The Thought of Jonathan Edwards

by Miklos Veto, Philip Choiniïre-Shields (Translator), Harry S Stout (Foreword by)

Overview

Jonathan Edwards is the greatest theologian of colonial America as well as its first important philosopher. As a theologian, he represents without any concession Calvinistic Orthodoxy, re-thought and re-lived through the experience of the Great Awakening. The large majority of his writings are of a theological character, yet this theology is articulated and expressed through a systematic philosophical reflection. Edwardsian thought covers three major areas: First, being, grace, and glory; then, the doctrine of the will extending to the study of the original sin and evil; finally, an entirely original theory of knowledge synthesizing spirituality, aesthetics, and epistemology. The present book, the first edition of which appeared in French almost thirty years ago, is a uniquely comprehensive study of the work of Jonathan Edwards. It discusses all the aspects of his thought over against the background of classical Protestant theology and of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Western philosophy. Our time witnesses a significant renewal of interest in Jonathan Edwards. Professor Veto's book should prove to be a major contribution to assist and to guide the readers of "America's Theologian."

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781498226240
Publisher:	Wipf & Stock Publishers
Publication date:	01/25/2021
Series:	Jonathan Edwards Classic Studies
Pages:	520
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.05(d)

About the Author

Miklos Vető (1936–2020) is a Hungarian-born French philosopher who taught successively at Marquette, Yale, Abidjan, Rennes, and Poitiers Universities. Widely known as a historian of German Idealism, his works have been translated into many languages. He is the author of The Religious Metaphysics of Simone Weil and The Expansion of Metaphysics.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“‘What room for improvement of reason is there,’ enthused Jonathan Edwards, ‘for angels and glorified minds!’ Veto clearly shares the same delight in this accomplished study of Edwards’s metaphysics. Edwards’s congruity with the great theologians from Augustine to Barth and with philosophers from Plato to Hegel, and his innovative departures from them, are securely mapped, testimony to Veto’s astonishing scholarly range. Here is more than an analysis of Edwards’s thought. The perception that knowing, beauty, and excellency are essentially moral categories, that the will is what one loves most, that reality is God as he is in himself, and that virtue is the only true spirituality are transformative foundations for pastoral practice. Edwards’s insistence that to be ‘awakened’ is not ‘regeneration’ is here closely investigated, an example of Veto’s impressive intention to present us, not with the Edwards we want, but with Edwards as he was.”

—Stuart Piggin, Director, Centre for the History of Christian Thought and Experience, Macquarie University

Editorial Reviews

‘What room for improvement of reason is there,’ enthused Jonathan Edwards, ‘for angels and glorified minds!’ Veto clearly shares the same delight in this accomplished study of Edwards’s metaphysics. Edwards’s congruity with the great theologians from Augustine to Barth and with philosophers from Plato to Hegel, and his innovative departures from them, are securely mapped, testimony to Veto’s astonishing scholarly range. Here is more than an analysis of Edwards’s thought. The perception that knowing, beauty, and excellency are essentially moral categories, that the will is what one loves most, that reality is God as he is in himself, and that virtue is the only true spirituality are transformative foundations for pastoral practice. Edwards’s insistence that to be ‘awakened’ is not ‘regeneration’ is here closely investigated, an example of Veto’s impressive intention to present us, not with the Edwards we want, but with Edwards as he was.”

—Stuart Piggin, Director, Centre for the History of Christian Thought and Experience, Macquarie University

From the Publisher