The Jonathan Edwards Encyclopedia
Overview
Jonathan Edwards (1703–1758) is widely acknowledged to be one of America’s most important theologians and considered a fountainhead of American evangelicalism. He not only played an important role in his own time but also influenced the generations that followed in profound ways.
With more than four hundred entries, The Jonathan Edwards Encyclopedia provides a wide-ranging perspective on Edwards, offering succinct synopses of topics large and small from his life, thought, and work. Summaries of Edwards’s ideas as well as descriptions of the people and events of his times are all easy to find, and suggestions for further reading point to ways to explore topics in greater depth.
Comprehensive and reliable, with contributions from the premier Edwards scholars in the world, this encyclopedia will be the standard reference work on one of the most extraordinary figures in American history.
Key Features
- Presents a comprehensive reference work on one of America’s most important theologians
- Features contributions from premier Edwards scholars the world over
Top Highlights
“Edwards was a cessationist who understood the special gifts as limited to the apostolic time, while also acknowledging that in the times of the New Testament these gifts were not an indication of the spiritual level of the gifted people.” (Page 57)
“Finally, Edwards explained that the chief sign of grace in a person’s life was Christian practice. Those who had been truly converted would be characterized by consistent faithfulness and holy living. Christian practice was the surest sign of grace, because it consisted of the cumulative exercise of obedience throughout the Christian’s lifetime and did not depend upon a singular evidence for its validation.” (Page 533)
“Judging the sincerity of the heart was a difficult task, but Edwards established that individual actions always sprang from the desires of the mind and heart.” (Page 531)
“Those who have received this special grace live in a manner consistent with the new heart they have been given in salvation.” (Page 531)
“Miscellanies’ no. 790 affirms conduct as more certain evidence of sonship than internal spiritual experience: ‘But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected (this is ‘the perfect love that casts out fear,’ 1 John 4:18; that is the same with the ‘Spirit of adoption, bearing witness with our spirits, that we are the children of God,’ Rom. 8:15–16): hereby know we that we are in him.’” (Page 4)
Praise for the Print Edition
The astonishing renaissance in study of Jonathan Edwards has very much needed a definitive reference work. This is it. An army of first-rate Edwards scholars has written authoritatively on every angle of his life and thought. The book summarizes, but it should also spur, the best kind of historical and theological scholarship.
—Mark A. Noll, University of Notre Dame
This remarkable volume of nearly 400 essays tackles a sweeping range of topics related to the life, thought, times, and legacy of America’s most influential theologian. The authors consider important but often-overlooked topics (such as Edwards’s shifting views on aging) and cast new light on often-considered topics (such as Edwards’s Puritan context). The concise bibliographic suggestions at the end of each article are worth the price of admission alone. The word landmark is overused in cover endorsements. In this case, however, no other word adequately conveys the importance of The Jonathan Edwards Encyclopedia.
—Grant Wacker, Duke Divinity School
Jonathan Edwards has received his ultimate tribute. This encyclopedia is a proverbial feast of scholarship and erudition, presented to readers in succinct, clear, and manageable bites. It is one of those rare reference works that you long to read from cover to cover.
—Margaret Bendroth, Congregational Library & Archives, Boston, MA
The Jonathan Edwards Encyclopedia assembles a remarkable cast of Edwards experts, whose entries offer a treasure trove of insights into Edwards’s vast body of work. A fitting monument to Edwards himself, this compendium will be an essential resource for scholars and admirers of this great preacher and theologian.
—Thomas S. Kidd, Baylor University
- Title: The Jonathan Edwards Encyclopedia
- Author: Jonathan Edwards
- Publisher: Eerdmans
- Print Publication Date: 2017
- Logos Release Date: 2017
- Pages: 647
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
- Subject: Edwards, Jonathan, 1703-1758 › Encyclopedias
- ISBNs: 9780802869524, 0802869521
- Resource ID: LLS:JNTHNDWRDSNCY
- Resource Type: Encyclopedia
- Metadata Last Updated: 2022-09-30T00:54:20Z
Jonathan Edwards (1703–1758) is considered one of America’s greatest theologians. While attending Yale College, he encountered the same Calvinism that had influenced his own Puritan upbringing.
Three years after Edwards was ordained as a minister, the First Great Awakening began in his church, which prompted Edwards to study conversion and revival within the context of Calvinism. During the revival, Edwards preached his most famous sermon, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,” and penned many of his most popular works, including Distinguishing Marks of a Work of the Spirit of God, A Treatise Concerning Religious Affections, and Life and Diary of the Rev. David Brainerd.
In 1757, Edwards reluctantly became president of the College of New Jersey (Princeton University), where he hoped to complete two major works—an expansion of his treatise on the history of redemption and a study of the harmony of the Old and New Testaments. The Works of Jonathan Edwards (26 vols.) is a massive collection containing five decades’ worth of study and scholarship on and from Edwards.
