A sizeable 615 pages (the last 100 or so being footnotes and appendices), this is the sort of book that strikes fear into all but the most avid of readers. It looks unwieldy and intimidating but I think that it is so good that it merits a long review over 4 parts.

Part I: His Early Years, Revival & Other Stuff

At first glance, the writing style is clear, concise and not given to long, winding, overly verbose descriptive prose, that is often a death knell to these kinds of biographies. Erm….embarrassingly I have just read the following sentence, discussing Edward’s need to present his MA thesis at Yale: ‘This oration, called a Quaestio, took the medieval form of a syllogistic disputation in defense of a proposition.’ (p82)  I know. I know. Headache inducing, but strangely poetic at the same time. Still, this sort of ‘intelligent’ language is used sparingly in order that us mere mortals (who are not friends of Don Carson – let’s face it the only human alive truly able to understand that sentence) may generally understand the force and flow of the book.

I found Marsden’s account of Edwards time at seminary very enlightening and often amusing. Consider the following, ‘College students could be unruly…..many took advantage of the freedom from their families to cut loose….perennial problems with drinking and rowdiness….the trustees strengthened the penalties for frequenting taverns, bringing rum into the dorms without permission (!), and contempt for tutors.’ (Pp101-102). Brilliant (not in terms of their behaviour) –but  there is something bizarre about a load of dour faced, wig wearing puritanical types wandering about in pubs, ducking and diving from their tutors whilst studying to become future pastors! According to the book, Edwards liked his cider, sometimes ordering his junior students to fill his cup up to 10 times a day! (The sort of behaviour that would have John Macarthur blogging like mad whilst making Mark Driscoll look like a bit of a ‘white wine spritzer’ boy!) Besides this, Edwards does come across as a bit self-absorbed in his student days, but then that is surely a truism for every teenager in history! Certainly, it is an oft-used criticism of many of the Puritans from around those times. (To my shame, he sounds like the sort of square that I used to pick on in my own school days!) The point being is that, from the outset, the biographer is clear that Edwards, great man though he was, had many faults and quirks, and instead of damaging him, his fallen humanity somehow makes his achievements all the more impressive.

There is little doubt that Edwards was a fascinating man, having presided over two influential spiritual revivals in his lifetime. The first was in 1734 and the second, sparked by a visit from George Whitfield, began in 1740 and spread throughout New England. They were marked by extremes of behaviour including, crying, laughing, falling over, trance like states and general euphoria that would sometimes go on for days. His wife, Sarah, was affected in this way, and it is suggested at one point that she had to go to the doctors for some medication to calm her down! Of course, ‘the awakenings’ sparked huge debate and led to schisms across the Christian world as to the reality and helpfulness of some of the excesses. What ensued was a weighty theological debate over the placement of the emotions over reason when it came to the supernatural work of God’s Spirit in revival (sounds oh so familiar).

Edward’s position was that it was impossible to separate the mind and the will. When it came to the matter of preaching, in particular, what was important to him was not what a person remembered after the event but what they experienced during the delivery of the Word. For Edward’s, preaching must, above all, touch the affections not merely the intellect. (A lesson forgotten by many today who occupy the pulpit as ‘teachers’ – they expand the mind only – but not ‘preachers’ – they stir the soul and stimulate the mind). Interestingly, Edward’s was not overly concerned if a person fell down in his meeting as long as it was in response to the intelligent preaching of God’s Word (modern revivalists take note – not a guitar riff in sight). His opponents, however, argued for a more conservative, intellectually led approach to the faith, which he felt led to a dry and emotionally suppressed religion, missing the deep experience of God by His Spirit.

Note to self here:

(1) It is not hard to see how these two streams of thought and practice have taken root and probably source much of the division within evangelical Christianity today when it comes to ‘moves’ of the Holy Spirit.

(2) Interestingly, these revivals came about by the expository preaching of God’s Word and not through ‘music’ (often mislabelled ‘worship’ in modern churches).

(3) We must be careful not to view ‘manifestations’ as evidence of God’s Holy Spirit at work but rather ongoing fruit, particularly a growing love of God and His Word.Conversely, we must be careful not to dismiss a move of the Spirit because of ‘bizarre’ manifestations. How much the gift of discernment is needed in our churches today!

(4) It is not how we feel that marks us out as a child of God, but surely what we practice.

Edwards put it like this when speaking about how Christians could be far more effective witnesses in the world. By being, ‘lively in the service of God and our generation, than by the liveliness and forwardness of our tongues, and making a business of proclaiming on the house tops, with our mouths, the holy and eminent acts and exercises of our hearts.’ (p289)

What I admired about this part of the book, was that whilst Edwards was loathe to judge some of the excesses of the revival (God alone knows the heart was his defence), he was still one of its biggest critics and sought often to ensure that they did not stray outside of clear, biblical principles.

Part 2 to follow.

Part II: Snappy Book Titles, More Revival, Opposition & Other Stuff

What I particularly like about this biography is that it never seeks to paint Edwards in a sinless light. His weaknesses are laid bare, not least his tendency for hyperbole in some of his writings, but also his penchant for ‘editing’ the opinions of others, most notably in his work on the life of David Brainerd. Both men were, apparently, very alike, given to periods of great depression and spiritual dryness as well as times of spiritual refreshing and intense ‘ecstasies’. (I wonder how well they would survive the ‘psychological assessments’ that mark many missionary organisations and churches in our day and age)?

For all his intellect, Edwards wasn’t one for snappy book titles. Consider this one: ‘An Humble Attempt to Promote an Explicit Agreement and Visible Union of God’s People thro’ the World , in Extraordinary Prayer, for the Revival of Religion, and the Advancement of Christ’s Kingdom on Earth, Pursuant to Scripture Promise and Prophecies Concerning the Last Times’ (1747). Now that is the daddy of all book titles! This was a sort of precursor to his lifelong interest in the apocalyptic writings and the nature of the ‘millennium’. As with all of the Protestants of his day, the pope and the Catholic Church were viewed as the ‘anti-Christ’ of Scripture but Edwards did have a tendency to interpret the events of his Northampton town through the lens of the biblical prophets and the nation of Israel. Apparently, this led to some bizarre scorekeeping in terms of the number of French (Catholic) ships sunk, soldiers killed and forts defeated which he interpreted to be signs of God’s blessing against the ‘Babylonian anti-Christ’s’.

Another literary device that Marsden (the author) employs to good effect is to intersperse the book with little snippets of the personal strife that the Edwards family faced throughout their ministry in Northampton. In the midst of war, the death of family and friends, theological battles and revival we read of how Edwards dealt with matters of discipline within the church. He particularly fought against the sexual sin of the young men of his congregation. On one occasion some men were passing about a book on midwifery and the inner workings of the female parts which caused quite scandal! (sadly, it is an indictment on our society, and on our churches in particular, that I smiled wryly when I read that bit, more in resignation of some of the stuff that men are viewing these days which is so hardcore that a book on midwifery seems childish by comparison). Not only that but he had to deal with the pettiness and jealousy of many powerful and wealthy families within the community. Perhaps most sadly, was his constant battle to receive his salary, which seemed to mark most of his time there until his removal in 1750 (more of that later). Edwards himself seemed unconcerned by what he called ‘worldly things’ and so it was often left to Sarah to sort out the family, the finances, run their smallholding and to try and live as frugally as possible. (I can imagine what my wife would say if I decided to forgo all ‘worldly considerations’, retire to the study and let her get on with running everything! Not sure it would fly too well!)) Anyway, after many years in 1748, the townspeople voted to improve Edwards’s salary, making it fixed, whilst at the same time making him the highest paid pastor in the whole region.

This peace was not to last long and after the death of one of his greatest patrons, Colonel Stoddard, things began to rapidly deteriorate between Edwards and his congregation. Marsden sites many reasons for this; long standing feuds, political posturing and, notably, Edwards ever growing demand to place greater restrictions on church membership. Many people thought he was being a bit dodgy in that he waited until one of his most powerful opponents had died, gained a fixed salary for himself and began introducing new rules and regulations into the church. Marsden handles the issues skilfully at this point. He remarks on Edwards characteristic ‘sticking to his principles’ approach to ministry but at the same times points out his failings in terms of his ‘brittle, unsociable personality’. Most likely, it was a combination of all, exacerbated by his unrelenting perfectionism, something he demanded of both himself and all around him. Interestingly, and this is only hinted at in the book, this trait seems at odds with his obvious Calvinistic views about human nature and the race in general. Anyway, to be fair, even Edwards saw these failings and more than once felt he would be more suited to a life in the study than the life of a pastor.

Part III: Sacked, Yet More Opposition, Indians & Other Stuff

In the public arena, at least, the ‘Northampton Controversy’ of 1749 was concerned with Edward’s supposedly ‘new’ view on Communion and Baptism (he denied the charge that it was new). Edward’s wanted to restrict communion to believing members only and restrict infant baptism to full members. This caused a scandal in a day when not having your children baptised was considered to be something shameful. Edwards (rightly) thought it ‘stupid’ that people baptised their children into a faith they did not themselves practice (hear, hear). Sadly, his biblical thinking was far too outrageous for the people of his time. In July 1750 Edwards preached his final sermon in Northampton after being voted out by a council of local clergy and their representatives.

Looking back on his downfall, Edwards blamed satanic activity and spiritual pride on behalf of the townspeople – which had its route in their worldwide fame because of the revivals – and political rivalries amongst power bases. For himself, he blamed his own spiritual pride and arrogance as well as his laxity in dealing with the revival. Interestingly, he came to realise that the number who were truly converted were not as great as had been reported and there is a sense that he greatly regretted this. He was offered he chance to come to Scotland but declined due to his age (48) and the size of his family. He stayed on in Northampton for about a year and, oddly, was asked to preach his old church from time to time! That was eventually stopped by his opponents who said, tragically, that they preferred to go without the Word rather than have him in the pulpit. He continued looking for work, although there was a movement from his supporters to encourage him to start another congregation in the town. He was against the idea and moved to another church in Stockbridge, more than 40 miles away. It was there, again amid much opposition, that he began to preach and teach among the settlers and Indians alike. He was particularly interested in teaching literacy to the indigenous population and began a successful programme based on teaching children the biblical stories, giving them an overarching history of biblical redemption (sounds like a familiar re-emerging thing!).

By late 1751 Edward’s was in serious debt (about 2 grand!) and the family were really struggling to make ends meet. Despite this, his ministry to the Indians and the English was growing, along with a school. Even though his church was mixed he preached to both groups separately. He preached to the Indians using an interpreter by the name of (wait for it) John Wauwaumpequunnaunt, whom Edwards thought was ‘extraordinary’. (Whatever else, you have to love that name and I was just looking for an excuse to use it!) Edward’s used old sermons from Northampton when teaching the English but, when it came to the Indians, he tried a different approach. He used lots of narratives and vivid metaphors, which really seemed to connect with his biblically illiterate audience (again, sound familiar?). ‘To the Indians he was a plain and practical preacher; upon no occasion did he display any metaphysical knowledge in the pulpit. His sentences were concise and full of meaning; and his delivery, grave and natural.’ (p393) That seems much at odds with many who think that he was boring and stuffy from the pulpit.

The ‘post modern’ planter would learn much from his approach to those who had no gospel understanding. He concentrated on preaching the gospels and found real success with the parables. He tempered his usually judgement laden messages with an emphasis on the mercy and compassion of God in sending Christ to die. And yet, this is the interesting part for me, despite these contextual approaches (living among the people) there was no revival, although some Indians did profess faith. Note to self: It just goes to show that all our modern emphasis on ‘missional living’ and ‘incarnational ministry’ and ‘contextualisation’ whilst rightly worthy of consideration and practice, are no guarantee of spiritual regeneration. That is entirely a work of God through His Holy Spirit when and where He deems it appropriate according to His perfect will and sovereign purposes.

More controversy soon followed, this time against a family called the Williamses. They were using the school and other projects for financial gain and Edward’s (and most of the town) was implacable in his pursuit to get rid of them. I tell you what, this bloke could have started a fight in a closed down bar!) Sadly, the school later burned down, the Indians left and so did a man by the name of Gideon Hawley, their best and most respected teacher. He went off to do missionary work further inland among un-reached tribes and Edwards later sent his youngest son to him for training to be a future missionary. Times were increasingly tough.

Part IV: War, Princeton, Death & Other Stuff

All this drama was played against a colourful worldwide backdrop. In 1754 the international scene was becoming very unstable. Benjamin Franklin met with leaders from 7 other colonies to discuss the French intentions in the frontiers. The English were at each other’s throats and various groups of Indians were aggressively rising up against some of their former colonial allies. It must have been a brutal and bleak time for all concerned. Despite this, Edwards persisted in trying to preach the gospel to the Indian population as the British Empire made advances into their land. His view was that once they were subjugated, evangelised, and discipled according to Western principles and Reformed Christianity, then they would become less savage and more civilised. However we read into this view, one thing is for sure, the stress was getting to Edwards. In 1755  we learn that he became so ill that many feared for his life. Thankfully, he recovered, although war and rumours of war (both from the French and the Indians) raged all around him.

In 1758 Edwards was offered the role of principal of Princeton, which he initially declined, but reluctantly accepted after he put the matter into the hands of a council of local ministers (interesting practice).

Now toward the end of the book I was a bit confused by the Author’s thinking. He seemed to jump in and out of Edwards’ views on Free Will, Arminianism and Original Sin and it’s relation to human virtue. Opponents to his Calvinism thought his view of the human race too severe and depressing. They wanted to see society through the lens of some of its goodness and virtue. Edward’s strength, and in my opinion the strength of Calvinism as a whole, is that this view was based on a high view of God’s sovereignty and His holiness as well as a realistic view of humanity. (How his opponents could not quite grasp the doctrine of total depravity in the light of their climate of war is beyond me).

Some of his greatest work (and there is much) was done in trying to answer the question of why God created the world. According to Edwards, God did not create the world because of some lack in Himself but to extend to the world the perfect triune goodness and love of the Godhead. God delighted to express his perfect delight in His own glory to intelligent created beings that would reflect something of that back to Him. (It is so very obvious at this point that John Piper has been much influenced by these thoughts). It all gets a bit heavy duty and metaphysical here but consider this sentence (for about 3 weeks!): ‘The beams of glory come from God, and are something of God, and are refunded back again to their original. So that the whole is of God, and in God, and to God: and God is the beginning, middle and end of this affair.’ (p463) In the words of that famous student philosopher of the early 80’s, Adrian (The Young One’s) that is ‘heavy man!’ Note to self: In a nutshell, we have been created to share in God’s joy and delight in the perfection of His own Glory. My love for God should always be growing and what blows me away is that I have eternity to reach out to Him in His great heights and yet I will never reach the peak of my worship of His infinite greatness (I hope that makes sense – it does in my head!)

Back to Princeton. Edwards arrived there at 54 years old with much of his written work (in his mind anyway) still left undone. By the time he got there, Reformed Theology was taking hits on quite a few fronts. Men like John Locke had written extensively on interpreting scripture in light of ‘reason’. This paved the way for reinterpreting the ‘miraculous’ and in turn would lead to a wholesale ‘demythologising’ of the Bible from ‘Liberal’ sources. Edwards wrote copiously in defending the Bible against these critics.

Amazingly for that time, when Edwards accepted the call to Princeton, his father was 89 and his mother would go on to live until 98 years of age. Smallpox was rife in the area and Edwards was inoculated by a local doctor. Unfortunately, he developed complications, was unable to eat and died on March 22 1758. Several weeks later his daughter, Esther died and left the family devastated. Sarah Edwards, who, sadly, is mentioned too infrequently in the book, was still able to write these words: ‘…my God lives; and he has my heart.’ (p495). She died of dysentery aged 48 in October of the same year on her way to care for her orphaned grand children. She was buried next to her husband.

Marsden ends the book by wondering, amongst other things,  how Edwards would have fared with the American war of Independence and the signing of the declaration. More wisely, he comments that despite many Twenty-First Century thinkers and commentators being able to criticise many of his provincial eighteenth century views and opinions, Edwards has left us a formidable legacy. His challenge that this world is not the ‘real’ one stands today as true as it has ever been. Seeing the redemptive love in the work of the Lord Jesus Christ on behalf of sinners as the true centre of all reality will never go out of fashion or be lost in the sea of so-called scientific, human progress, even in our so called post-enlightened age.

This is a great piece of work. A truly stunning biography. Yes, I would have liked more on the personal life of the man in terms of his relationship to Sarah and the children. We do get glimpses but have to accept that Marsden was hampered in this by the sheer lack of any written evidence. Thankfully, he didn’t wander off into flames of fancy but kept to the historical evidence where he could.

This book warmed my soul, revived my spirit, challenged my prejudices and gave me a bigger picture and a greater love for Almighty God. This needs to be not only on your bookshelf but read, reread and recommended to every serious minded Christian you know. An absolute must.