Gleanings from the 'rubbish of libraries'

William Morris, The Young Jonathan Edwards, (351) reminds me of this charming quotation:


'President Edwards valuable writings in another generation will pass into as transient notice, perhaps scarce above Oblivion, as Willard and Twiss, or Norton; and when Posterity occasionally comes across them in the Rubbish of Libraries, the rare Characters who may read and be pleased with them will be looked upon as singular and whimsical, as in these days an Admirer of Suarez, Aquinas or Dionysius Areopagitica.'



The Jonathan Edwards Classic Studies Series

The Jonathan Edwards Center in association with Wipf and Stock Publishers of Eugene, Oregon, has published a second edition of William Sparkes Morris' The Young Jonathan Edwards, a brilliant study of Jonathan Edwards' early years as a student and a philosophical theologian.

Morris thoroughly examines the theological and philosophical influences on Edwards' developing metaphysics. In particular, Morris treats the roots of Edwards' notions of excellency, being, matter, and Spirit. Drawing heavily on Edwards' "Miscellanies" and personal notebooks, Morris also shows the way that these intellectual developments converged with Edwards' young life as a ministerial student in the early days of Yale College.

In his essay in The Princeton Companion to Jonathan Edwards, Peter Thuesen writes that "the ongoing debate about the primary intellectual influence on Edwards, or who served as his "master-spirit," must be settled by the conclusion of William Sparkes Morris that Edwards' affinities as a thinker were fundamentally eclectic." Twenty years ago, in his classic study of Edwards' moral thought, Norman Fiering applauded The Young Jonathan Edwards as "the most comprehensive investigation of the intellectual influences upon Edwards in his youth." It remains the foremost study of these influences today. The renewed availability of this important study will be a great asset to all who are interested in Edwards' early intellectual life and in his formation as a theologian.

For a discounted copy email edwards@yale.edu