Abstract: Sweeney argues that three key relationships grounded Taylor even deeper in the Edwardsian culture – his close friendships with Lyman Beecher and Timothy Dwight and his marriage to Rebecca Marie Hine. Just prior to his wedding to Rebecca, Taylor received his license to preach, and upon the recommendation of Timothy Dwight, then president of Yale, he began preaching at New Haven's prominent First Church, to which he was called as pastor in 1812. When Yale added a divinity school, Dwight's son endowed a chair in his father's honor to which Nathaniel Taylor was invited. His placement secured Taylor's reputation as a cultural leader. At Yale, Taylor used his platform to further his Edwardsian agenda, steeping his students in Edwards's theology and modeling and Edwardsian approach to ministry.

Keywords: divinity school, Lyman Beecher, Timothy Dwight, Rebecca Marie Hine, Rebecca Taylor, Nathaniel Taylor, Yale,