Theism In The Discourse Of Jonathan Edwards

This book proposes that a new semiotic category called theism can more intelligibly classify the discursive pattern that precedes modern humanism in American literature than such standard historicist categories as Puritanism or Calvinism or medievalism, and that the writings of Jonathan Edwards exemplify this theist discursive pattern.

The 18th century was a wealth of knowledge, exploration and rapidly growing technology and expanding record-keeping made possible by advances in the printing press. In its determination to preserve the century of revolution, Gale initiated a revolution of its own: digitization of epic proportions to preserve these invaluable works in the largest archive of its kind. Now for the first time these high-quality digital copies of original 18th century manuscripts are available in print, making them highly accessible to libraries, undergraduate students, and independent scholars. The Age of Enlightenment profoundly enriched religious and philosophical understanding and continues to influence present-day thinking. Works collected here include masterpieces by David Hume, Immanuel Kant, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau, as well as religious sermons and moral debates on the issues of the day, such as the slave trade. The Age of Reason saw conflict between Protestantism and Catholicism transformed into one between faith and logic -- a debate that continues in the twenty-first century. ++++ The below data was compiled from various identification fields in the bibliographic record of this title. This data is provided as an additional tool in helping to insure edition identification: ++++ British Library W019067 Delivered in 1734, and first published in 1738 in Edwards's Discourses on various important subects. Half-title: Mr. Edwards's discourse, on Romans III, 19. Boston: Re-printed and sold by J. Kneeland, next to the treasurer's office, in Milk-Street, MDCCLXXIII. [1773]. 64p.; 4°

This fine work of intellectual retrieval highlights the abiding importance of Jonathan Edwards, one of the most significant figures in American religious history. Written by ten experts on the subject, these thought-provoking studies illustrate the many ways the influence of Edwards continues to be felt in contemporary American thought and explore how his ideas can enliven and shape modern theological discussion. Refusing to treat Edwards as simply a historical voice, this volume points out in ingenious ways how Edwards can be an ongoing resource for religious reflection in our time.

DigiCat Publishing presents to you this special edition of "Selected Sermons of Jonathan Edwards" by Jonathan Edwards. DigiCat Publishing considers every written word to be a legacy of humankind. Every DigiCat book has been carefully reproduced for republishing in a new modern format. The books are available in print, as well as ebooks. DigiCat hopes you will treat this work with the acknowledgment and passion it deserves as a classic of world literature.

A great deal has recently been written about Jonathan Edwards. Most of it, however, does not make central Edwards's own intention to speak truth about God and the human situation; his systematic theological intention is regarded merely as an historical phenomenon. In this book, Robert Jenson provides a different sort of interpretation, asking not only, "Why was Edwards great?" but also, "Was Edwards right?" As a student of the ideas of Newton and Locke, Jenson argues, Edwards was very much a figure of the Enlightenment; but unlike most other Americans, he was also a discerning critic of it, and was able to use Enlightenment thought in his theology without yielding to its mechanistic and individualistic tendencies. Alone among Christian thinkers of the Enlightenment, Edwards conceived an authentically Christian piety and a creative theology not in spite of Newton and Locke but by virtue of them. Jenson sees Edwards's understanding as a radical corrective to what commitment to the Enlightenment brought about in American life, religious and otherwise. Perhaps, Jenson proposes, recovery of Edwards's vision might make the mutual determination of American culture and American Christianity more fruitful than it has yet been.

Seng-Kong Tan argues that human participation in the divine—a classical theological axiom most notably associated with the Eastern Orthodox tradition—is a central theme in the theology of Jonathan Edwards. This notion, Tan contends, is a defining motif for the entire systematic sweep of Edwards’s theology, and it serves to focus and determine the contours of Edwards’s thought. Fullness Received and Returned situates Edwards’s theology within the folds of the classical theological tradition, while arguing that Edwards’s is a unique and creative form of Reformed theology.

Bringing together a collection of letters between two theologians along with other observations and reflections, this volume continues to open the mind of any person wishing to be a serious theologian. While many know about the big names such as Calvin or Luther, many do not give credence to some of the important landmark works that writers such as Edwards helped to promote.