Classic Revivalists: Jonathan Edwards on Spiritual Revival
Referenced in: Congregational Renewal through Spiritual Revival
LifeandLeadership.com Summary
The name Jonathan Edwards is synonymous with revival, and church leaders interested in this subject will of necessity gain exposure to him. Edwards was one of the leading figures in the First Great Awakening (1730-1755), alongside other notables such as George Whitefield and John and Charles Wesley. Edwards is often incorrectly caricatured as a red-faced Bible-thumper screaming invectives in his sermon, “Sinners in the Hand of an Angry God.” This is unfortunate. In reality, Edwards was a scholar-preacher whose sermons and writings demonstrated intellectual rigor and devotional depth. His style did not fit the fiery evangelist stereotype. Some have it that even in his signature sermon, he was more like the boring, sleep-inducing preacher with nose buried in the manuscript, reading word-for-word in a dispassionate tone, getting lost and stopping to place a finger on the text, adjusting eyeglasses, and droning on indefinitely. While this may be an equally false caricature, the reality of Jonathan Edwards is certainly different than the common lore.
Understanding Jonathan Edwards begins by looking at his role in his place and time. This is historical work, and a good source is Mark Noll, The Rise of Evangelicalism. Once you know the history, then turn to the avid students of Edwards for help in navigating the complexity of his life and teaching.
In the current stream, perhaps no one has done more to reignite interest in Jonathan Edwards than John Piper, renowned preacher of the Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis. Piper is also founder of Desiring God Ministries, which bears the same name of his signature best-selling book, Desiring God: Meditations of a Christian Hedonist. This book and others by Piper have been called a kind of Jonathan Edwards redivivus. This may overstate the case, but it is clear that Piper appreciates Edwards and makes frequent use of him.
One way of appropriating Edwards would be to model Piper. This should be balanced with an awareness that Piper shares Edwards’ alignment with Calvinism, which may not square with one’s own orientation.
Below is a select list from Piper and his associates that introduce the life and ministry of Edwards, especially as it relates to revivalism as a component of church renewal. The Publisher’s Description is appended to each listing.
John Piper, Desiring God: Meditations of a Christian Hedonist, Revised Edition. Crossway Books, 2010. The pursuit of pleasure is not optional. It is essential. Scripture reveals that the great business of life is to glorify God by enjoying Him forever. In this paradigm-shattering classic, newly revised and expanded, John Piper reveals that the debate between duty and delight doesn’t truly exist: Delight is our duty. Join him as he unveils stunning, life-impacting truths you saw in the Bible but never dared to believe, and embark on a dramatically different and joyful experience of your faith.
John Piper and Justin Taylor, A God-Entranced Vision of All Things: The Legacy of Jonathan Edwards. Crossway Books, 2004. Jonathan Edwards knew and preached the beauties of heaven as much as the terrors of hell. He was a humble and joyful servant, striving to glorify God in his personal life and public ministry. This book investigates the character and teachings of the man who preached from a deep concern for the unsaved and a passionate desire for God. This book is available for free download at Desiring God Ministries.
John Piper and Jonathan Edwards, God’s Passion for His Glory. Living the Vision of Jonathan Edwards (With the Complete Text of the End for Which God Created the World). Crossway Books, 2006. In his essay The End for Which God Created the World, the great theologian Jonathan Edwards proclaimed that God’s ultimate end is the manifestation of his glory in the highest happiness of his creatures. Pastor John Piper has devoted his years of ministry to exploring the implications of this stunning truth for life and ministry. Understanding that God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him has made all the difference for John Piper—and can transform your life as well. Here Piper passionately demonstrates the relevance of Edwards’s ideals for the personal and public lives of Christians today through his own book-length introduction to Edwards’s The End for Which God Created the World. This book also contains the complete essay supplemented by almost a hundred of Piper’s insightful explanatory notes. The result is a powerful and persuasive presentation of the things that matter most in the Christian life.
Archie Parrish and R.C. Sproul, The Spirit of Revival: Discovering the Wisdom of Jonathan Edwards. Crossway, 2008. America is gripped in an ongoing war that has divided our nation over issues of sexual morality, the relation between church and state, the collapse of the family unit, the emergence of a drug culture, and a radical change in the customs of polite speech. Because of this cultural war, America desperately needs revival. In The Spirit of Revival R.C. Sproul and Archie Parrish take the classic work by Jonathan Edwards, The Distinguishing Marks of a Work of the Spirit of God, and make it more accessible to the common reader. Edwards’ original discourse is carefully broken down into powerful sections, allowing theologians and the common lay worker the opportunity to recognize the true marks of revival: love and humility.
Sam Storms, Signs of the Spirit: An Interpretation of Jonathan Edwards’ “Religious Affections.” Crossway Books, 2007. Jonathan Edwards’s treatise, Religious Affections, is widely considered the most important and accurate analysis of religious experience ever written. Unfortunately, many well-intentioned readers sit down with Religious Affections, only to give up in frustration over Edwards’s lofty style and complex argumentation. For this reason Sam Storms, one of evangelicalism’s experts on Edwards, has attempted to bridge the gap between how Edwards said what he did in the eighteenth century and how he might say it today. In Signs of the Spirit he articulates the substance of Edwards’s arguments in a more understandable way. The point is not to “dumb down” Jonathan Edwards but to make his work accessible to a wider audience. This volume serves those both in and outside the academic realm as valuable preparation for, or as a companion guide to, a reading of Edwards’s Religious Affections.
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