Sermons By Jonathan Edwards On The Matthean Parables, Volume I [Hardcover]

This first volume of Sermons by Jonathan Edwards on the Matthean Parables contains a previously unpublished series by Edwards on Jesus' Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins, as found in Matthew 25. Edwards preached these sermons in 1737-38, in the lull between the Connecticut Valley Revival of 1734-35 and the Great Awakening, which started in Massachusetts in late 1740. Not only does this series have significance for its place in the Protestant evangelical awakening of the eighteenth century, but it is also an important index of Edwards' developing thought on the nature of sainthood and related topics of theoretical and practical Christianity, particularly in the context of widespread spiritual renewal. To assist the reader, preceding the series are two introductions that describe Edwards' preaching style and method and provide an historical context for the series itself. Prepared from the original manuscripts by the staff of the Jonathan Edwards Center at Yale University, this series represents a significant addition to the available Edwards corpus that will be of interest to scholars, religious leaders, and general readers. This is that rare book--for the beginner, the scholar, and the saint: a never-before-published sermon series by the master preacher at the height of his powers edited and introduced by the most knowledgeable of Edwards's scholars. The beginner here gets the necessary help to start with the text; the scholar will be delighted to fill in more of the crucial years between the Northampton revival and the Great Awakening; the saint will rejoice at the piercing thought and burning passion. --Stuart Piggin Director, Centre for the History of Christian Thought and Experience, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia Any writings of Jonathan Edwards, one of the greatest and most influential of Evangelical theologians, are worthy of careful attention, but these sermons engage with the crucial question of distinguishing a true experience of grace l³2