Jonathan Edwards: A Life

The Human Edwards

This is a magnificent biography of one of America's most famous pastor/theologian/philosophers. Marsden has made Edwards' life eminently readable, and while it is certainly inspiring, it also casts Edwards in a human light. That is to say, while Edwards is highly revered in many quarters of Reformed Christianity as a kind of latter-day prophet to be emulated but never excelled, Marsden successfully shows that Edwards had many shortcomings. But that doesn't take away from Edwards at all - it merely shows that he was human and very fallible. Marsden also shows that the Great Awakening, while remarkable, didn't seem to be as unquestionably miraculous or as deep as it was wide. This book really makes that whole early American period come alive. All in all, a great read.