Jonathan Edwards Mania at Eerdmans

Last updated on: August 7, 2018 at 5:39 am by Michael F. Bird

Jonathan Edwards Mania at Eerdmans 2018-07-12T01:03:57-04:00 Michael F. Bird

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

I’ll be honest, I’ve never been a big Jonathan Edwards fan (Irenaeus is my homeboy!). I’ve always found Edwards elegant yet verbose, passionate while prolix, dry in places though wonderfully dramatic elsewhere. Plus the dude owned slaves which has always bummed me out. However, I’ve been revising Evangelical Theology for a second edition and I have – if only to satisfy my colleague Rhys Bezzant – been reading a fair bit of Edwards of late, and I’m glad I did. I think Edwards is a good mixture of pious enthusiasm and American puritanism. I’ve found Edwards helpful on God’s glory, redemptive history, participation in Christ, and the Holy Spirit. Sadly, Edward’s famous sermon Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God has been inserted into collections of American literature only to inoculate people from Edwards, yet a closer reading of the corpus shows that Edwards is far from the caricature of all wrath, fire, brimstone, and judgment. Edwards is a truly aesthetic theologian.

I’m glad to say that my forays into Edwards of late have been guided by two recent books both from Eerdmans.

Harry S. Stout (editor)
The Jonathan Edwards Encyclopedia
Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2017.
Available at Amazon.com

This is a good starting point for anyone who wants to know what Edwards thought of something or how Edwards related to something. Good articles on everything from “Beauty” to “Great Awakening” to “Slavery” to “Union with Christ.”

Oliver D. Crisp and Kyle C. Strobel
Jonathan Edwards: An Introduction to His Thought
Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2018.
Available at Amazon.com

This is the first introduction to Jonathan Edwards that I’ve read and it should prove popular. Crisp and Strobel do a good job of surveying Edward’s intellectual context and his theology. The chapters on “Atonement” and “Salvation as Participation” were excellent reads. I wish I’d read some of this earlier, the discussion on Edwards and justification would have been helpful to me a decade ago since “Edwards focuses on Christ as the location of justification, positing that only Christ is truly justified in himself. He is righteousness for the believer because he is the one who walked perfectly before God in faithfulness” (164-65). Also, the chapter on “Becoming Edwarsean” is great and is all about how Edwards can help us follow “the upward call of God in Christ” (Phil 3:14). I’m also meditating on how Edwards could be a possible mediator between Reformed scholasticism and global Pentecostalism (PhD anyone!).

Uncategorized

Previous Post

August 4, 2018

Book Review: Jesus Followers in the Roman Empire

Next Post

August 10, 2018 Is Religious Freedom Merely a Right to Discriminate?

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Bible Lands Blogosphere Book Review Calvinism Colleges & Universities Ecclesiology Emerging Adulthood Evangelicalism Foreign Affairs Gospel of John Greco-Roman World Humor Just War N. T. Wright Old Testament Resurrection Terrorism Theological Education Travel Uncategorized Writing

Select a Month September 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 January 2011

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

In the Gospel of Luke, how does the Virgin Mary learn of her pregnancy?

Select your answer to see how you score.

From Elisabeth From the Angel Gabriel Joseph From the wise men

Books by This Author Books by Mike Bird

See All Titles »