Southern Baptist Theology in the Late Twentieth Century
Southwestern Journal of Theology
Volume 54, No. 2 – Spring 2012
Managing Editor: Malcolm B. Yarnell III
Edited by Gerald R. McDermott. New York: Oxford, 2009. 228 + xvii pages. Hardcover, $99.00.
The task of introducing the thought of any theologian within a few short pages of a book is a daunting one, compounded exponentially when the subject is Jonathan Edwards. Long heralded as “America’s theologian”, or “America’s Augustine”, Edwards has been a person of much interest and influence since his pastoral days at Northampton during the Great Awakening. The presses continue to burgeon with articles, dissertations, and books at an accelerated rate and Edwards can now even be found in the noted Cambridge Companion series. So why the need for another introduction to Edwards?
Gerald McDermott, professor of religion at Roanoke College, Virginia, observes that Understanding Jonathan Edwards fills a niche between two general types of books on Edwards: books written by non-scholars to a general audience—helpful, but commonly ignorant of current scholarship and often plagued with inaccuracies and misrepresentations, and books written by scholars which are often only understood by scholars. Understanding Jonathan Edwards is the first book produced by Edwards scholars directed to the non-specialist. McDermott is adept at writing on Edwardsean themes in an accessible manner. He is the author of numerous articles and books on Edwards, notably Jonathan Edwards Confronts the Gods: Christian Theology, Enlightenment Religion, and Non-Christian Faiths, and most recently Seeing God: Jonathan Edwards and Spiritual Discernment.
Understanding Jonathan Edwards issued from the papers presented at the May 2007 conference entitled “Jonathan Edwards in Europe” held at Károli Gáspár University, Budapest, Hungary. The volume offers a unique international perspective on Edwards. As expected, familiar Edwardsean scholars such as Harry Stout, Douglas Sweeney, Sang Hyun Lee and others are present along with European scholars including Tibor Fabiny and Miklos Veto.
The volume begins with a helpful timeline of Edwards’s life followed by sixteen chapters which treat various aspects of Edwards’s life and thought, ending with six pages of further reading and an adequate four page index. McDermott contributes an introduction and conclusion as well as two chapters. Chapters are arranged in a point-counterpoint fashion. Chapters 1 and 2 treat the life and career of Edwards. Ken Minkema, Executive Editor and director of the Works of Jonathan Edwards and Jonathan Edwards Center at Yale University, offers an essay in Chapter 1 which focuses on Edwards’s societal context and Edwards as a person.
Chris Chun, Associate Professor of Church History at Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary, and editor of a volume in the critical edition of The Works of Andrew Fuller (forthcoming), responds to Minkema in Chapter 2. Chun notes that Minkema’s assessment of Edwards as “one of the great fountainheads” of the modern mission movement is incomplete if Edwards’s The Life of David Brainerd is considered as his sole contribution. Chun supplements Minkema’s assessment with two additional treatises through which Edwards exerted great missiological impact upon Particular Baptists: Freedom of the Will and Humble Attempt. Chun notes the appropriation that Andrew Fuller makes in his Gospel Worthy of All Acceptation of Edwards distinction between natural and moral inability. Fuller develops Edwards’s views to their “maximum potential” and applied them to “the formulation of a precise theology, which became the basis for what was to become known as the Modern Missionary Movement.”
The following chapters address the topics of Edwards and revival, the Bible, biblical typology, beauty, his literary life, philosophy, and world religions. McDermott concludes with a discussion of Edwards’s continuing relevance for today. Understanding Jonathan Edwardscompares favorably with recent overviews or introductions to Edwards’s life and thought. When placed along side The Cambridge Companion to Jonathan Edwards and The Princeton Companion to Jonathan Edwards the similarities are obvious, due in part to the fact that some of the same Edwardsean scholars contributed to each volume. Beyond authorship, all three volumes share significant overlap in themes and structure, yet the Cambridge and Princeton volumes differ from McDermott’s volume with their extensive footnotes and general density.
It is due to the points noted above, along with the helpful point-counterpoint format and international scope, that Understanding Jonathan Edwards shines. The non-specialist should find McDermott’s volume an unintimidating, illuminating, and enjoyable read. The contributors to this fine introduction have produced a beautifully-executed engagement with the thought of one of Christendom’s greatest luminaries.
