The works of Jonathan Edwards ;

"This volume presents the complete texts of twenty-three sermons preached by Jonathan Edwards during the first years of his career. The sermons, which have never been printed before, document one of the least explored periods of this eminent theologians life and thought. Fully annotated, they are accompanied by an editor's preface that combines new information with fresh readings of related texts, such as the "Diary" and "Personal Narrative."" "The volume includes a general introduction that puts Edwards' thirty-five years of writing and preaching into a broad literary and historical context. Based on the study of his entire sermon corpus - including over seventy printed sermons and twelve hundred sermon manuscripts - as well as related notebooks, letters, and treatises, the introduction enables readers to understand the elaborate network of working papers through which Edwards evolved his thought, as well as the critical function of the sermon in testing and developing expression of that thought. The introduction also explores the literary context of Edwards' writing, especially relating to the theory and practice of homiletics."--BOOK JACKET.

This volume includes four documents by Jonathan Edwards on the nature of the church, documents that reveal his views on ecclesiology, congregational autonomy, ordination, and admission to church membership and to the sacraments. The first document, reprinted here for the first time since the eighteenth century, is Edwards' defense of his fellow Hampshire County ministers in the Robert Breck controversy of 1735-36. The other three documents relate to Edwards' efforts to restrict admission to the sacraments at Northampton in 1749-50, actions that ultimately led to his dismissal as pastor: An Humble Inquiry explicates his reasons for refuting his grandfather and predecessor Solomon Stoddard's open admission policy; Misrepresentations Corrected is Edwards' response to his cousin Solomon Williams' criticisms of the Humble Inquiry; and Edwards' untitled narrative, available before only in Sereno Dwight's 1829 edition and here newly re-edited, gives details his final conflict with his Northampton congregation.

This book begins the publication of Jonathan Edwards' personal theological notebooks, called collectively the "Miscellanies." The entries in Volume 13 span the early years of Edwards' ministry (1722-31) and range widely in subject matter. They record Edwards' initial thoughts on some of his most characteristic ideas, for example, original sin, free will, the Trinity, and God's end in creation. Many entries, however, relate to doctrinal and polemical subjects not included in the corpus of Edwards' published writings. The volume also contains Edwards' alphabetical index to the entire "Miscellanies"; this "Table" is a theological document in its own right and reveals the interrelationship among the various components of Edwards' theological system.