George Marsden on Edwards
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Dr. W. Gary Crampton thinks so. See the forthcoming 2006 issue of The Confessional Presbyterian journal, pp 175-181:
Review: George M. Marsden, Jonathan Edwards: A Life (New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press, 2003). Hardcover, 640 pages. $35.00. Paperback (2004). $22.00. Reviewed by W. Gary Crampton, Th.D.
Review: George M. Marsden, Jonathan Edwards: A Life (New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press, 2003). Hardcover, 640 pages. $35.00. Paperback (2004). $22.00. Reviewed by W. Gary Crampton, Th.D.
polemic_turtle
Puritan Board Freshman
Sounds like a winner; SOLD! 
My favorite part about ChristianAudio is the subscription program, wherewith you may circumvent the dollar prices for the downloads and have the static price of $25 a month for 8 points, which I just spent on the Edwards bio, rather than the $32.98 that they're otherwise asking.
My favorite part about ChristianAudio is the subscription program, wherewith you may circumvent the dollar prices for the downloads and have the static price of $25 a month for 8 points, which I just spent on the Edwards bio, rather than the $32.98 that they're otherwise asking.
Marsden's book was a very good read indeed. I enjoyed the Murray book much more in the respect that Murray introduced me to the spiritual man Edwards was. I did not think that Marsden really understood him from "things of the spirit " point of view. In the way people who are not christians often do not understand our motives, and worldview, and yet we can read someone across hundreds of years and spiritually click.
rmwilliamsjr
Puritan Board Freshman
here is my review of it, i thought it was excellent and i look for Marsden's other writings.
biography plus theology of a serious and important man, November 12, 2003
Reviewer: R. M. Williams "just an avid reader" (tucson, arizona USA) - See all my reviews
First, this book confirms my earlier suspicion that anything written by George Marsden is extraordinary and a must read, simply because of the quality of the research and the writing. The book was a 'from the pulpit recommendation' and as such not on my usual list of suspects to be read, i am however grateful for the recommendation and thankful for the time spent reading this biography of a very important and interesting person.
Second, the purpose of the book is aptly summed up by the author in the last chapter, "My belief is that one of the uses of being an historian, particularly if one is part of a community of faith, is to help persons of such communities better understand what they and their community might appropriate form the great mentors of the past and what is extraneous and nonessential. ... It should also be to help people see how to put things back together again. We need to use history for the guidance it offers, learning from great figures in the past-both in their brilliance and in their shortcomings. Otherwise we are stuck with only the wisdom of the present." pg 502
The book naturally breaks up into 3 pieces: the first, the much greater, is the biography of Edwards reaching a culmination in the church severing the pastoral relationship with Edwards that had been theirs for 26 years. The problems, both interpersonal and theological are summed up nicely in chapters 17 "A House Divided" and 18 "A Model Town No More". If you only have a limited time to invest in this book, i would start with reading these two chapters first. The next piece is the rest of his life, upto chapter 25. The final part is the systematic presentation of his theology in an historical context with one eye on its influence for the next 100 years in America. If you are primarily interested in Edwards as a theologian i would start but reading 26 "Against and 'Almost Inconceivably Pernicious' Doctrine" to the end.
The major threads in the biography appear to be:
Edwards as smitten by the beauty of God and His universe. The fragility of life and the necessity of getting right with God now as a consequence of mortality. The importance of 3 big controversies in Edwards' life: Old versus New Light, or the meaning and significance of emotional/enthusiastic revival, discipline in the church as illustrated by the boys and the midwife manual, which lead up to his dismissal from the church, and the place of reason in the life of a very bright man with deeply held convictions.
I appreciated the book, it is not a hard read, slanted to the general reader with all the hard stuff and references in endnotes. It moves evenly throughout with none of the low boring spots you might expect in a work this long. I would recommend it to most anyone with an interest in either theology or pre-Revolutionary America.
I am on the lookout for followup material. please email to rwilliam2 at yahoo. i have _Theology in American_ by Holifield and _America's God_ by Noll in hand.
as well as: The Philosophical Theology of Jonathan Edwards
by Sang Hyun Lee
thanks for reading this short review. i hope you pick up the book on this recommendation.
biography plus theology of a serious and important man, November 12, 2003
Reviewer: R. M. Williams "just an avid reader" (tucson, arizona USA) - See all my reviews
First, this book confirms my earlier suspicion that anything written by George Marsden is extraordinary and a must read, simply because of the quality of the research and the writing. The book was a 'from the pulpit recommendation' and as such not on my usual list of suspects to be read, i am however grateful for the recommendation and thankful for the time spent reading this biography of a very important and interesting person.
Second, the purpose of the book is aptly summed up by the author in the last chapter, "My belief is that one of the uses of being an historian, particularly if one is part of a community of faith, is to help persons of such communities better understand what they and their community might appropriate form the great mentors of the past and what is extraneous and nonessential. ... It should also be to help people see how to put things back together again. We need to use history for the guidance it offers, learning from great figures in the past-both in their brilliance and in their shortcomings. Otherwise we are stuck with only the wisdom of the present." pg 502
The book naturally breaks up into 3 pieces: the first, the much greater, is the biography of Edwards reaching a culmination in the church severing the pastoral relationship with Edwards that had been theirs for 26 years. The problems, both interpersonal and theological are summed up nicely in chapters 17 "A House Divided" and 18 "A Model Town No More". If you only have a limited time to invest in this book, i would start with reading these two chapters first. The next piece is the rest of his life, upto chapter 25. The final part is the systematic presentation of his theology in an historical context with one eye on its influence for the next 100 years in America. If you are primarily interested in Edwards as a theologian i would start but reading 26 "Against and 'Almost Inconceivably Pernicious' Doctrine" to the end.
The major threads in the biography appear to be:
Edwards as smitten by the beauty of God and His universe. The fragility of life and the necessity of getting right with God now as a consequence of mortality. The importance of 3 big controversies in Edwards' life: Old versus New Light, or the meaning and significance of emotional/enthusiastic revival, discipline in the church as illustrated by the boys and the midwife manual, which lead up to his dismissal from the church, and the place of reason in the life of a very bright man with deeply held convictions.
I appreciated the book, it is not a hard read, slanted to the general reader with all the hard stuff and references in endnotes. It moves evenly throughout with none of the low boring spots you might expect in a work this long. I would recommend it to most anyone with an interest in either theology or pre-Revolutionary America.
I am on the lookout for followup material. please email to rwilliam2 at yahoo. i have _Theology in American_ by Holifield and _America's God_ by Noll in hand.
as well as: The Philosophical Theology of Jonathan Edwards
by Sang Hyun Lee
thanks for reading this short review. i hope you pick up the book on this recommendation.
The audiobook is good. I listened to the whole thing. Marsden's speaking style is weak, though.
I'd also recommend the free lectures at from Covenant Seminary:
http://www.covenantseminary.edu/worldwide/default.asp
I'd also recommend the free lectures at from Covenant Seminary:
http://www.covenantseminary.edu/worldwide/default.asp
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