Overview

Scholars have long recognized that Jonathan Edwards loved the Bible, but preoccupation with his roles in Western public life and letters has eclipsed the significance of his biblical exegesis. In Edwards the Exegete, Douglas A. Sweeney fills this lacuna, exploring Edwards' exegesis and its significance for Christian thought and intellectual history. As Sweeney shows, throughout Edwards' life the lion's share of his time was spent wrestling with the words of holy writ. After reconstructing Edwards' lost exegetical world and describing his place within it, Sweeney summarizes his four main approaches to the Bible-canonical, Christological, redemptive-historical, and pedagogical-and analyzes his work on selected biblical themes that illustrate these four approaches, focusing on material emblematic of Edwards' larger interests as a scholar. Sweeney compares Edwards' work to that of his most frequent interlocutors and places it in the context of the history of exegesis, challenging commonly held notions about the state of Christianity in the age of the Enlightenment. Edwards the Exegete offers a novel guide to the theologian's exegetical work, clearing a path that other specialists are sure to follow. Sweeney's significant reassessment of Edwards' place in the Enlightenment makes a major contribution to Edwards studies, eighteenth-century studies, the history of exegesis, the theological interpretation of Scripture, and homiletics.

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A very impressive achievement. Sweeney provides fresh understanding and appreciative insight into Edwards' enchanted world of Scripture. Edwards saw all of reality as infused with spiritual meaning. So God's special revelation in Scripture was not only the perspicuous key to everything else, it was also packed with countless cryptic spiritual connotations. George Marsden, author of Jonathan Edwards: A Life This book is a major contribution to scholarship that evidences a deep and refined knowledge of Edwards' thought and presents a penetrating analysis of the reading of Scripture in a vast array of Edwards' works. Sweeney identifies Edwards' location in the Protestant exegetical tradition and ably sets his work into the context of intellectual life of the mid-eighteenth century. Richard A. Muller, P.J. Zondervan Professor of Historical Theology, Emeritus, Calvin Theological Seminary Don't be fooled-this book is not about grammar or verb declensions. With leading figures from church history as conversation partners, Sweeney elegantly unpacks crucial issues of biblical interpretation in Edwards' ministry. Big theological topics alternate with discussion of Edwards' exposition of books of the Bible, demonstrating Sweeney's prodigious eye to detail and his capacious understanding of Edwards' world. This book isn't about syntax, but something more powerful: the transforming Word of God.> Rhys Bezzant, author of Jonathan Edwards and the Church This study fills a significant lacuna. Much has been written about Edwards' life and times, his theology, and philosophy. But so far we did not have a comprehensive study of what Edwards himself would have regarded as the foundation of everything else: his biblical exegesis. Drawing widely from the Edwards corpus, Sweeney offers us a highly learned and nuanced but also very readable account of Edwards' multifaceted engagement with Scripture in the context of the early Enlightenment. Jan Stievermann, Professor of the History of Christianity in the U.S., Heidelberg University

Doug Sweeney has graced us with a long awaited contribution to Edwards's studies and early American religion Sweeney's attempt to wrangle reflection on Edwards's approximately 1200 sermons, as well as his scriptural exegesis elsewhere, into a book of just over 200 pages is masterfully achieved Suffice to say, this book is a landmark in Edwards's studies. --Rhys S. Bezzant, Trinity Journal As a study of Edwards's treatises and popular discourses, Sweeney's work is without equal. The way Edwards read Scripture and viewed all of life 'infused with spiritual meaning', as set against the backdrop of Enlightenment intellectualism and popular influence, enriches our appreciation for the Christ-centered model of exegesis Edwards worked hard to establish and impart to future generations of pastor-teachers. --James M. Garretson, The Banner of Truth Sweeney s careful, clear, and theologically helpful readings make this book, in fact, a nice survey of Edwards s thoughts on the Bible and the Christian life more generally...[that] demonstrate[s] the riches available to contemporary students who wish to delve into Edwards. --Interpretation: A Journal of Bible and Theology [T]his publication is likely to become a standard volume in the field of Edwards studies...From this text it is clear that any general assessment of Edwards and of his work must take into account the central place and function of his lifelong effort as an exegete and interpreter of the text of the Bible. Any study of Edwards that does not deal with that religious and professional preoccupation is seriously flawed. --Journal of Religion Sweeney has done the great service of poring over all Edwards' work on scripture in order to help his modern readers understand how he used these texts. His documentation in the endnotes is meticulous. The result is a clear and compelling contribution to the literature that all future interpreters of Edwards will have to take into account. --Oliver D. Crisp, Scottish Journal of Theology Edwards the Exegete will certainly serve as an authority on Edwards and his bibliology for many years to come. Sweeney s work will challenge and encourage its readership. As Sweeney identifies and explains Edwards s exegetical practices, he displays not only his knowledge of Edwards s work but also the most recent scholarship on Edwards today...Anyone interested in biblical interpretation and Jonathan Edwards will be more than delighted when reading this book. --The Journal for Baptist Theology and Ministry A very impressive achievement. Sweeney provides fresh understanding and appreciative insight into Edwards' enchanted world of Scripture. Edwards saw all of reality as infused with spiritual meaning. So God's special revelation in Scripture was not only the perspicuous key to everything else, it was also packed with countless cryptic spiritual connotations. --George Marsden, author of Jonathan Edwards: A Life This book is a major contribution to scholarship that evidences a deep and refined knowledge of Edwards' thought and presents a penetrating analysis of the reading of Scripture in a vast array of Edwards' works. Sweeney identifies Edwards' location in the Protestant exegetical tradition and ably sets his work into the context of intellectual life of the mid-eighteenth century. --Richard A. Muller, P.J. Zondervan Professor of Historical Theology, Emeritus, Calvin Theological Seminary Don't be fooled-this book is not about grammar or verb declensions. With leading figures from church history as conversation partners, Sweeney elegantly unpacks crucial issues of biblical interpretation in Edwards' ministry. Big theological topics alternate with discussion of Edwards' exposition of books of the Bible, demonstrating Sweeney's prodigious eye to detail and his capacious understanding of Edwards' world. This book isn't about syntax, but something more powerful: the transforming Word of God.> --Rhys Bezzant, author of Jonathan Edwards and the Church This study fills a significant lacuna. Much has been written about Edwards' life and times, his theology, and philosophy. But so far we did not have a comprehensive study of what Edwards himself would have regarded as the foundation of everything else: his biblical exegesis. Drawing widely from the Edwards corpus, Sweeney offers us a highly learned and nuanced but also very readable account of Edwards' multifaceted engagement with Scripture in the context of the early Enlightenment. --Jan Stievermann, Professor of the History of Christianity in the U.S., Heidelberg University

Author Information

Douglas A. Sweeney is Professor of Church History and the History of Christian Thought, Chair of the Department, and Director of the Jonathan Edwards Center at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He has published widely on Edwards, early modern Protestant thought, and the history of evangelicalism. His books include two volumes in the Yale Edition of The Works of Jonathan Edwards (1999, 2004), Nathaniel Taylor, New Haven Theology, and the Legacy of Jonathan Edwards (2003), and The American Evangelical Story: A History of the Movement (2005). He is on the editorial board of Jonathan Edwards Studies.

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