Jonathan Edwards on the Experience of Beauty

Jonathan Edwards on the Experience of Beauty

Author: Dr. Louis J. Mitchell

Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers

Published: 2016-07-29

Total Pages: 128

ISBN-13: 1725237245

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Jonathan Edwards on the Experience of Beauty relates Edwards' idea of beauty to his understanding of the psychology of religious experience. In his vocabulary of the language of beauty Edwards articulates a traditional understanding of beauty in the various relations that constitute primary and secondary beauty. All beauty, however, is ultimately founded on the beauty of God's Trinitarian being. Edwards' concept of the "sense of the heart," related to his psychology of religious experience, is articulated as an infusion of God's beauty. This experience results in a new perception and manifestation of holiness and beauty in the lives of the saints, both individually and corporately. True believers are to be "proportioned Christians," showing forth beauty in their affections. Edwards explicated this perspective in sermons, treatises--especially Religious Affections--and in a number of cases he presented, including the religious experiences of David Brainerd, Sarah Edwards, and his own awakening and conversion. In these cases, the language of beauty plays a prominent descriptive role. In summary, Jonathan Edwards on the Experience of Beauty shows the importance of Edwards' idea of beauty for his understanding of genuine religious experience. Edwards defines true or genuine religion as an experience of God's beauty that becomes manifested in the beauty of the affections. Further, in articulating that understanding, he utilized the vocabulary of his language of beauty. For Jonathan Edwards, beauty is the structure of genuine religious experience.


America's Theologian

America's Theologian

Author: Robert W. Jenson

Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA

Published: 1988

Total Pages: 242

ISBN-13: 0195049411

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The author argues that Edwards was very much a figure of the Enlightenment, but was able to use Enlightenment thought in his theology without yielding to its mechanistic and individualistic tendencies.


The Beauty of the Lord

The Beauty of the Lord

Author: Jonathan King

Publisher: Lexham Press

Published: 2018-05-30

Total Pages: 452

ISBN-13: 1683590597

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Why is God's beauty often absent from our theology? Rarely do theologians take up the theme of God's beauty—even more rarely do they consider how God's beauty should shape the task of theology itself. But the psalmist says that the heart of the believer's desire is to behold the beauty of the Lord. In The Beauty of the Lord, Jonathan King restores aesthetics as not merely a valid lens for theological reflection, but an essential one. Jesus, our incarnate Redeemer, displays the Triune God's beauty in his actions and person, from creation to final consummation. How can and should theology better reflect this unveiled beauty? The Beauty of the Lord is a renewal of a truly aesthetic theology and a properly theological aesthetics.


Jonathan Edwards on the Experience of Beauty

Jonathan Edwards on the Experience of Beauty

Author: Louis J. Mitchell

Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers

Published: 2016-07-29

Total Pages: 129

ISBN-13: 1532603592

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Jonathan Edwards on the Experience of Beauty relates Edwards' idea of beauty to his understanding of the psychology of religious experience. In his vocabulary of the language of beauty Edwards articulates a traditional understanding of beauty in the various relations that constitute primary and secondary beauty. All beauty, however, is ultimately founded on the beauty of God's Trinitarian being. Edwards' concept of the "sense of the heart," related to his psychology of religious experience, is articulated as an infusion of God's beauty. This experience results in a new perception and manifestation of holiness and beauty in the lives of the saints, both individually and corporately. True believers are to be "proportioned Christians," showing forth beauty in their affections. Edwards explicated this perspective in sermons, treatises--especially Religious Affections--and in a number of cases he presented, including the religious experiences of David Brainerd, Sarah Edwards, and his own awakening and conversion. In these cases, the language of beauty plays a prominent descriptive role. In summary, Jonathan Edwards on the Experience of Beauty shows the importance of Edwards' idea of beauty for his understanding of genuine religious experience. Edwards defines true or genuine religion as an experience of God's beauty that becomes manifested in the beauty of the affections. Further, in articulating that understanding, he utilized the vocabulary of his language of beauty. For Jonathan Edwards, beauty is the structure of genuine religious experience.


The Nature of True Virtue

The Nature of True Virtue

Author: Jonathan Edwards

Publisher: University of Michigan Press

Published: 1960

Total Pages: 127

ISBN-13: 0472060376

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Like the great speculators Augustine, Aquinas, and Pascal, Jonathan Edwards treated religious ideas as problems not of dogma, but of life. His exploration of self-love disguised as "true virtue" is grounded in the hard facts of human behavior. More than a hell-fire preacher, more than a theologian, Edwards was a bold and independent philosopher. Nowhere is his force of mind more evident than in this book. He speaks as powerfully to us today as he did to the keenest minds of the eighteenth century.


Edwards on the Christian Life

Edwards on the Christian Life

Author: Dane Ortlund

Publisher: Crossway

Published: 2014-08-31

Total Pages: 210

ISBN-13: 1433535084

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Jonathan Edwards is widely hailed as the greatest theologian in American history. In Edwards on the Christian Life, Dane Ortlund invites us to explore the great eighteenth-century pastor's central passion: God's resplendent beauty. Whether reflecting on the nature of love, the preeminence of Scripture, or the glory of the natural world, the concept of beauty stood at the heart of Edwards's theology and permeated his portrait of the Christian life. Clear and engaging, this accessible volume will inspire you to embrace Edwards's magnificent vision of what it means to be a Christian: enjoying and reflecting of the beauty of God in all things. Part of the Theologians on the Christian Life series.


Jonathan Edwards, Beauty, and Younger Evangelicals

Jonathan Edwards, Beauty, and Younger Evangelicals

Author: Adam Newcomb Boyd

Publisher: Jesociety Press

Published: 2019-09-23

Total Pages: 236

ISBN-13: 9780578579993

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This book is written to explore the qualities of a healthy, biblical faith. Much of Jonathan Edwards's work on the nature and inclination of our affections is obscured by difficult language and culturally distant descriptions. The same is true regarding his work describing the object of our affection. Granted, there has been a good deal of secondary work done unpacking these ideas, but very little of it is accessible for the average Christian reader. Our primary command is to love the Lord our God with all our hearts. In considering the nature of our affections and the ideas of beauty that engage them, this book is written to develop the most foundational dynamic of our faith. In other words, we will look at both our love (affection) and our God (beauty). Something is broken about us; why else would we find Netflix more entertaining than worship? This is actually good news, because it means there is something more to our faith than we have yet experienced. This book is written to begin the healing process by looking at a biblical view of a renewed heart and rightly ordered affections.