JeffR
Puritan Board Freshman
The first time i heard of and wanted to read Bavinck was in an article where it said that he critiqued Jonathan Edwards, that piqued my interest, because JE is huge, a giant, rightly revered, but like all uninspired authors, are susceptible to scrutiny. It should also be noted that i came across John Frame "correcting" Bavinck. This may not be the most devotional thing there is but i thought i'd share this, as i for one love it when there's connecting the dots with the great names of theology.
The first and most important theologian of New England was Jonathan Edwards (1703–58), who combined profound metaphysical mental ability with deep piety.54 In 1734, still before Wesley’s coming to America, a remarkable revival occurred in his congregation at Northampton; and later, with his friend George Whitfield, he himself repeatedly conducted and defended similar revivals. Theologically he especially opposed Arminianism, which came to New England via the writings of Daniel Whitby and John Taylor. By his metaphysical and ethical speculations he attempted to strengthen Calvinism but actually weakened it by the distinction between natural and moral impotence—a distinction that already occurs in John Cameron—and by a peculiar theory concerning freedom of the will, original sin, and virtue. Thus he became the father of the Edwardians, New Theology men, or New Lights as they are called, who, though they maintained the Calvinistic doctrine of God’s sovereignty and election, combined it with the rejection of original sin and the universality of atonement, just as the theologians of Saumur had done in France. In the doctrine of the atonement, his son Jonathan Edwards (1745–1801) essentially taught the theory of Hugo Grotius. Samuel Hopkins, a pupil of Edwards (1721–1803), whose works were published in 1852 at Boston by Professor Park of Andover, wrote a system of divinity in which he reproduced Edwards’s system and especially developed the unconditional love of God in the manner of Fénélon and Madame Guyon. Nathanael Emmons (1745–1840), Works, (Boston, 1842), was one of the most able defenders of Hopkinsianism. In the case of Timothy Dwight (1752–1817) and Nathaniel W. Taylor (1786–1858), Edwards’s system was modified in a Pelagian direction and acquired the label “New School.”
The first and most important theologian of New England was Jonathan Edwards (1703–58), who combined profound metaphysical mental ability with deep piety.54 In 1734, still before Wesley’s coming to America, a remarkable revival occurred in his congregation at Northampton; and later, with his friend George Whitfield, he himself repeatedly conducted and defended similar revivals. Theologically he especially opposed Arminianism, which came to New England via the writings of Daniel Whitby and John Taylor. By his metaphysical and ethical speculations he attempted to strengthen Calvinism but actually weakened it by the distinction between natural and moral impotence—a distinction that already occurs in John Cameron—and by a peculiar theory concerning freedom of the will, original sin, and virtue. Thus he became the father of the Edwardians, New Theology men, or New Lights as they are called, who, though they maintained the Calvinistic doctrine of God’s sovereignty and election, combined it with the rejection of original sin and the universality of atonement, just as the theologians of Saumur had done in France. In the doctrine of the atonement, his son Jonathan Edwards (1745–1801) essentially taught the theory of Hugo Grotius. Samuel Hopkins, a pupil of Edwards (1721–1803), whose works were published in 1852 at Boston by Professor Park of Andover, wrote a system of divinity in which he reproduced Edwards’s system and especially developed the unconditional love of God in the manner of Fénélon and Madame Guyon. Nathanael Emmons (1745–1840), Works, (Boston, 1842), was one of the most able defenders of Hopkinsianism. In the case of Timothy Dwight (1752–1817) and Nathaniel W. Taylor (1786–1858), Edwards’s system was modified in a Pelagian direction and acquired the label “New School.”
