The Rational Biblical Theology of Jonathan Edwards - Volume I / By: John H. Gerstner / BEREA PUBLICATIONS, 1991 / Hardcover

Printed in the USA 

Pages 682

Introduction

Edwards never lived to produce his greatest work, A Rational Account of the Main Doctrine of the Christian Religion Attempted. The following small attempt to present his theology systematically does not follow the quite original outline he provided. It does, however, try to do some justice to his rational biblical theology.

My very title, The Rational Biblical Theology of Jonathan Edwards, signifies the way Edwards did theology. Confident of the proper use of the finite and fallen human intelligence he everywhere gave a reason for his faith in biblical revelation which he expounded meticulously with one of the finest minds ever to appear in human his- tory. As Henry Rogers has written, Edwards was probably "the most perfect specimen of the intellectual athlete the world has ever seen."2 Paul Ramsey gives a more detailed account of Edwards' performance:

Perhaps we should say that the Inquiry into the Modern Prevailing Notions of the Freedom of the Will is not the greatest of Edwards' works but the greatest of its kind. For his Treatise Concerning Religious Affections (1746) in defense and criticism of the Revival stands without many peers among writings on the phi- losophy and psychology of religion, as does the Nature of True Virtue among books on ethics. And the 'Miscellanies' are often de- scribed as the greatest of Edwards' works. All these, and other writings that might be mentioned, have high merit each in its own kind, and there's not much profit comparing them with each other in order to find the summit. There is more grandeur in a range of many summits, and in the scope of many kinds of interests and com- petence that are to be found in the writings of Jonathan Edwards.3

1 Among the many volumes on Edwards, Paula M. Cooey's Jonathan Edwards on Nature and Destiny. A Systematic Analysis (Toronto and New York: Mellen, 1985) is particularly, however casually, sensitive to this point.

2 Jonathan Edwards, The Works of Jonathan Edwards, A.M. revised and corrected by Edward Hickman, with an Essay on His Genius and Writings by Henry Rogers and a memoir by Sereno E. Dwight, 2 vols. (London: William Ball, 34 Paternoster-Row, printed by John Childs and Son, Bungay, MDCCCXXXVII): I:xii. Hereinafter cited, Works, I or II:(page number).

3 Paul Ramsey, "Editor's Introduction," in Jonathan Edwards, Freedom of the Will, ed. Paul Ramsey (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1957), p. 8. This was the first of the Yale University Press volumes in The Works of Jonathan Edwards, nine of which have been published and are as follows:...

• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B001AQO590
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Berea Publ./Ligonier Ministries (January 1, 1991)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 682 pages
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.75 pounds