The Works of Jonathan Edwards, Volume 20: The “Miscellanies,â€? 833-1152. Edited by Amy Plantinga Pauw. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2002. Pp. xi + 569. $85.00.

Nearly fifty years after the inception of Yale University’s The Works of Jonathan Edwards, new material continues to be published. Perhaps one of the most exciting prospects of this project is the publication of Edwards’s “Miscellanies,â€? a series of meditative notebooks he kept over the course of his ministry. In this third volume of such entries, Amy Plantinga Pauw presents the notes the Northampton preacher made between 1740 and 1751, perhaps the most eventful years of his life. Ultimately, in the able hands of Amy Plantinga Pauw, Jonathan Edwards remains a relevant example of the various ways evangelicals can participate in their respective societies.
Plantinga Pauw begins her study by giving a synopsis of Edwards’s life during these years, focusing particularly on his role in the “First Great Awakeningâ€? and the communion controversy that erupted among the Northampton congregation in the late 1740s. During this tumultuous period, the “Miscellaniesâ€? served “as an intellectual refugeâ€? from the frustrating events of everyday life—a place where he could momentarily withdraw from the cares of the world to commune with his heavenly Father (2). As he sought a reprieve from pastoring an oftentimes-contentious congregation, Edwards focused on a rather diverse collection of topics.
One subject that occupied much of his thinking in this period is that of non-Christian religions. He especially focused on religions and philosophies of the ancient world, consuming the work of philosophers like Hugo Grotius (1583-1645) and Theophilus Gale (1628-1678) as part of his theological diet (11). In the process, Edwards defended the reasonableness of Christianity and the need for divine revelation by noting the similarities between Christianity and other religious systems (13). Further supporting the recent work of Gerald McDermott in Jonathan Edwards Confronts the God, Plantinga Pauw demonstrates that Edwards’s concern with the threat of deism aroused an interest in non-Christian religions and how they might be used as an apologetic tool for the cause of Christ.
As a prophetic witness of the work of redemption, Edwards not only collected materials to defend the faith, he also meditated much on the punishment of a life without saving faith. Unlike many of his day, Edwards was motivated by the conviction that those eternally condemned by God would suffer punishment in hell. Thus, he used the “Miscellaniesâ€? as a resource for formulating defenses against those who objected to the doctrine, by stressing both the mystery and the reasonableness of hell. For example, in entry No. 870, Edwards reflected on the mystery of hell, claiming that ultimately God’s justice and righteousness must be trusted (110). In No. 864, he defended the necessity of such punishment. Based on what appeared to be the lack of justice in the world, Edwards wrote that if God eternally allowed the wicked to prosper over the righteous, one could argue “God maintains no moral government over the world of mankindâ€? (105). As Plantinga Pauw observes, Edwards perceived the doctrine of hell, even if a difficult truth, as “a properly beautiful doctrine when seen by regenerated eyesâ€? (22). Thus, he meditated on and defended both its mysteriousness and its necessity.
Additionally, Edwards explored the nature of the lived faith that would result in eternal happiness. As Plantinga Pauw notes, the entries from this period show Edwards charting a “middle way that attempted to uphold both the integral role of human works and the freeness of God’s grace in salvationâ€? (25). Likely responding to the ministry of itinerant preachers such as George Whitefield, who had recently visited Northampton, Edwards defended the whole process of sanctification. In No. 847, he wrote, “the new birth is not finished till the soul is fully restored, and till the corruption and death that came by Adam and the first birth is wholly removedâ€? (71). Convinced that regeneration produced an obvious change in a believer’s life, Edwards made much of being justified by works, as seen in No. 996. A life of obedience, however, did not imply that salvation was earned, as Edwards understood Arminians to teach. Consequently, he insisted in these entries that it is Christ’s righteousness that merits salvation, not human righteousness (26).
In conclusion, this volume not only further identifies the various topics that occupied Edwards’s thoughts; it also demonstrates his continuing relevancy nearly three hundred years after his death. As the following possibilities suggest, evangelicals of the twenty-first century can benefit from his example. First, evangelicals can perhaps learn from Edwards how to use world religions to defend the faith. For example, Gerald McDermott recently applied principles gleaned from Edwards in his Can Evangelicals Learn From World Religions?: Jesus, Revelation and Religious Traditions. Second, amidst competing evangelical voices regarding the future punishment of the ungodly, Edwards’s convictions of the mysteriousness and the necessity of hell torments sound a much-needed note. Third, the “Miscellaniesâ€? entries on the nature of saving faith could offer something of a solution to the current evangelical debate over the role of works in justification and sanctification, particularly since some of those involved mistakenly appeal to the Northampton theologian. In short, the editors of The Works of Jonathan Edwards, and Amy Plantinga Pauw in particular, deserve commendation for making available (despite the somewhat restrictive price) this rich resource of the theological reflections and intellectual meditations of one of America’s greatest pastor-theologians.

Richard A. Bailey is a Ph.D. student in the Department of History at the University of Kentucky.