Derek R. Nelson, Sin: A Guide for the Perplexed Review

Church History, 2014

2009

1998

Themelios, 2019

2014

2003

The eighteenth century Great Awakening in America is reported here through the first-hand experience of Jonathan Edwards, and is recorded almost entirely in his own words, together with a broad selection of his sayings under twelve key labels. Edwards was a perceptive historian, critic and interpreter of the Revival in New England (1722-1750). As Congregational minister of the church in Northampton, he was well placed to give a first-hand account of his own story and impact, from his personal engagement with the local community. Edwards offers a contemporary assessment of the Revival's strengths and weaknesses. His early education based on Enlightenment principles, commitment to Biblical authority, and a global vision, all contributed to his wisdom. This was respected in his lifetime, but recognised even more widely after his untimely death shortly after becoming President of New Jersey College, now Princeton University. The twelve sections, consisting of quotations, relate to the headings in the compiler's website, www.faithshapers.co.uk and the Academia papers online, 'Finding the Evangelical Anglican Way: 1375 to the present day', but they also derive from reflection upon his own personal spiritual journey.

Jonathan Edwards within the Enlightenment: Controversy, Experience, & Thought, 2020

It has been rightly noted that, while three centuries of scholarship on Jonathan Edwards has revealed much of his philosophy, theology and epistemology, yet we know very little of the person himself. Using insights from philosophical and literary disciplines as applied to the field of persona, this thesis examines a representative selection of the writings of Jonathan Edwards, in order to trace and assess the evolution of Jonathan Edwards's persona in the context of eighteenth-century New England. In particular, it shows how the Edwards persona was developed not only as a result of a carefully crafted intentional strategy on his part but also in response to the unplanned but inevitable conflicts that plagued his ecclesiastical career. The tension between his innately contemplative nature and the active demands of public office as he executed his professional role was a constant source of internal and public strife for Edwards. He was, as he termed it, "born to be a man of strife."