

Sarah was especially sensitive regarding two issues. The couldn't bear to offend others, and she desperately needed the approval of her husband.

While Edwards was out of town, a Mr. Buell filled his pulpit for him. Sarah became quite anxious that the congregation at Northampton might prefer Mr. Buell to Edwards.

Elizabeth Dods the author of MTDM makes the point in chapter 8, that Edwards possessed a very competitive nature, and felt the need to put young Mr. Buell in his place.

Sarah fainted or passed put several times as a result of Buell's preaching. Dods, the author of MTDM, argues that it was almost certainly a sign of manic depression.

When the next preacher, a Mr. Williams, came to town take Edward's pulpit in place of Mr. Buell, Sarah suddenly stopped having problems.

When Edwards came back to town, he sat down with Sarah and had her tell him everything that had happened while he was gone. Whatever Sarah told him seemed to relieve her of her depression and put her back on the mend.

The author Dods makes the point near the end of chapter 8 that Sarah's recovery came from resting in the assurance of her salvation. Dods argues that Sarah stopped straining to please God.