Jonathan Edwards Lover of God by Doug Sweeney and Owen Strachan – This volume of the Essential Edwards Collection tells the story of Jonathan’s life and the important events that shaped his faith and views on God and salvation. It is a biographical and contextual look at the man credited for starting the First Great Awakening.

Jonathan Edwards on Beauty by Doug Sweeney and Owen Strachan – This volume focuses on Edwards’ view of God, God’s communication of beauty, and God’s desire that Christians recognize His beauty both in Scripture and the world. Edwards is presented as a “God-intoxicated” man, captivated by God’s glory and beauty, and committed to sharing that beauty with others.

Jonathan Edwards on Heaven and Hell by Doug Sweeney and Owen Strachan – This volume explains Edwards’ strong sense of pastoral responsibility to warn his people of the reality and dangers of judgment and hell. But it also shows his equally vivid and compelling views of heaven and eternal life.

Jonathan Edwards on the Good Life by Doug Sweeney and Owen Strachan – This volume focuses on how Edwards found joy and fulfillment by encouraging others to know and worship God. For Edwards, the good life was one lived in accordance with God’s will, a life of worshipful participation in, and magnification of, God’s glory and beauty.

Jonathan Edwards on True Christianity by Doug Sweeney and Owen Strachan – This volume focuses on Edwards’ view of the nature of true religion, true conversion, and supernatural regeneration. Going from the problem of human sin, and the inadequacy of head knowledge, to God using our biblical knowledge to give us new hearts filled with Him, Edwards believed God wants to unite us to Christ by the indwelling presence of His Spirit.

Designed specifically for the classroom, this volume presents the accurate and definitive version of Sinners, accompanied by the tools necessary to study and teach this famous American sermon. With an introduction aimed at students and teachers and commentary that draws on fifty years of team editorial experience of Yale’s Works of Jonathan Edwards, it provides both context and interpretation, and addresses the concerns and questions of a twenty-first century audience.

The book contains questions for in-class discussion, a chronology of Edwards’s life, and a glossary. In addition, curricular materials and video mini-presentations are available on a dedicated Web site. This casebook represents an innovative contribution to the art of teaching Edwards to a new generation of readers.

Available Mar 01, 2010

Volume 1: Freedom of the Will – This inaugural volume in The Works of Jonathan Edwards is his major contribution to theology and stands as a leading document on Calvinist thought. Mr. Ramsey’s introduction provides a fresh analysis of Edwards’ theological position, includes a study of his life and the intellectual issues in America during his time, and examines the problem of free will in the philosophical context of today and in connection with Leibniz, Locke, and Hume.

Volume 2: Religious Affections – This volume contains Edwards’ most mature and persistent attempt to judge the validity of the religious development in eighteenth-century America known as the Great Awakening. In developing criteria for such judgment he attacked at the same time one of the fundamental questions facing all religion: how to distinguish genuine from spurious piety? The Awakening created much bitter controversy; on the one side stood the emotionalists and enthusiasts, and on the other the rationalists, for whom religion was essentially a matter of morality or good conduct and the acceptance of properly formulated doctrine. Edwards, with great analytical skill and enormous biblical learning, showed that both sides were in the wrong. He attacked both a “lifeless morality” as too pale as to be the essence of religion, and he rejected the excesses of a purely emotional religion more concerned for sensational effects than for the inner transformation of the self, which was, for him, the center of genuine Christianity.

Volume 4: The Great Awakening – Interpreting the Great Awakening of the eighteenth century was in large part the work of Jonathan Edwards; whose writings on the subject defined the revival tradition in America. Moving from sensitive descriptions of “the Surprising work of God” in conversion to a consuming quest for the essence of true religion, and threading his way through mounting controversies over “errors in doctrine and disorders in practice,” Edwards sought to locate an authentic core of evangelical experience, to define it in terms of biblical faith and psychological insight, and to defend it against both overheated zealous and rationalistic critics. The tracts that unfold his thoughts, presented here (with related correspondence ) for the first time in accurate critical texts, document a movement so significant for the American character that it has been called “our national conversion.”

Hopefully Yale Press will publish the other volumes in paper as well, but this is a good start!

Publisher’s Description
Jonathan Edwards has been recognized as the most influential evangelical theologian of all time. Before his death at the age of fifty-four, he had sparked a new movement of Reformed evangelicals who played a major role in fueling the rise of modern missions, preaching revivals far and wide, and wielding the cutting edge of American theology. He has never gone out of print, and Christians today continue to flock to seminars and conferences on him.

In this biography of the great preacher and teacher, historian Douglas Sweeney locates for us the core and key to Edwards’ enduring impact. Sweeney finds that Edwards’ profound and meticulous study of the Bible securely anchored his powerful preaching, his lively theological passions and his discerning pastoral work. Beyond introducing you to Edwards’ life and times, this book will provide you with a model of Christian faith, thought and ministry.

Endorsements
“Doug Sweeney has written a fine introduction to Jonathan Edwards’ life and theology. Accessible and accurate, this introduction is a good place to start in trying to understand Edwards as a man, a Christian, a theologian and a pastor.” —Mark Dever, senior pastor, Capitol Hill Baptist Church, Washington, D.C.

“I love this book! Doug Sweeney not only demonstrates the central role of Scripture in the theology and pastoral ministry of Jonathan Edwards but also provides us with a vibrant portrayal of his life and the many brilliant insights that have rightly contributed to his global reputation. Combining clarity and ease of style with a remarkable breadth of research, Sweeney has given us a treatment of Edwards that may well prove to be the standard against which all future contributions are judged. I highly recommend it!” —Sam Storms, Ph.D., senior pastor, Bridgeway Church, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

“Doug Sweeney gives us a nourishing and tasty introduction to the real Edwards, and focuses in this brief but substantial volume on Edwards’ ministry of the Word. He provides a fascinating entre to the life and career of Edwards, and then zeroes in on Edwards’ multifaceted understanding of Scripture. Sweeney gives us enough detail to stimulate new insights into Edwards,Scripture and its Author. But his writing is not so technical that the general reader would not be abundantly rewarded by perusing this slim but informative and illuminating volume.” —Gerald McDermott, professor of religion, Roanoke College, Salem, Virginia

“Douglas Sweeney has written an admirable ‘Jonathan Edwards for Christians.’ It is at once authoritative and addressed to the practical concerns of evangelicals in the pews.” —George Marsden, author of Jonathan Edwards: A Life and A Short Life of Jonathan Edwards

“With the exception of George Marsden and Kenneth Minkema, it is hard to find someone more knowledgeable about Jonathan Edwards than Douglas Sweeney. In focusing his book on Edwards as minister, Sweeney offers academic and clerical readers a treasure trove of insight and elegant prose. If not Luther’s Ninety-Five Theses, the inclusion of seven ‘theses’ for discussion at the end is a stroke of genius and will certainly enhance the reading experience for church groups of all levels. For anyone interested in getting to know America’s greatest theologian in greater detail, this masterful analysis is must-reading.” —Harry S. Stout, Jonathan Edwards Professor of American Religious History, Yale University

“A lively, intimate portrait of a man many have found distant and intimidating. Douglas Sweeney reveals Jonathan Edwards to be the flesh-and-blood Christian we should have suspected he was, in a way that neither patronizes nor idealizes him. As importantly, we have here for the first time an account of Edwards’ life that rightly places the Bible at the center of his intellectual and pastoral genius.” —Robert E. Brown, assistant professor, Department of Philosophy and Religion, James Madison University, and author of Jonathan Edwards and the Bible

“Strangely, it has taken nearly three centuries for us to realize the obvious: that Jonathan Edwards had a lifelong love affair with the Bible. Doug Sweeney has been at the forefront of elucidating Edwards the exegete and the biblical foundations of his theology. In this new work, Sweeney shows the vital, reflective and informed connections between Edwards’ Biblicism and his calling as a ‘faithful minister of the Word.’ Even more, Sweeney points out the extent to which Edwards’ more formal theological formulations arose directly out of his local pastoral experience. This study will be a blessing to pastors, preachers and spiritual leaders, who can learn from Edwards’ faith, thought and experience.” —Dr. Kenneth P. Minkema, executive director, Jonathan Edwards Center, and adjunct assistant professor of American religious history, Yale University

Historically, the tendency of scholars to modernize and distance Edwards from his biblicist, exclusivist, evangelical and Reformed tradition has resulted in relatively little attention being given to the importance of the person and redemptive work of Christ in Edwards’ Trinitarian thought. The contention of this study is that the foundation, center, and unifying thread of Edwards’ thought is the person and work of Christ in accomplishing God’s ultimate purpose to display and communicate His glory to unworthy sinners by perfect obedience to God’s unchanging rule of righteousness. Edwards’ theology cannot be properly understood in abstraction from the person and redemptive work of Christ as revealing and communicating the glorious perfections of the Trin- ity, nor can revisionist interpretations of Edwards’ soteriology as inclusivistic or Catholic be tenable without an overthrow and re- write of the entirety of Edwards’ theology. Salvation of a single soul apart from perfect conformity to God’s rule of righteousness would render God unrighteous and prohibit the fulfillment of His ultimate purpose to display and communicate His glory. Indeed, God could not be God.

And a few endorsements:

“Among its other strengths this book is helpful in questioning the view that Edwards has compromised the Reformation doctrine of justification with legalistic accents and by basing it in part on the change that takes place within the believer. Biehl’s love is as evident as Edwards’ for the subject matter he considers in Edwards. A welcome read for anyone wanting to grow in understanding and appreciation of this remarkable thinker.” – Richard Gaffin, Westminster Theological Seminary

“Craig Biehl provides a thorough, detailed, and well written treatment of Edwards’ view of divine merit. He places Edwards convincingly within the theocentric metaphysical tradition, emphasizing his trinitarianism and christocentrism, as well as his biblically based exclusivism, weighing in on the current interpretive struggle against those who wish to portray Edwards as inclusivistic, philosophical, and proto-transcendental. His reading of the role of Christ in Edwards’s thought as the typological, experiential, and salvific hinge on which telos depends presents an important counterbalance.” – Ken Minkema, Yale University

“While setting the record straight on Edwards’s theology through leaning heavily on his own writings (800 quotes from Edwards!), Biehl’s work is also a tour de force for the confirmation of Reformed orthodoxy in the midst of ongoing debates about justification today.” – Joel R. Beeke, Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary

“Craig Biehl’s work offers just what is needed today – a comprehensive treatment of Edwards’ understanding of Christ and His saving work of redemption. Few of the leading Edwards scholars know Reformed theology well, or understand the significance of Edwards’ soteriology.” – Doug Sweeney, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School

“Biehl’s careful hand skillfully guides us through these writings, even leading us to offer words of praise for what Christ has done for us – a rare and admirable feat for a piece of scholarship.” – Stephen J. Nichols, Lancaster Bible College

Twentieth century discussions of Edwards’ covenant theology frequently named a tension in the purity of Edwards’ Calvinism. Was his insistent teaching on the covenant of grace suggestive of incipient Arminianism, or was Perry Miller correct in asserting that Edwards rejected the covenant, with its abridging of God’s freedom, by his categorical insistence on God’s absolute sovereignty in salvation?

Bogue explores the breadth of Edwards’ writing, including many unpublished manuscripts, and interacts with a broad spectrum of secondary works to demonstrate conclusively that Calvinism and the covenant of grace are entirely consistent and do not exclude one another. The covenant of grace is not a device of man acting autonomously; it is a provision of the eternal, sovereign, electing God. As set forth by Edwards, it is simply the way the sovereign God has committed Himself to carry out what He has decreed from all eternity pertaining to the redemption of sinners.

And a few endorsements:

“No study of the significance of Jonathan Edwards’ theology is complete without the masterful treatment provided by Dr. Carl Bogue.  He skillfully opens up Edwards’ contribution to the development of covenant theology.” — R.C. Sproul

“As far as I am aware of literature on Edwards this is the best, comprehensive, scholarly representation of his theology in print in any language.” — John H. Gerstner

“This work remains the most sophisticated and nuanced treatment of Christian salvation in Jonathan Edwards’ preaching and writing. The author’s selection of material from the vast array available is both judicious and illuminating. The result is a reliable roadmap to guide us through Edwards’ intricate and passionate exposition of Reformed soteriology.” — Dr Michael McClenahan, Northern Ireland