Sunday, July 19, 2009

An Invitation to Discover Jonathan Edwards

America's First Theologian and the Rise of Global Calvinism

Understanding Jonathan Edwards: An Introduction to America’s Theologian
Edited by Gerald R. McDermott
Oxford University Press, 2009. $24.95.

Living just before the American Revolution, Jonathan Edwards was a leader in the Great Awakening revivals and evangelization of American Indians. He struggled especially against the Deism of the Enlightenment. During the Civil War, his influence was widespread in America. And today, Edwards benefits from a global resurgence of Calvinism and dissatisfaction with rationalism.

Edwards scholar Gerald McDermott edits a generous, pluralistic, readable collection of introductions to Edwards’s thought. Eight topics are introduced by experts with responses written mostly by scholars previously unfamiliar with Edwards. McDermott himself contributes an introduction, conclusion, topical essay and response. He seeks dialogue among Protestants, Catholics, world religions, and society.

This collection focuses on the breadth of Edwards’s thought and “that beauty, not wrath, was at the center of his vision of God” (201). Essays highlight Edwards’s philosophy, literary life, and typological theology. Miklos Vetö examines the impact of John Locke and Francis Hutcheson on Edwards. Douglas A. Sweeney locates Edwards’s reading of the Bible in relation to Origen, Augustine, Luther, and Calvin. Sang Hyun Lee describes Edwards’s thought on the role of affectivity in knowing, the changed affectivity of a converted person, and a concrete mysticism which sees God’s beauty in nature.

Edwards considered the Catholic Church and Islam to be the two antichrists, and a prejudice against Catholicism does appear in a couple of the essays, notably by European authors — reminding me that friendship between Evangelicals and Catholics is a recent phenomenon in America. McDermott has carefully arranged the essays to foster dialogue and bring out the best in contributors. This collection is a starting point for understanding the American experience better, an open door to dialogue between Catholics and Protestants, and an opportunity to learn from the vibrant Christian experience of a man who lived when the American experience was just unfolding.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

You've had a few postings on Edwards before, Fred. I'm really only familiar with what most are familiar concerning Edwards, his (in)famous sermon. How do you see him differently (or do you) than "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God"? And what do you do with Calvinism? I know some lovely Calvinists (and partial-Calvinists), used to be one (largely), but, on the other hand, Orthodoxy has condemned Calvinism as heresy, and I'm inclined to agree. (Not that the pronouncement of 'heresy' condemns people to hell.) Especially as it concerns double predestination and limited atonement. I'd love to hear your thoughts.