What do you think?
Rate this book
Jonathan Edwards Evangelist
This book was originally published by Westminster Press in 1960 under the title Steps to Salvation: The Evangelistic Message of Jonathan Edwards. Dr. Gerstner said that it is the most extensive treatment anywhere on the Puritan doctrine on seeking, or preparation for salvation, as it explores Jonathan Edwards' evangelistic method.
192 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 1997
2 people are currently reading
40 people want to read
About the author
John H. Gerstner
68 books20 followersJohn Henry Gerstner was a Professor of Church History at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary and Knox Theological Seminary and an authority on the life and theology of Jonathan Edwards.
He earned both a Master of Divinity of degree and a Master of Theology degree from Westminster Theological Seminary. He earned his Doctor of Philosophy degree from Harvard University in 1945. He was originally ordained in the United Presbyterian Church of North America, then (due to church unions) with the United Presbyterian Church in the United States of America and the Presbyterian Church (USA). In 1990, he left the PCUSA for the Presbyterian Church in America.
Gerstner counted among his students, noted author and preacher, R. C. Sproul, founder of Ligonier Ministries, Dr. Arthur Lindsley, Senior Fellow at the C.S. Lewis Institute, and Dr. Walter (Wynn) Kenyon, Professor of Biblical Studies and Philosophy; Chair of the Philosophy Department and Division of Ministry and Human Services at Belhaven University.
In addition to the books Gerstner had written, he also recorded several lengthy audio courses giving a survey of theology, church history, and Christian apologetics, which are distributed through Ligonier Ministries. Gerstner was non-dispensationalist.
In 1976, a Festschrift was published in Gerstner's honor. Soli Deo Gloria: Essays in Reformed Theology included contributions by Cornelius Van Til, J. I. Packer, Philip Edgecumbe Hughes, John Murray, R. C. Sproul, John Warwick Montgomery, and Roger Nicole.
He earned both a Master of Divinity of degree and a Master of Theology degree from Westminster Theological Seminary. He earned his Doctor of Philosophy degree from Harvard University in 1945. He was originally ordained in the United Presbyterian Church of North America, then (due to church unions) with the United Presbyterian Church in the United States of America and the Presbyterian Church (USA). In 1990, he left the PCUSA for the Presbyterian Church in America.
Gerstner counted among his students, noted author and preacher, R. C. Sproul, founder of Ligonier Ministries, Dr. Arthur Lindsley, Senior Fellow at the C.S. Lewis Institute, and Dr. Walter (Wynn) Kenyon, Professor of Biblical Studies and Philosophy; Chair of the Philosophy Department and Division of Ministry and Human Services at Belhaven University.
In addition to the books Gerstner had written, he also recorded several lengthy audio courses giving a survey of theology, church history, and Christian apologetics, which are distributed through Ligonier Ministries. Gerstner was non-dispensationalist.
In 1976, a Festschrift was published in Gerstner's honor. Soli Deo Gloria: Essays in Reformed Theology included contributions by Cornelius Van Til, J. I. Packer, Philip Edgecumbe Hughes, John Murray, R. C. Sproul, John Warwick Montgomery, and Roger Nicole.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
August 31, 2019
I give this little volume such high marks because Dr. Gerstner remained focused, clear, and compelling throughout. He announced what he came to do (examine Edwards’s take on the steps to salvation, as demonstrated principally in the New England Puritan’s sermons), and he did it. Not only did he accomplish the task, but he did so in under 200 pages!
Other reviewers on Goodreads have adequately touched on the content that stuck out to me. Suffice it to say that I found this well-researched (even groundbreaking at parts) monograph eminently helpful, and it has inspired me to pick up Edwards’s material for my own reading and edification.
Other reviewers on Goodreads have adequately touched on the content that stuck out to me. Suffice it to say that I found this well-researched (even groundbreaking at parts) monograph eminently helpful, and it has inspired me to pick up Edwards’s material for my own reading and edification.
December 10, 2017
The overall scope of the book is Edwards’ take on the ordo salutis, but Gerstner focuses on Edwards’ view of the unregenerate’s seeking salvation. Throughout the text the reader recognizes quips from old John Gerstner sermons. Indeed, one can hear Gerstner’s growl through the text.
As a good Calvinist Edwards denied the unregenerate man can will salvation. But that didn’t mean he couldn’t do anything. He can seek. While God is not bound to save men in response to their seeking, and in fact often saves those who didn’t go seeking, but Edwards notes that God is pleased to save those who seek. As Gerstner notes, “Men are able to seek precisely because they are unable to believe” (Gerstner 73). The Calvinist view of inability refers not to man’s ability to seek but to man’s ability to believe.
We should be clear that there is no merit in seeking. The outward activities of the unregenerate seeker--going to church, keeping the Sabbath, etc.--will damn him as surely as any other activity. There is no merit in these activities, yet some activities are less evil than others. In short, when a man seeks he is seeking to be made willing. He is not (yet) willing to be made willing (81).
But this seems hopeless. Why seek if I can’t will to be saved? Edwards draws upon the story of the lepers. If you sit still (i.e., don’t seek) you will perish eternally. If you seek, you might still perish eternally. But if you seek, you might also live (96ff).
Other sections of the book deal with the Covenant of Redemption (in which Gerstner ties in Edwards’s End for Which God Created the World). Gerstner also calls attention to the “bodily effects” of Edwards’ view, but Gerstner doesn’t dwell on it (129, 167).
As a good Calvinist Edwards denied the unregenerate man can will salvation. But that didn’t mean he couldn’t do anything. He can seek. While God is not bound to save men in response to their seeking, and in fact often saves those who didn’t go seeking, but Edwards notes that God is pleased to save those who seek. As Gerstner notes, “Men are able to seek precisely because they are unable to believe” (Gerstner 73). The Calvinist view of inability refers not to man’s ability to seek but to man’s ability to believe.
We should be clear that there is no merit in seeking. The outward activities of the unregenerate seeker--going to church, keeping the Sabbath, etc.--will damn him as surely as any other activity. There is no merit in these activities, yet some activities are less evil than others. In short, when a man seeks he is seeking to be made willing. He is not (yet) willing to be made willing (81).
But this seems hopeless. Why seek if I can’t will to be saved? Edwards draws upon the story of the lepers. If you sit still (i.e., don’t seek) you will perish eternally. If you seek, you might still perish eternally. But if you seek, you might also live (96ff).
Other sections of the book deal with the Covenant of Redemption (in which Gerstner ties in Edwards’s End for Which God Created the World). Gerstner also calls attention to the “bodily effects” of Edwards’ view, but Gerstner doesn’t dwell on it (129, 167).
February 9, 2010
I read this awhile back but remember it being a helpful and insightful look at Jonathan Edward's life and message. A short, well-written, helpful book for anyone who is starting to read Edwards in depth.
April 23, 2023
Very good book on the lost idea of a sinners ability to “sinfully seek” after God.
March 20, 2011
A good introduction to how Edwards' Calvinism shaped his evangelism. Great compilation of his sermons and writings on the subject. Recommended.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews