summer reading with Jonathan Edwards

Looking for something interesting and invigorating to read this summer? Our good friend Jonathan Edwards has some advice.

In a letter to Joseph Bellamy, who had asked Edwards about Turretin and Van Mastricht, Edwards says,

Turretin is on polemical divinity; on the Five Points, and all other controversial points; and is much larger in these than Mastricht; and is better for the one that desires only to be thoroughly versed in controversies.

But take Mastricht for divinity in general, doctrine, practice, and controversy; or as an universal system of divinity; and it is much better than Turretin or any other book in the world, excepting the Bible, in my opinion. (from Works, 16:216-218)

So there you have it. The strongest of strong recommendations on what to read this summer. Unfortunately, Van Mastricht's Theoretica-Practica Theologica is not available in English translation (you could perhaps find it in Dutch or Latin). However, all is not lost, as an excerpt of this great and influential work is available under the title, A Treatise on Regeneration.

If you prefer controversies, Francis Turretin's three-volume Institutes of Elenctic Theology is in print from P&R Publications.

Happy reading!