How did the american preacher jonathan edwards’s preaching style compare with the british preacher george whitefield’s? whitefield and edwards both reduced their audiences to tears with their booming, theatrical sermons. whitefield and edwards both attempted to instill fear in their parishioners using images of hell fires. whitefield had a powerful, passionate style, while edwards spoke to his parishioners calmly and quietly. whitefield stressed salvation through good works while edwards stressed salvation through god’s grace. whitefield appealed to his parishioners’ emotions while edwards appealed to his parishioners’ reason.