Jonathan Edwards - a new biography

Inbunden bok. The Banner of the Truth. 1987. 503 sidor.

Mycket gott skick. This is the first full-length Life of Jonathan Edwards to appear for approaching 50 years. During the inter evening period, the Pastor of Northampton. Missionary to the Indians in Stockbridge, and president of the New Jersey Collage (later Princeton), has been widely recognized as the greatest intellectual figure in 1800th-century America.

Never before has so much material by Edwards, or such detailed studies of his thought, been available. Yet many of those who have led this "renaissance" of Edwards studies remain personally out of sympathy with almost every on of their subject's personal convictions.

Special interest therefore attaches to Iain H. Murray's new and carefully researched biography. Writing with a easy style, spiritual insight, and sympathy with his subject, which marketed his earlier biographical works, Murray builds on the older lives of Edwards, but also harvests material from more recent studies.

Iain Murray believes that Edward cannot be understood apart from his faith. Only when he is seen as a Christian, first and foremost, do his life and writings make sense. The integrity of this interpretation is confirmed in chapter after chapter, as Edwards is allowed to speak for himself.

The result is a biography which is both factually and theologically reliable. Edwards theology is set in its proper context of his everyday life. We are able to follow him in public and private - as pastor in the days of the Great Awakening as well as in the "wilderness" years in the outpost of Stockbridge.

His family relationships punctuate the narrative and add both interest and pathos to it. This outstanding study of the great man of God is not only an exceptional biography, it also serves as a classic illustration of how the church today can and should learn from its past history.