Jonathan Edwards An Introduction to his Thought

by Crisp, Oliver D.

• ISBN13: 9780567032089
• ISBN10: 0567032086
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2016-10-20
• Publisher: Bloomsbury T & T Clark

Summary

A comprehensive account, reflecting renewed interest in the life and work of the New England theologian, Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758).

Author Biography

Dr Oliver D. Crisp is Professor of Systematic Theology at Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena, USA. He has authored Jonathan Edwards and the Metaphysics of Sin (Ashgate, 2005), Divinity and Humanity: Issues in the Incarnation (CUP, 2007), and co-edited Jonathan Edwards: Philosophical Theologian (Ashgate, 2003) with Paul Helm.

Table of Contents

1.                  ContextThis chapter will give a brief biographical sketch of Edwards' life, followed by an assessment of his place in the history of ideas. Attention will be given to the many different facets of his work and the recent work that has been done on Edwards showing the many different intellectual influences upon him, including Malebranchian ideas, John Locke, Isaac Newton, the Cambridge Platonists, Continental Protestant Scholastic theology and English Puritanism.2.                  AestheticsThere has been considerable interest in Edwardsian aesthetics in recent theological literature, although it is an area of Edwards' thought that is difficult. This chapter sets out Edwards' aesthetic vision, from his early notes in The Mind, to his Miscellanies. It shows how Edwards developed a sophisticated theory of aesthetics as part of his larger theological vision.3.                  MetaphysicsThere has also been a renewed interest in Edwards as a metaphysician. This chapter follows on from the previous one, dealing with some of the hardest of Edwards' metaphysical concepts, including his commitment to a version of idealism, his theological determinism, occasionalism and his doctrine of temporal parts.4.                  EthicsEdwards' ethics are also an area of ongoing interest. This chapter assesses the success of Edwards' metaethical theory as a species of virtue theory. Edwards' views will be brought into conversation with other early Enlightenment figures, particularly Hutchinson and Shaftesbury.

5.                  TheologyThis chapter considers some of Edwards' particular contributions to theology. These include his work on the Trinity, the doctrine of original sin, salvation, ecclesiology and eschatology. In each of these areas Edwards is a highly creative theologian standing within the Reformed tradition.

6.                  HomileticsEdwards spent most of his working life as a pastor. His extant sermons run into the thousands. He was also involved in the ‘Great Awakening' as a revivalist. From this period in his life come a number of sermons which are important landmarks in his theological development (e.g. ‘God Glorified in Man's Dependence'). He also sketched out a proposed body of divinity in a series of sermons entitled ‘The History of the Work of Redemption'. Recent work on this body of material has shown how important it is to a complete understanding of Edwards' contribution. This chapter deals with these different facets of his homiletical corpus.