Since the publication of Sang Hyun Lee's revolutionary commentary, The Philosophical Theology of Jonathan Edwards, scholars have considered the possibilities of understanding Jonathan Edwards's thought in terms of dispositional laws, forces, and habits. While some scholars reject the notion of a dispositional ontology in Edwards, others have taken the concept of disposition in his thought beyond the usage the Northampton minister ever indicated, especially with respect to soteriological considerations. The preacher of "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" is made to be an inclusivist, if not a crypto-universalist. Jonathan Edwards's Vision of Reality substantiates that Edwards, in an effort to combat deistic and materialistic Enlightenment paradigms, employs dispositions in his philosophy, but that his radical theocentrism and Calvinistic particularism established its boundaries within his apologetical reconsideration of spatiotemporal and metaphysical reality. Within his "spiritual vision" of reality, Edwards leaves no stone unturned: history and even the reprobate find inherent value and a positive functional role not only in God's program of self-glorification but as manifestations of divine being--the damned are "deformities" in God. The logic of Edwards's theocentric vision of reality pushes his ideas to the limits of acceptable Reformed orthodoxy, and sometimes beyond those limits.
Ten essays highlight different aspects of Jonathan Edwards's life and legacy and show how his teachings are just as relevant today as they were three centuries ago.
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.
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.
Many Evangelicals want to believe in a God who is merciful to the multitudes that never hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ, but lack the theological categories to support that aspiration. This book addresses these areas of evangelical theology by drawing on a well-known figure in the evangelical tradition-Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758)-and a contemporary Roman Catholic theologian-David Coffey (1934-). Though they may seem theological worlds apart, their use of a common trinitarian theology-the Augustinian mutual love model-led them to similar conclusions on Christology, pneumatology, and the theology of grace. Their common trinitarian vision provides resources to develop a transformational and relational vision of redemption and an inclusivist theology of religions within the evangelical tradition. The book brings Jonathan Edwards' and David Coffey's trinitarian understanding of God and redemption into ecumenical and constructive dialogue. The Trinity plays a systemic role in their theology and leads them to similar Spirit Christologies and pneumatological concepts of grace. Their use of the Augustinian mutual love model of the Trinity and their integration of it with Christology and pneumatology provide the resources to develop a transformational and relational vision of redemption and inclusivist theology of religions. To achieve its historical, ecumenical, and constructive program, the book moves through three steps. The first describes the Augustinian mutual love model of the Trinity in light of two of its major historical representatives-St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas-and situates Edwards' and Coffey's thought in continuity with that tradition. The second section demonstrates that Edwards and Coffey's shared trinitarian theology led them to similar Spirit Christologies and pneumatological concepts of grace. Based on the historical and comparative work in the first two sections, the third section makes two constructive proposals. First, it presents a relational and transformational understanding of redemption in place of the traditional Protestant evangelical legal doctrine of justification and formulaic approach to spiritual formation. Second, it proposes an inclusive theology of religions that includes a positive theological attitude toward the universal human religious quest and its manifestation in various religious traditions of the world. Intended for students and scholars working in evangelical, ecumenical, and trinitarian theology, this project seeks to make a constructive contribution to contemporary evangelical theology.The book will appeal to multiple audiences. First, it is important for Edwards scholars and to readers with a general interest in Edwards since there are few book-length treatments of his trinitarianism. Moreover, and accenting its appeal, the book presents an alternative interpretation of his trinitarian theology relative to the previous books. Second, it should attract the attention of evangelical theologians interested in the doctrine of the Trinity, ecumenical theology, revising traditional evangelical views on Christ and the Holy Spirit, and developing an evangelical theology of religions. Finally, the book will be valuable to Catholic theologians interested in ecumenical theology and especially that related to Evangelicalism.
Kyle Strobel mines the work of Jonathan Edwards in search of the Puritan minister?s personal vision for spiritual development. "In Edwards," Strobel writes, "we find a grasp of spiritual formation that tries to balance deep thought with deep passion . . . a life of love with the contemplation of divine things."
Josh Moody has assembled a team of internationally reputed Edwards scholars to ask and answer the question: What is Jonathan Edwards’s doctrine of Justification? The contributors also examine the extent to which Edwards’s view was Reformational while addressing some of the contemporary discussions on justification. This volume helps us look at justification through the eyes of one of America’s greatest theologians, and speaks credibly and winsomely to the needs of the church and the academy today.
