If you are looking for something to spend part of your free $50 gift certificate from WTSBOOKS on, let me suggest a new book just published in May, Jonathan Edwards and the Ministry of the Word, by Douglas A. Sweeney. Sweeney is himself an expert on Edwards and on The New England Theology that was founded by Edwards, but don’t let that scare you if this is your first interaction with the life of Jonathan Edwards.
Sweeney has written an introduction to the life of Edwards that is certainly a delight for experts on Edwards to read and a great beginning for the Edwards novice. Mark Dever says this:
Doug Seeney 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, and a theologian and pastor.
Sweeney presents Edwards as a son, a husband, and a father, but primarily as a man of God dedicated to his Savior in all that he did. Edwards poured his life into his ministry because he believed it to be his duty under God. This volume does a great job of focusing on Edwards as a minister of the word (as suggested by the title), though his life was one composed of so many other things.
Edwards shows us the necessity of remaining in God’s Word…Edwards spent the bulk of his time–nearly every day of his life–reading and meditating on Scripture. He believed his minsitry depended on this practice. He understood the ‘importance and advantage” of theology. He taught that “every Christian should make a business of endeavoring to grow” in divine knowledge.
Edwards was, perhaps, the last great Puritan preacher and is no doubt the most influential theologian(perhaps thinker) to ever come from North America. His extraordinary gifts and his supreme devotion and discipline allowed him to shape, not only his world, but the world for the centuries since his death. Sweeney points out errors in popular Edwards lore (like that he was dull and dry and insisted on reading his sermons word for word) and inspires the reader to look to Edwards as an example and mentor in history.
Sweeney has also included a very thorourgh timeline of the life of Jonathan Edwards and has written briefly in this volume about the continuing legacy of Edwards. No doubt this book will not answer all of your questions about Jonathan Edwards, but it will whet your appetite for more study on this remarkable man of God.
