Jonathan
Edwards for the Church: The ministry and the means of Grace,
Edited by: William M.
Schweitzer, EP Books, 2015, 309pp.
Jonathan Edwards has long been recognised
as a towering intellectual genius. His works have attracted attention in
the worlds of philosophy and academic theology. But Edwards was above all else
a pastor and preacher of the gospel. Most of his time and energies were devoted
to church-based ministry. This multi-author book endeavours to redress the
balance by focusing on what Edwards had to say on the ministry and the means of
grace,
Lessons are drawn from the preacher’s
life and teaching and attempts are made to apply what may be learned to our
situation today. The book will be of special interest to pastors, who will find
Edwards’ vision of pastoral ministry both an inspiration and a challenge.
Edwards was a pastor-theologian, a diligent student of the Word who devoted
himself to the exploration and defence of the great doctrines of the Bible. But his
sermons were not intended to be lectures that simply informed the minds of his
hearers, but messages that reached their hearts and transformed their lives as
the truth of the gospel was proclaimed and understood.
Edwards experienced several seasons of
revival under his ministry in Northampton. His knowledge of the Word and the
human heart helped him to discern what was genuinely of the Spirit and what was
merely of the flesh during those revival periods. His balanced approach
exemplified in his key work, The Religious Affections, helped him
guard his people from unbelieving scepticism and hot-headed fanaticism.
Chapters are devoted to various aspects
of Edwards’ ministry and thought including the means of grace, persevering in
faithful ministry, the power of the word and Christ as the scope of Scripture.
The essay on Edwards’ vision of God’s excellences is outstanding. Some of the
chapters could have done with a little more editorial attention. The preacher’s
dismissal from his Northampton pastorate is discussed at length in chapter 4,
but chapter 5 begins by going over the same ground.
Occasionally one can hear the sound of
axes grinding. It is claimed that unlike some contemporary Evangelicals,
Edwards had little time for contextualising his message to address his cultural
situation. (Are you listening, Tim Keller?) But he was a keen student of
Enlightenment thought and adapted his language accordingly. Describing
conversion as giving a ‘sense of new things’ is a case in point. That said, his
ministry could have done with a little more contextualisation when it came to
preaching to Native American Indians in Stockbridge, where he made no attempt
to learn their language, preferring to use a translator.
An appendix includes a sermon on
revival by William Macleod. It is stirring enough, but the preacher has a dig
at Christians for using the internet and Facebook. I'm not sure that Edwards
would have agreed with his strictures. He was no techno-Luddite and it may even
be claimed that the preacher was far sighted enough to predict the internet. He
prognosticated, "There will be so many contrivances and inventions to
facilitate and expedite their necessary secular business that they shall have
more time for more noble exercise, and that they will have better contrivances
for assisting one another through the whole earth by more expedite, easy, and
safe communication between distant regions than now." (See here). Admittedly, the preacher didn't anticipate people informing the world that they had just made a cup of tea via Facebook, but I think we have reasons to believe that he would have blogged and perhaps even tweeted. Edwards' Miscellanies would make for perfectly formed blog posts.
Criticisms aside, the writers have done
a good job in setting forth Edwards’ vision of a Spirit empowered, Christ
centred, and God glorifying ministry. A vision that needs to be recovered in
our churches today.
* An edited version of this review will
appear in Evangelical Times.
