But above all else Edwards was nurtured by Puritan spiritual theology. And Edwards’ theology makes considerable use of reason and natural theology. Some of these, like Cambridge Platonism and the philosophy of John Locke, utterly contradict one another, and seem far removed from Reformation thought. He was influenced by various currents of thought in the seventeenth century. Edwards is undoubtedly the most powerful theologian writing in the Reformed tradition before the twentieth century.īut the sources of his thinking range far beyond Calvinism. Many of his major works are simply consistent applications of Calvin’s teaching on God’s grace and sovereignty. Edwards’ theological genius lay in his ability to summarize effectively the main thrusts of the Reformation and Puritanism and yet not merely to reiterate these, but to apply them to crucial problems in his own century.Įdwards’ theology is rooted in Calvinism. Jonathan Edwards may be the greatest American theologian and philosopher-and perhaps also the greatest mind-America has yet produced.
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