The Theology of Jonathan Edwards

Michael McClymond and Gerald McDermott's new book, The Theology of Jonathan Edwards, has just been published by Oxford University Press.

It's massive (784 pages) and expensive ($60)—but apart from Edwards's own writings, this is (to use Alistair McGrath's words), "unquestionably the best starting place for anyone wanting to grapple with the ideas of America's greatest theologian."

Kenneth Minkema, executive editor and director of the Works of Jonathan Edwards at Yale University, writes, "With interest in Jonathan Edwards at an unprecedented high around the world, The Theology of Jonathan Edwards is a truly useful and unmatched digest of his times, thought, and influence. Edwards is one of the most-written about religious figures of the eighteenth-century, and with such a mountain of literature to navigate, this volume provides the single best entry point into Edwards' writings and ideas for the specialist and general reader alike."

The book has also been highly praised by George Marsden, Mark Noll, and David Bebbington.

Later this week (DV) I'll have an interview with Drs. McClymond and McDermott, but for now, you can get a good overview of the topics covered by simply scanning the table of contents:

Part One: Introduction: Historical, Cultural, and Social Contexts

1. Overture to a Symphony

2. Jonathan Edwards: A Theological Life

3. Edwards's Intellectual Context

4. Edwards's Spirituality

5. The Question of Development: Did Edwards Change?

Part Two: Topics in Edwards's Theology

Section One: Methods and Strategies

6. Beauty and Aesthetics

7. Metaphysics

8. Typology: Scripture, Nature, and All of Reality

9. Revelation: Scripture, Tradition, and Reason

10. Apologetics

11. Biblical Exegesis

12. The Concept of a History of Redemption

Section Two: The Triune God, the Angels, and Heaven

13. God as Trinity: Father, Son, and Spirit

14. The End of God in Creation

15. Providence and History

16. The Person and Work of Jesus Christ

17. The Role of the Holy Spirit

18. The Angels in the Plan of Salvation

19. Heaven is a World of Love

Section Three: Theological Anthropology and Divine Grace

20. The Affections and the Human Person

21. Edward's Calvinism and Theology of the Covenants

22. Free Will and Original Sin

23. Salvation, Grace, and Faith: An Overview

24. Conversion: A Divine and Supernatural Light

25. Justification and Sanctification

26. The Theme of Divinization

27. The Theology of Revivals

Section Four: Church, Ethics, Eschatology, and Society

28. The Church

29. Edwards On (and In) the Ministry

30. The Sacraments: Baptism and the Lord's Supper

31. The Voice of the Great God: A Theology of Preaching

32. Public Theology, Society, and America

33. True Virtue, Christian Love, and Ethical Theory

34. Edwards On (and In) Missions

35. Eschatology

36. Christianity and Other Religions

Part Three: Legacies and Affinities: Edwards's Disciples and Interpreters

37. Selective Readings: Edwards and the New Divinity

38. Mixed Reactions: Princeton and Andover Seminaries, and Nineteenth-Century American Culture

39. New Beginnings: The Twentieth Century Recovery of Edwards's Theology

40. Interpretations, I: Edwards and Modern Philosophy

41. Interpretations, II: Edwards and the Reformed Tradition

42. Interpretations, III: Edwards and the Revival Tradition

43. Interpretations, IV: Edwards and the Catholic and Orthodox Traditions

44. Interpretations, V: Edwards and Contemporary Theology

45. Conclusion: Edwards as a Theological Bridge