Book Description
In this collection of writings drawn from Jonathan Edwards's essays and topical notebooks, the great American theologian deals with key Christian doctrines including the Trinity, grace, and faith. The volume includes long-established pieces in the Edwards canon, newly reedited from the original manuscripts, as well as documents that have never before been published and that in some cases reveal new aspects of his theology. ... Read more

Book Description
This book demonstrates the originality and coherence of Jonathan Edwards' philosophical theology using his dynamic reconception of reality as the interpretive key. The author argues that what underlies Edwards' writings is a radical shift from the traditional Western metaphysics of substance and form to a new conception of the world as a network of dispositions: active and abiding principles that possess reality apart from their manifestations in actions and events. Edwards' dispositional ontology enables him to restate the Augustinian-Calvinist tradition in theology in a strikingly modern philosophical framework.

A prime example of Edwards' innovative reconstruction in philosophical theology is his conception of God as both eternal actuality and a disposition to repeat that actuality within God and also through creation. This view is a compelling alternative to the traditional Western doctrine of God as changeless actuality, on the one hand, and the recent process theologians' excessive stress on God's involvement in change, on the other. Edwards' achievement was that he saw dynamic movement as essential to God's own life without compromising the traditional Christian tenets of God's prior actuality and transcendence. The author of this volume also explicates the way in which Edwards' dynamic reconception of reality informs his theories of imagination, aesthetic perception, the knowledge of God, and the meaning of history. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Essential to Understanding Jonathan Edwards
Sang Hyun Lee's book is the essential text on Edwards's metaphysics. Not everyone thinks he is right (though I, like most mainstream Edwards scholars, think he is) but every knowledgable scholar realizes that the path to understanding Edwards's metaphysics lies through Lee's work and not around it. The book is densely and carefully written, and at least one graduate student has embarrassed himself in print through failure to read as carefully as Lee wrote. In sum, it is a difficult buttotally indispensable book, and whoever is seeking to understand Jonathan Edwards as a thinker must digest it.

Essential to Understanding Jonathan Edwards
Sang Hyun Lee's book is the essential text on Edwards's metaphysics. Not everyone thinks he is right (though I, like most mainstream Edwards scholars, think he is) but every knowledgable scholar realizes that the path to understanding Edwards's metaphysics lies through Lee's work and not around it. The book is densely and carefully written, and at least one graduate student has embarrassed himself in print through failure to read as carefully as Lee wrote. In sum, it is a difficult buttotally indispensable book, and whoever is seeking to understand Jonathan Edwards as a thinker must digest it. ... Read more

Book Description

Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758) is widely recognized as one of the greatest philosopher-theologians America has ever produced, and recent years have seen a remarkable increase in research on his writings. To date, however, there has been no single authoritative volume that introduces and interprets the key aspects of Edwards' thought as a whole. The Princeton Companion to Jonathan Edwards provides just such a concise and comprehensive work, one that will be invaluable to students and scholars of American religion and theology as well as of literature, philosophy, and history.

Comprising twenty essays by leading scholars on Edwards, the book will inform and challenge readers on subjects ranging from Edwards' understanding of the Trinity, God and the world, Christ, and salvation, as well as of history, typology, the church, and mission to Native Americans. It also includes a chronology of Edwards' life and writings that incorporates current research. Those familiar with Edwards' writings will find in these essays succinct expositions as well as bold new interpretations, and others will find an accessible, authoritative, up-to-date orientation to his multifaceted thought.

The essays are by Robert E. Brown, Allen C. Guezlo, Robert W. Jenson, Wilson H. Kimnach, Janice Knight, Sang Hyun Lee, Gerald R. McDermott, Kenneth P. Minkema, Mark Noll, Richard R. Niebuhr, Amy Plantinga Pauw, John E. Smith, Stephen J. Stein, Harry S. Stout, Douglas A. Sweeney, Peter J. Thuesen, and John F. Wilson.

Customer Reviews (1)

Very Gooooood! Essential for Understanding Jonathan Edwards
This is totally indispensable book when searching Edward's Theology.
Whoever is seeking to understand Jonathan Edwards as a whole must read and investigate it.
I recommend you eagerly! ... Read more

Book Description
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. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Truly a provacative read
Through a series of Essays, the thoughts of Jonathan Edwards on a numberof topics, from nature to revival are analysed and expounded.

I don'thave a deep philosophical background, but found reading it and learning theunfamilier terms to be rewarding.Edwards was truly a marvelous thinker,and wether you agree or disagree, his thoughts will make you stretch yourown.For the most part, the authors are true to Edwards sound ChristianTheology, showing just how far ahead in his thinking he was from mostcontemporary christian authors.

Most of the essyas are top notch, andfocus on Edwards, but there are two or three that are self serving andEdwards is used to advance the authors pet cause or philosophy- in anotherwise excellent volume these were quite out of place.

Recommend toanyone who wants to get beyond the "brain candy" you will find inyour average Christian Bookstore. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

I love this book!
It always puts a smile on my face when I read this book!

I received it as a Christmas present when it was first published years ago, and lost it somewhere along the way. So I bought another copy! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Love Letters in Song
I got this book for my 90-something old father and we had a blast with it, since so much of this music is the music he grew up with and grew to love.

As we read the chapters on the making of the music and the lives of the composers, song-writers, and song-makers, we sang these songs to each other.

It's a fat book chock full of hither-to unknown facts, marvelous asides on how plugging a song was done before radio. . . how the grammaphone and technology changed the face of musical history.

And, so many pictures!These alone are worth the cost of admission.

--Janet Grace Riehl, author Sightlines: A Poet's Diary ... Read more