I would like to thank a number of people for helping me on this project. First, I would like to thank Hendrickson Publishers this opportunity to share my gleanings of Edwardss Seventy Resolutions with a broader audience. Thanks especially to Dr. Jonathan Kline, Hendricksons academic editor, for working with me through the acquisition process.
Second, I would like to express my most sincere thanks to Patricia Anders, editorial director at Hendrickson, who took a rough draft and made it far more readable with her careful and diligent help. Thanks also to assistant editor Marco Antunes for his helpful work on the book. Of course, any remaining faults here are my own.
Third, I would like to thank the elders of Gospel Fellowship PCA, the church I serve as pastor. I hope that all of my writing projects are an extension of our local churchs witness of Christs love to the world.
Fourth, I would like to thank my three childrenSoriah, Elijah, and Simonefor bringing such joy into my life. I love you all.
Finally, I want to express my love for my wife Kelly. We have had more than twenty years together now and only an eternity together will be enough.
Abbreviations
The Works of Jonathan Edwards Series
WJE 1 Freedom of the Will. Edited by Paul Ramsey. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1957
WJE 2 Religious Affections. Edited by John E. Smith. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1959
WJE 3 Original Sin. Edited by Clyde A. Holbrook. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1970
WJE 4 The Great Awakening. Edited by C. C. Goen. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1972
WJE 5 Apocalyptic Writings. Edited by Stephen J. Stein. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1977
WJE 6 Scientific and PhilosophicalWritings. Edited by Wallace E. Anderson. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1980
WJE 7 The Life of David Brainerd. Edited by Norman Pettit. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1984
WJE 8 Ethical Writings. Edited by Paul Ramsey. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1989
WJE 9 A History of the Workof Redemption. Edited by John F. Wilson. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1989
WJE 10 Sermons and Discourses, 17201723. Edited by Wilson H Kimnach. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1992
WJE 11 Typological Writings. Edited by Wallace E. Anderson, Mason I. Lowance Jr., and David Watters. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1993
WJE 12 Ecclesiastical Writings. Edited by David D. Hall. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1994
WJE 13 TheMiscellanies, a500. Edited by Thomas A. Schafer. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1994
WJE 14 Sermons and Discourses, 17231729. Edited by Kenneth P. Minkema. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1997
WJE 15 Notes on Scripture. Edited by Stephen J. Stein. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1998
WJE 16 Lettersand Personal Writings. Edited by George S. Claghorn. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1998
WJE 17 Sermons and Discourses, 17301733. Edited by Mark Valeri. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1999
WJE 18 The Miscellanies, 501832. Edited by Ava Chamberlain. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2000
WJE 19 Sermons andDiscourses, 17341738. Edited by M. X. Lesser. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2001
WJE 20 The Miscellanies, 8331152. Edited by Amy Plantinga Pauw. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2002
WJE 21 Writings on the Trinity, Grace, and Faith. Edited by Sang Hyun Lee. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2002
WJE 22 Sermons and Discourses, 17391742. Edited by Harry S. Stout and Nathan O. Hatch, with Kyle P. Farley. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2003
WJE 23 The Miscellanies, 11531360. Edited by Douglas A. Sweeney. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2004
WJE 24 The Blank Bible (Parts 1 and 2). Edited by Stephen J. Stein. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2006
WJE 25 Sermons and Discourses, 17431758. Edited by Wilson H. Kimnach. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2006
WJE 26 Catalogues of Books. Edited by Peter J. Thuesen. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2008
Works cited as WJE are sourced from the printed editions of the Yale works above; those cited as WJEO in the footnotes are sourced from the digital archives, The Works of Jonathan Edwards Online, at Edwards.Yale.edu.
The Works of Jonathan Edwards
Works I TheWorks of Jonathan Edwards: Volume 1. Edited by Edward Hickman. 2 vols. 1834. Reprint ed. Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1974
Works II The Works of Jonathan Edwards: Volume 2. Edited by Edward Hickman. 2 vols. 1834. Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1974
Other Abbreviations
ESV Holy Bible, English Standard Version
HC The Heidelberg Catechism
JEE The Jonathan Edwards Encyclopedia. Edited by Harry S. Stout, Kenneth P. Minkema, and Adriaan C. Neele. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2017
KJV The King James Version (Also: AV)
WCF Westminster Confession of Faith
WLC Westminster Larger Catechism
WSC Westminster Shorter Catechism
Resolved
An Introduction to the Life of Jonathan Edwards
An Overview of Edwardss Life
The history of the world is the story of billions of regular people with just a smattering of geniuses and uniquely gifted people mixed in. A true genius comes around only every hundred years or so. A genius is a person with an extraordinary mind who leaves his or her indelible mark in at least one significant area of human thought; perhaps in philosophy, literature, science, art, mathematics, theology, film, or choreography. Rarer still are those sprinklings of people who come around every millennium or so and contribute markedly to multiple fields. Da Vinci was one such genius: he was an extraordinary painter, sculptor, inventor, and architect. About this creator of such masterpieces as the Mona Lisa and TheLast Supper, it was said that he could write in Greek with one hand and in Latin with the other. Or if he preferred, Da Vinci could sketch a new inventive design with his right hand and take notes on the same project with the other. Indeed, there are really very few genuinely remarkable people!
Jonathan Edwards (170358) was in that small handful of one-in-a-million people.
If the hallmark of such extraordinary lives is that these people impacted not just one field of human knowledge but