Jude
Southwestern Journal of Theology
Volume 58, No. 1 – Fall 2015
Managing Editor: W. Madison Grace II
By Stephen R. C. Nichols. Eugene, OR: Pickwick, 2013. 248 pages. Paperback, $27.00.
As the first full-length treatment of Jonathan Edwards and the Bible, Stephen R. C. Nichols helpfully contributes to the growing literature on Edwards’s theology.
Nichols analyzes Edwards’s view of the Bible as a piece of metaphysical theology and hermeneutics. He shows that Edwards was not only a pastor, but a philosophical theologian and a biblical exegete. Anyone familiar with Edwards will realize that there is not a sharp distinction between his radically theocentric metaphysics and his reading of Scripture. As such, Nichols carefully advances the discussion on Edwards studies and demonstrates the contribution Edwards makes to hermeneutics and systematic theology.
As a historian and theologian conversant with metaphysics, Nichols capably mines the disjointed pieces of literature found in Edwards’s corpus in order to help the reader understand Edwards’s biblical theology (most clearly seen in Edwards’s later work The Harmony of the Old and New Testaments). Nichols appropriately situates Edwards’s reading of the Christian Scriptures in Edwards’s metaphysics. He shows that all of God’s work is a self-communication directed toward the glory of God—in this way Edwards is radically centered on God. Furthermore, all that is spoken is ultimately dependent upon the Divine mind (i.e. Divine idealism; akin to Berkeley’s idealism) as the only true or real substance undergirding everything else, including human minds. Edwards, then, approaches the Scriptures from the vantage point that all of creation and redemption as narrated by the divine author of the Scriptures bear a rich teleology that is fully manifested in the person and work of Christ. All of Scripture is endowed with types pointing to Christ.
Nichols approaches the study by first addressing Edwards’s view of prophecy in chapter 1. In the context of prophecy Edwards is situated in the discussion of the deist Anthony Collins. Like Collins, Edwards agrees that language must be read according to a set of rules. The challenge advanced by Collins is such that Christ must be proved according to Old Testament prophecy, and Edwards implicitly takes up this challenge. However, Edwards does not approach the language in a univocal manner like Collins; instead, he argues in favor of the Scripture’s unity in terms of the Divine author wherein the Old Testament is to be read figurally or typologically. Second, in chapter 2, Nichols addresses Edwards’s understanding of typology rooted in Edwards’s metaphysical system. He shows that irrespective of the common misunderstandings of Edwards from either conservative or liberal scholarship, Edwards’s typological system is internally coherent whereby God communicates himself in a teleological schema directed at God’s glory seen in Christ. Third, Nichols examines Edwards’s notion of doctrine and precept in chapter 3. Nichols advances the discussion by expounding on prophecy and typology and showing that the meaning of the Messiah is made available to the Old Testament saints not in terms of implicit faith (as with dispositional ontology), but through a “new sense” (i.e. construed in terms of his phenomenal idealism), which results in strong continuity in the salvation of Old Testament and New Testament saints. Fourth, Nichols demonstrates the coherence of Edwards’s systematic view of the Old Testament and the New Testament by analyzing a case study in chapter 4.
Nichols contributes to the discussion in three prominent ways. First, Nichols advances the study of Jonathan Edwards as a philosophical-theologian. Throughout the work Nichols capably interweaves Edwards’s metaphysical assumptions with his reading of the Bible. One way in which Nichols advances this important discussion is in his critique of Sang Hyun Lee’s interpretation of Edwards as a dispositional ontologist, which is consistent with a growing body of literature (see especially chapter 2; cf. Oliver Crisp and Steven Holmes). Second, Nichols advances the picture of Edwards as a pastor-theologian by showing the brilliance of typology in practice.
Nichols offers a detailed discussion of Edwards as a pastor-theologian in the context of chapter 4 where he synthesizes the Old and New Testament conception of salvation. Practically speaking, Nichols’ discussion overlaps with Edwards’s understanding of sanctification, religious affections, evidence of salvation, and faith. In this way, Nichols shows how Edwards advances the discussion of grace (in Old Testament and New Testament) as the provision for all virtues. All virtues follow from man’s experiencing salvific grace, which Edwards refers to as the “new sense” that is endowed to the believer. Third, Nichols advances the discussion by showing how Edwards contributes to Reformed hermeneutics. Nichols situates his discussion in the context of talking about “implicit faith” and distinguishes Edwards from this view. Furthermore, Nichols shows how it is that Edwards’s system allows for conscious faith of Old Testament saints, thereby moving beyond his Reformed forebearers (namely, John Owen and Francis Turretin). In the final analysis, Jonathan Edwards’s Bible is an exceptional contribution to Jonathan Edwards’s studies and hermeneutics. Edwards’s reading of the Bible is unified, appealing, coherent, and christological. Neither biblical scholars nor theologians should disregard this work. Edwards masterfully shows that theology is incomplete without philosophical-theology. Additionally, theologians interested in theological interpretation of Scripture can mine the resources of Edwards for contemporary use. Contemporary scholarship on the unity of the Bible must not sideline Edwards’s persuasive approach to biblical interpretation.
