Peter Beck on Edwards on Sin

New Article on Edwards: July 2007.


'The fall of man and the failure of Jonathan Edwards.' By: Beck, Peter. Evangelical Quarterly, Jul 2007, Vol. 79 Issue 3, p209-225,

Looking particularly at the detail of Edwards' explanation of Adam's fall and the use of the idea of self-love. Here is the plot spoiler:

'In light of Edwards' profound work, Freedom of the Will, this theological dilemma becomes all the more complex.'

BTW the academic convention for citing Edwards' "Miscellanies" is "Miscellanies" No. ## etc. There is no academic convention for citing a single "Miscellany". The term "Miscellanies" (with the "") is a shorthand adopted by the Yale Edition supported by JE who referred to "Miscell." and Jonathan Edwards Jr. who referred to the "Miscellanies." Schafer writes (Works, 13, 3, n3.) '[t]he word "Miscellanies" is not a plural but a collective noun, and "Miscellany" is not a singular but is identical in meaning with "Miscellanies".

Following Prof Schafer's wisdom is historically informed and honors a giant of scholarship on Edwards. Not many of us would be reading the "Miscellanies" without him! The manuscripts of the "Miscellanies" are amongst the most incredible in the whole collection, and it is a testimony to the extreme labor and dedication of a few people that we have the "Miscellanies", the "Blank Bible" and dozens of other manuscripts available in both letterpress and online editions.