The New Atheism
Southwestern Journal of Theology
Volume 54, No. 1 – Fall 2011
Managing Editor: Malcolm B. Yarnell III
The Works of Jonathan Edwards, Volume 26: Catalogues of Books. Edited by Peter J. Thuesen. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2008. 496 + x pages. Hardcover, $95.00.
Reading Jonathan Edwards: An Annotated Bibliography in Three Parts, 1729– 2005. M.X. Lesser. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2008. 691 + xii pages. Hardcover, $145.00.
Similar in nature, yet different in content, these two volumes bring together two sets of bibliographies related to Jonathan Edwards studies. The first work, Edwards’ Catalogues of Books edited by Peter Thuesen, compiles the numerous book lists Edwards kept, lists which reflected his reading interests, including books he wanted to obtain, books in his personal library, and books he commended to others for reading. In short, this volume comprises what Thuesen calls Edwards’s own “bibliographic universe” (2). The second work, Reading Jonathan Edwards by M.X. Lesser, provides an annotated bibliography of all the works related to Jonathan Edwards studies since the eighteenth century, and represents the best existing volume summarizing the history of scholarship on “America’s Augustine.” Both works are for serious students of Jonathan Edwards.
Catalagues of Books represents the final volume (vol 26) of Yale University Press’s critical edition of The Works of Jonathan Edwards. Since the inaugural volume appeared in 1957 (on the Freedom of the Will), Edwards specialists have labored by compiling and editing both Edwards’ published and private writings, including his treatises, notebooks, and sermons. Many of the introductory essays to the volumes have been groundbreaking contributions to the field. With the appearance of the final volume, the completed Works of Jonathan Edwards will likely be thecritical edition of Edwards’ writings for the next century. Voracious readers who want more Edwards will be pleased to find out that the remaining unpublished materials (mostly sermons) are now available online in volumes 27–73 at The Jonathan Edwards Center at Yale University (edwards.yale.edu).
By focusing on lists of books that Edwards kept, Catalagues of Books might at first appear to be an odd selection for inclusion in the Works. Yet when we take into account the fact that one of the great difficulties in Edwards scholarship has been identifying prominent influences in his thought, the importance of this volume becomes apparent. Two main lists occupy most of this volume’s pages, Edwards’ “Catalogue,” which was his running list of books he hoped to obtain, and his “Account Book,” a list of books that Edwards lent out of his personal library to others. Edwards was a voracious reader, and throughout his life he sought to keep abreast of the prominent trends in European intellectual life, especially theological trends. As a pastor in central and western Massachusetts, his access to the latest works in theology was minimal at best, thus forcing him to rely upon book notices, ads, and reviews printed in English and Boston newspapers. Upon learning of a book that piqued his interest, he would note it in his “Catalogue” and have to wait sometimes for years before he could gain access to it (if ever). We know from his later “Miscellanies” notebooks that whenever he would gain temporary access to a book (often borrowed from other ministers or from the small library of his local ministerial association), he would sometimes copy pages out of that work to have for later reference. The portrait emerging from these lists is one of an intensely inquisitive pastor-theologian struggling to survive in the midst of a bibliographic desert.
Thuesen’s editing is remarkable for its meticulous detail. While the 116-page introductory essay admirably introduces the reader to the various regions of Edwards’ bibliographic interests, the real editorial work can be found in the “Catalogue” and “Account” lists. For each of the hundreds of entries referred to in the volume, Thuesen found the bibliographic information of the actual edition to which Edwards most likely referred. Anyone who has compiled a bibliography can appreciate why it is that this work took years to complete.
Edwards’ reading habits and interests may be described as “eclectic.” While he shows an interest in Calvinist writings, Thuesen indicates that the “Catalogue” was “not a roster of unimpeachable Calvinist classics” (15). In fact Calvin is not even mentioned in Edwards’s lists found in this volume, and works in Reformed divinity only account for a fifth of the works entered into the “Catalogue” and 40 percent in his “Account” book. Reformed writers like Matthew Henry, John Gill, Thomas Manton, John Owen, Isaac Watts, and Philip Doddridge appear, a point that reflects his keen interest in the Reformed and Puritan traditions which he saw himself defending. Yet we also find a wider circle of theological interests: works by non-Calvinist Anglican writers (John Tillotson and Samuel Clarke), Cambridge Platonists (Ralph Cudworth), Arminians (Jean Le Clerc), Catholics (Fénelon, Pascal, and numerous Jansenists), Patristic writers (Cyprian, Chrysostom, Augustine), those involved in both sides of the English trinitarian controversies of the turn of the century (Samuel Clarke, John Jackson, Daniel Waterland, and George Bull), and a wide range of spiritual writings (Catholic Quietism, Lutheran Pietism, and the Jewish mystical Cabbala). Beyond theology Edwards showed interests in philosophical, scientific, historical, and political works, as well as some novels. Together, the book lists presented in this volume reveal that Edwards was not a parochial Reformed revival-preacher who tuned out the increasing anti-Calvinism and anti-Christian currents of his day. Rather, he was (or sought to be) a full participant in the theological and intellectual literature of the age, one who attempted to respond to the increasing secularization of the world with the best intellectual and philosophical tools available to him.
M.X. Lesser’s volume, Reading Jonathan Edwards: An Annotated Bibliography in Three Parts, 1729–2005, provides us with another “bibliographic universe,” the vast universe of secondary studies related to Edwards. Since his pastorate at Northampton, Jonathan Edwards has attracted the attention of critics and admirers, theologians and historians, as well as philosophers and English professors, who together have generated over 3,300 bibliographic entries on the man, his ministry, and his theology. This volume brings together all these works in one handy reference volume. The work is actually three books in one. Prior to this volume, Lesser, longtime professor of English at Northeastern University and editor of volume 19 of The Works of Jonathan Edwards, published two earlier annotated bibliographies on Edwards scholarship (1729–1978 and 1979–1993). Here he unites those two volumes (updated with 140 new entries not published in the first editions) with a third section on Edwards scholarship from 1994–2005 which contains over 700 entries. The bibliography is structured chronologically, listing works that appeared by their year, then by the author’s last name. Each entry is annotated, providing a succinct (3 to 8 line) description of aim, purpose, and argument of the entry. More important entries have lengthy annotations which sometimes reach over a page in length, a feature which enables junior Edwards scholars to come up to speed quickly on the important writings of any given Edwardsean sub-specialty. In addition, there are the three lengthy introductory essays that Lesser wrote for each part. These essays, totaling almost ninety pages, survey the prominent trends in Edwards scholarship over the last two centuries and serve as an excellent introduction to the history of Edwards scholarship. Any serious student of Jonathan Edwards, either academic writer or pastor-theologian who has adopted Edwards as a life-long theological companion, would benefit from this book.
These two volumes are definitely for Edwards specialists which is probably their one main drawback. They will not be of interest to readers who seek to read Edwards for theological and spiritual inspiration. If you are student or scholar who seeks to make academic contributions to Edwards studies, I would definitely encourage you to obtain both of these works. If you are a pastor who enjoys reading Edwards and would like to enter into the wider discussion on him made by other writers, I would encourage you to obtain Reading Jonathan Edwards. You will find it to be a resource that you will consult for years to come.
