Of course, Jonathan Edwards was greatly in tune with this emphasis on the new birth, especially seen in his sermon “A Divine and Supernatural Light,” which points to “a new sense of divine things” that comes about through the illuminating work of God’s Spirit upon the soul of an individual. This “new sense” awakens the soul to see things as they really are, namely the majesty and glory of God, the beauty of Christ and his work, and the truth of Scripture and teachings of the Christian religion. Edwards was also no stranger to awakenings, having gone through several “stirrings” and times of “harvest” both in his father’s church in East Windsor and his grandfather’s church in Northampton. Edwards himself pastored through a brief awakening in 1734-35 in Northampton, half a decade before nearly all of the English colonies were caught up in religious fervor.

After 1735, however, many of Edwards’s parishioners went through periods of backsliding, an evident sign to Edwards that the Holy Spirit was drawing back his influence on the congregation. This prompted Edwards to embark on several sermon campaigns, including the “Charity and its Fruits” sermons, a series on the parable of the wise and foolish virgins, and the sermon series on a “History of the Work of Redemption.” These work little effect among the town and Edwards begins to examine more closely the nature of Christian obedience and behavior, realizing that he may have overemphasized the “divine light” aspect of conversion, not giving sufficient attention to the “divine living” aspect of the Christian life and sanctification. Edwards’s treatise on Religious Affections, published in 1746, a few years after the awakenings of 1740-42, displays a much more balanced approach as he meticulously works these ideas out.

The entire game would change, however, with the arrival of a young, charismatic preacher named George Whitefield. Experiencing some success as a preacher in England, Whitefield comes over to the colonies and sets society on fire by sparking a wide series of awakenings throughout the colonies, resulting in the period known as the Great Awakening. Not everyone was caught up in this movement, however, with many clergy denouncing charismatic excesses and a perceived tendency toward antinomianism that seemed to follow the awakenings as they swept through the land. This sparked controversies between Old Lights, those critical of the awakenings, and New Lights, awakening supporters, causing further upheaval.

Edwards attempted to plow a middle road, championing the revivals as a true work of the Spirit of God, but also warning against the few excesses that were reported and observed. He criticizes New Lights for being un-Christian and un-Scriptural at times, and Old Lights for a stale theology and tradition-driven (as opposed to Scripture-driven) critiques of new approaches to preaching, evangelism, and ministry in general. Though Whitefield would be the most successful awakening preacher of the era, Edwards would also find success, largely away from his congregation at Northampton, this being the period where he (in)famously preached “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” at Enfield, Connecticut.

Much more could be said about the Great Awakening, and especially Edwards’s awakening writings (Religious Affections sparked a fascinating and wonderful discussion in the class), but that was the gist of what we discussed in class today.

After formal class and discussion time, we were surprised with another guest lecture, this time by Dr. Walter Kimnach. Dr. Kimnach served as the general editor for the six sermon volumes in the Yale Works of Jonathan Edwards project, personally editing volumes 10 and 25 himself (just as a sidenote, anyone interested in Edwards’s sermons and preaching should absolutely read Dr. Kimnach’s introduction to volume 10). Dr. Kimnach, naturally, spoke to us about Edwards’s methods as a preacher, particularly in how he structured his sermons, beginning formally with Scripture, then moving to an explanation of the doctrine in view, and concluding with a lengthy application section.

With that, the third day of instruction ended, but there was much more to come. Up next: a trip to the Beinecke Library, home to the largest Jonathan Edwards manuscript collection. A geek’s dream come true!

It is with this in mind that the editors of Jonathan Edwards at Home and Abroad sought to gather a group of scholars to begin the conversation in hopes of sparking further study into this important topic. In the introduction of this volume, the problem the authors observed is further spelled out: “Much work remains to be done on the long-term significance of his life and ministry, the dissemination of his many writings (both published and unpublished), his roles as a clerical and intellectual exemplar, his influence outside the world of religion, the appropriation and re-appropriation of his remarkably resilient cultural authority, and the convergence of these developments into discernible intellectual and ecclesiastical movements” (xii). That one sentence represents generations of further Edwards studies.

The book is divided into three parts, each offering a broad lens from which to approach the study of Edwards’s legacy. Part one, entitled “Remembering Edwards’s Ministry,” is comprised of four essays looking at how Edwards is remembered as a pastor in eighteenth century New England. George Marsden, more qualified than anyone to do so, muses on the various challenges faced by Edwards’s biographers. Michael McClymond speculates on the probable cultural shifts that may have occurred had Edwards lived to finish his History of the Work of Redemption, self-described by Edwards as “a body of divinity in an entire new method.” Catherine Brekus discusses Edwards’s ministry to children, specifically in how he thought and ministered in terms of the salvation of children, and the controversies that later developed out of it. Concluding part one of this volume, Ava Chamberlain probes the “bad book” controversy, seeing this episode as less to do with reputations in the community and everything to do with cultural transformations related to sex and speech that were coming to a head in the late eighteenth century.

Part two of this collection focuses on the influence of Edwards on American culture at large. Mark Valeri looks at how Edwards, and those who followed him, were influential on the development of the American market economy. James German explores Edwards’s doctrine of depravity and how that played into early American politics. Charles Hambrick-Stowe discusses the marriage of Edwardsian piety and the burgeoning abolition movements, particularly in the activism of Samuel Hopkins, Sarah Osborn, and Lemuel Haynes. Rounding out part two, Sharon Kim and Amanda Porterfield contribute articles tracing Edwardsian influence into pop culture, the former in the world of nineteenth century woman’s fiction, the latter in the film Runaway Bride.

Part three takes us abroad to get a better idea of how Edwards was received outside America. David Bebbington begins this discussion with a survey of the countries most known as having been penetrated by Edwards, whether through influence or published works. D. Bruce Hindmarsh focuses in on England, particularly early evangelicals in England. Moving north on the island, Christopher Mitchell explores the well-known “Scottish connection” that Edwards developed, primarily looking at this connection through the six correspondents with whom Edwards formed the closest friendships. Andrew Walls and Stuart Piggins focus on how missionary efforts were sparked by Edwards and those who followed him, first through the publication of Life of Brainerd and later through the efforts of the various evangelical missionary societies. The final essay in this volume comes from M.X. Lesser, best known for the extensive annotated bibliographies on Edwards that he has compiled and edited. Naturally, then, he briefly discusses how Edwards’s works have traveled across the globe, and then gives an extensive list of Edwards’s works published abroad.

This collection of essays is very helpful in bringing the various issues regarding Edwards’s legacy into view. Indeed, there is something here for all types of scholarly pursuit and can be very useful in thinking through ways to bridge disciplines in knowing how Edwards’s works have been used since his death in 1758. Hopefully this book has started the conversation and furthered the interest in this very important, yet very neglected, study of Jonathan Edwards and his works.