A Reader's Guide to the Major Writings of Jonathan Edwards
Overview
Jonathan Edwards—widely considered one the most important theologians in American history—has influenced generation after generation with his transcendent vision of our great and glorious God. But reading his writings for the first time can be a daunting task.
Here to be your trustworthy guides are some of the very best interpreters of Edwards, who walk you through his most important works with historical context, strategies for reading, and contemporary application—launching you into a lifetime of discovering Edwards’s God-centered vision of the Christian life for yourself.
Key Features
- Carefully curated selection of Jonathan Edwards’ writings
- Guided tour of Edwards’ thought and theology
- Both academic and devotional
Contents
- How To Read Jonathan Edwards
- Autobiographical Spiritual Writings
- Revival Writings
- Justification by Faith Alone
- Religious Affections
- The Life of David Brainerd
- Freedom of the Will
- Original Sin
- A History of the Work of Redemption
- Edwards’s Affectional Ethics
Top Highlights
“Thus Edwards defines affections as ‘the more vigorous and sensible exercises of the inclination and will of the soul.’” (Page 98)
“For Edwards the affections move the soul, which means they move the mind as well as the will. In the affections of true religion, the mind is ‘enlightened, rightly and spiritually, to understand or apprehend divine things.’” (Page 98)
“The first point to get clear in our minds, then, is not how to read Jonathan Edwards but why. And here is why. He turns our postcard views of Christ and the beauty of authentic Christian living into an experience of the real thing. What we had only smelled we now see. What we heard others call magnificent and considered overstatement we now see as magnificent and recognize as understatement. Jonathan Edwards gives us longings for God and for holiness that are more satisfying than even our best joys currently are. For some, he may bring us to realize that we were never converted at all.” (Page 24)
“True Christian fortitude consists not ‘in counteracting the enemies that are without us’ but ‘in resisting and suppressing the enemies that are within us.’” (Page 104)
“But true saints think highly of others and lowly of themselves, because they see the outside of other Christians but only the inside of themselves.” (Page 104)
Praise for the Print Edition
Christians wanting to dip into Edwards’s daunting prose but seeking expert help in doing so will find it in this book. The tour guides are clear, edifying, and reliable. They don’t discuss all of Edwards’s massive body of work, but they treat most of his greatest hits—and do so in the service of what Edwards, quoting James, called ‘true religion.’
—Douglas A. Sweeney, distinguished professor of church history and the history of Christian thought; director, Jonathan Edwards Center, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School
Kudos to Nathan Finn and Jeremy Kimble for bringing together a first-rate team of scholars to provide a marvelous introduction to the most important works from the pen of Jonathan Edwards. This readable and accessible guide provides a treasure for students to explore the most significant themes in the prolific writings of America’s greatest Christian thinker. It is truly a joy to recommend this superb resource.
—David S. Dockery, president, Trinity International University
Academically rigorous and spiritually stirring, Finn and Kimble’s book offers an outstanding introduction to the essential writings of Jonathan Edwards, the most important theologian in American history.
—Thomas S. Kidd, distinguished professor of history, Baylor University; author, The Great Awakening: The Roots of Evangelical Christianity in Colonial America
- Title: A Reader’s Guide to the Major Writings of Jonathan Edwards
- Authors: Nathan A. Finn, Jeremy M. Kimble
- Publisher: Crossway
- Print Publication Date: 2017
- Logos Release Date: 2017
- Pages: 240
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
- Subject: Edwards, Jonathan, 1703-1758
- ISBNs: 9781433554810, 9781433554841, 9781433554827, 9781433554834, 143355481X, 1433554844, 1433554828, 1433554836
- Resource ID: LLS:RDRSGDJNTHDWRDS
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2022-09-30T02:37:46Z
About the Editors
Nathan A. Finn (PhD, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary) is the dean of the School of Theology and Missions and professor of theological studies at Union University. Nathan lives in Jackson, Tennessee, with his wife, Leah, and their four children.
Jeremy M. Kimble (PhD, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary) is assistant professor of theological studies at Cedarville University. He and his wife, Rachel, have two children.