Jonathan Edwards: America's EvangelicalPhilip Gura, authorHill and Wang, publishers
ISBN 978-0-8090-6196-9
2006, trade paperback format
$15.00
Recommended Book
Always wanting to know more about Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758) than the standard information I gave in various written papers for course work, a little over a year ago I obtained a few copies in hardcover format of Philip Gura's book, Jonathan Edwards: America's Evangelical, for our Christian bookstore, http://www.qualitymusicandbooks.com/. So I read it, and then shared it with my two buddies that came into our retail location weekly. In fact, I am quite surprised that I haven't written a review of the book since I do recommend it.
I thought Gura's account was extremely informative, held my interest, and gave me a good accounting of Edwards' contribution to Protestant Christian faith and life in the United States, as well as an excellent overview of all that was going on at the time that Edwards lived, served as a pastor, and wrote volumes of thoughts. In this respect, Jonathan Edwards is a most likely candidate for the clergyman that we know the most about from this time period, that being 18th-century colonial America, simply because he did write so much.
When you read this book, you may be surprised to find that there is information you have assumed to be fact that isn't fact at all. It will place the events of revivals and awakenings in their proper order. It will show you that people of the 18th-century in some respects have no different attitudes than many Christians hold today.
Edwards wrote many important works. The one I wish to mention today is Freedom of the Will. Who chooses what? Does God choose who is saved? Does God knowing who will be saved because he has already chosen? Or, does God's omniscience mean that God knows who will choose? It is one of the issues that has separated protestants for centuries: Predestination vs. Arminianism.
I recommend for the serious-minded Christian: Read a book about Jonathan Edwards such as the one recommended in this article, read at least one of Edwards' works, and others from this time period. (I recommend Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God and Other Puritan Sermons from Dover Publications, for a new book the price is $3.50.) You will be amazed at how events from then have shaped our faith-thought today. Without a doubt, it is philosophical. Perhaps you like philosophy, and you will delve right in to the heart of the thought. Or, perhaps you are like me, who finds philosophy an important study, fascinating, and thought-provoking, but sometimes hard to understand. Don't give up. Stick with it, because it is worth the effort.
Lastly, I invite you to read even more. I have just finished transcribing the reply to Edwards' work, Freedom of the Will, given by Samuel West. This is free to read online, or to download in pdf format. CLICKHERE to read Essays on Liberty and Necessity; in which The True Nature of Liberty Is Stated and Defended; and The Prinicpal Arguments used by Mr. Edwards, and others, for Necessity, are Considered. by Samuel West, A.M., Pastor of the Church of Christ in New-Bedford. Boston, Samuel Hall, in Cornhill, 1793.
When you read this book, you may be surprised to find that there is information you have assumed to be fact that isn't fact at all. It will place the events of revivals and awakenings in their proper order. It will show you that people of the 18th-century in some respects have no different attitudes than many Christians hold today.
Edwards wrote many important works. The one I wish to mention today is Freedom of the Will. Who chooses what? Does God choose who is saved? Does God knowing who will be saved because he has already chosen? Or, does God's omniscience mean that God knows who will choose? It is one of the issues that has separated protestants for centuries: Predestination vs. Arminianism.
I recommend for the serious-minded Christian: Read a book about Jonathan Edwards such as the one recommended in this article, read at least one of Edwards' works, and others from this time period. (I recommend Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God and Other Puritan Sermons from Dover Publications, for a new book the price is $3.50.) You will be amazed at how events from then have shaped our faith-thought today. Without a doubt, it is philosophical. Perhaps you like philosophy, and you will delve right in to the heart of the thought. Or, perhaps you are like me, who finds philosophy an important study, fascinating, and thought-provoking, but sometimes hard to understand. Don't give up. Stick with it, because it is worth the effort.
Lastly, I invite you to read even more. I have just finished transcribing the reply to Edwards' work, Freedom of the Will, given by Samuel West. This is free to read online, or to download in pdf format. CLICKHERE to read Essays on Liberty and Necessity; in which The True Nature of Liberty Is Stated and Defended; and The Prinicpal Arguments used by Mr. Edwards, and others, for Necessity, are Considered. by Samuel West, A.M., Pastor of the Church of Christ in New-Bedford. Boston, Samuel Hall, in Cornhill, 1793.
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