Product Description

In the wake of the Toronto Blessing and other revival movements, Christians need this book more than ever. Edwards, the central figure in New England's first Great Awakening, offers his most detailed description of the signs--false and true--of religious revival, while high-lighting the role truly balanced emotions play within the Christian life.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #591295 in Books
• Published on: 2007-05-14
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 236 pages

About the Author
In 1716 Edwards was admitted to Yale at the remarkable age of thirteen. After he graduated in 1722, he spent four years there pursuing theological interests, teaching, and completing his master's degree. In 1727 ,Edwards complied with his grandfather's request and traveled to Northhampton, Massachusetts to be his assistant in his church. A committed scholar of John Calvin and the early Puritan theologians, as well as of the writings of John Locke and Isaac Newton, Edwards pursued a theology founded on two seemingly contradictory themes---a desire to return to the Calvinist tradition, as well as a desire to include the insights of contemporary Enlightenment philosophy. While Edwards's theological formulations were not completely developed until the 1750s, his lifetime pursuit of these ideas profoundly influenced the Puritan period of religious revival known as the Great Awakening. Though Edwards's provocative theology and sermons occasionally invoked fire and brimstone, as in the famous Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God (1741), his sermons generally moved parishioners to faith through the employment of positive imagery, as in God Glorified in Man's Dependence (1731). In spite of his successes during the Great Awakening, Edwards was ultimately involved in a controversy that led to his dismissal at the Northhampton parish in 1750. Viewed as too progressive by a faction of the church known as the Old Lights, Edwards stepped down after delivering his famous Farewell Sermon (1750), in which he declared that God would ultimately determine whether Edwards had been right or wrong

Customer Reviews

A theology unseen in today's Christian books
As grape soda is to Louis Roederer Cristal, so today's Christian books are to Edwards' "The Religious Affections". Espousing a theology foreign to most postmodern Christians, Edwards lays out the cornerstone of Christian thought of the mid-18th century.

As unflinching as his more famous sermon, "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God", this work develops the idea that what we feel and our true status in Christ are at war with one another, a constant battle that requires the searching of our souls by the Spirit of God in order to find the truth of our standing in Him. For some, the level of introspection and faithfulness demanded of the believer is higher than we might otherwise be prepared to endure. But only by complete surrender, the development of an inner craving for Christ, and spiritual examination can we rest in the assurance of our salvation.

This work also holds up a Christian faith that seems radically different - and more vital - than what we know. For this we should thank Edwards for allowing 21st century men and women a tie to historic Christianity, especially as seen through early-American eyes.

"The Religious Affections" is an extremely difficult book to read, not only because of the sentence structure and word choices of the 18th century, but also because of the loaded theology. It is a bombshell to the heart of anyone who earnestly desires to follow Christ. Impossible to ignore, Edwards' book demands a response. No one can read it and be unchanged. The level of discipleship it asks is shocking to modern readers, but ultimately necessary for our salvation.

An Absolute MUST Read
I'm a minister of music at an evangelical church. Almost every week, I have the conversation with someone "what are the role of emotions in our services and in the Christian's life in general?" (Nobody really asks it THAT way, but you get the idea.)

I've come to the point where I won't even begin the conversation without having them read this book. Seriously! Edwards covers ALL the issues in a thorough and practical way.

Strap on your thinking cap, but know it's worth it! I read this book every year and God never fails in using it to refocus my heart on Him.

The Final Word
Jonathan Edwards penned "Religious Affections" in a day much like our own. Battle lines were drawn over religion of the heart and religion of the head. Edwards, the consummate scholar, but his biblical mind and spiritual heart fully into the task of explaining the scriptural, theological, and practical truth of the nature of spiritual conversion and spiritual growth.

Unlike many Christian scholars today, Edwards recognized the age-old (Old Testament, New Testament, and Church History) truth/tradition of the affections. He saw them as the relational motivation that impelled the soul. Further, he saw the affections, or our longings, desires, and thirsts, as God-created/designed core components of the healthy human personality.

He then traced the relationship between the affections, our cognitions, our volition, and our emotions. Brilliantly he demonstrated that we pursue (volition) what we perceive (cognition) to be pleasant (affections) and pleasing (emotions). In other words, the "action" is in the affections. Capture the affections through the imagination (the deepest aspects of our cognitive capacity) and you capture the soul.

To understand the biblical psychology of the soul, other than the Bible itself, this is THE book to devour.

Reviewer: Bob Kellemen, Ph.D., is the author of "Soul Physicians," "Spiritual Friends," and the forthcoming "Beyond the Suffering: The Story of African American Soul Care and Spiritual Direction."