To the uninitiated, it might seem excessive for one author
to write
two biographies on the same person. After all, is Jonathan
Edwards really known for much today outside of his sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an
Angry God?” Could there be enough for his life to warrant another book?
Marsden successfully contends that there is. This second biography,
A Short
Life of Jonathan Edwards, is not a retelling of his much larger
Life.
Rather, he wants to offer a “fresh retelling” of Edwards’s life by detailing
the essentials without watering down the content (
x). This volume reads well at
both popular and academic levels.
Content
Marsden’s Short Life begins
with comparing and contrasting Edwards against another intellectual giant of
his day, Benjamin Franklin. Franklin had a similar upbringing to that of his
contemporary’s life. This would not stop them from going their separate ways
politically and spiritually. Franklin is referred to throughout the book as
Edwards’s polar opposite, thus providing context for the cultural setting that
Edwards lived. Hambrick-Stowe sees this juxtaposition as “material and
practical” against “God-centered.”
Chapter two highlights
Edwards’s spiritual formation. Marsden reveals how sensitive and precocious
young Edwards was as he contemplated the problem of evil, the eternal state of
his soul, and the personal nature of the universe. Marsden carefully pointed
out that Edwards had a theological mind even prior to his conversion; his own
conversion was a slow event (23). Marsden also describes a few fun facts about
Edwards, like his notebook obsession and love for the natural sciences (24-25).
Chapter three starts with
Augustinian flavor. Edwards showed how his mood swings and depression gave way
for a short time because of the beauty of God, “emanations” and “beauteous
light” in nature (27). Marsden marched on describing Edwards’s first ministry
positions. He served Northampton for the longest amount of time where he,
first, served under Solomon Stoddard. It was also here where his affections for
his future wife, Sarah, were introduced.
Chapter four is devoted
entirely to Jonathan Edwards’s involvement in the Great Awakening. Marsden
described a rather grim situation in Northampton. Youth culture was running
amok in the 18th-century colonial town. An earthquake grabbed the
town’s attention. Ever the opportunist, Edwards used it in a sermon to point
his church to further spiritual realities. This emphasis continued to build,
and people responded by being “awakened” and the town was transformed. Marsden
attributes the town’s transformation practically to the youth culture being
reformed (46). This was the start of the Awakening in 1734. It was also around
this time when Edwards preached is greatest sermon, “A Divine and Supernatural
Light.” Marsden introduces Whitefield as a great ally to the Awakening and to
Edwards.
Chapter five begins with the
interesting assertion that Whitefield was a founding father to America (60).
This was due to how he helped shape American religion. This goes for Edwards,
too (60). Marsden shows the effects of the Great Awakening as it relates to the
coming American Revolution. How did religion begin to shape colonial politics?
By pushing back upon unqualified authority. Whitefield would preach, warning his
audiences about non-Christian clergymen. Marsden says, “The simplest farmer who
was converted could and should reject the authority of the most prestigious
unregenerate clergyman” (64). This view helped shape an evangelical faith that
saw all true Christians as sons and daughters of God; their spiritual status
had more weight than their socioeconomic status (64). There were many, though,
who did not look favorably upon the Awakening. Edwards’s alma mater pushed back
in significant ways. Edwards provided a strong apologetic for the Awakening,
pointing to specific marks of the Spirit’s work in someone’s life (71).
In chapter six, readers get a
view into the man’s personal life. Marsden,
first, paints the picture of Edwards, the family man. Sarah dearly loved
Jonathan, and worked hard to support her husband and children. Jonathan’s
ministry also affected his wife, too, by bringing her a revival experience of
her own. Marsden also gave a look into Jonathan’s temperament and skillset.
Edwards was incredibly pious, to the point of being ascetic in his spirituality
(88). This flowed out of his love for God; this was his all-consuming passion.
He lacked certain social graces that make for effective pastoral ministry, like
small-talk. Marsden described one situation where Edwards that proved to be a
turning point in his ministry in Northampton (95). He proves to be reactionary
as he called young men and women for inappropriate conversations and had them
investigated. Marsden also introduces one of the biggest challenges of the book
in this chapter—Edwards’s relationship with slavery.
Chapter seven describes the
social climate of the mid-1740s after the effects of the Awakenings began to
evaporate (96). War certainly had something to do with turning colonists’
attention away from spiritual things. Specifically, the War of the Austrian
Succession, broke out and New England was immediately threatened as France
joined the fray. Old and New Lights put their differences aside though for the
war effort, seeing Catholics as a greater threat than each other. Marsden also
points out how Edwards’s eschatology influenced how he viewed this particular
war (100-101). His anti-Catholic postmillennialism was fed by the seemingly
miraculous defeats and declines of Catholicism in his day. The chapter
concludes with the tragic removal of Edwards after he made an ill-timed attempt
to change Northampton’s positions on baptism and the Lord’s Supper (112).
Chapter eight then serves as
the final chapter, which summed up the end of Edwards’s life. After a painful
break with Northampton, Edwards and family sought different ministry
opportunities. The first was as a missionary family to Stockbridge in 1751.
Edwards served a parish church that had a number of Mahicans and Mohawks in
attendance. He was also granted leadership over a boarding school shortly after
previous leadership was removed (121). Edwards also had dreams of becoming an
Augustine of his own day (126). His greatest philosophical and theological
contributions were crafted while in Stockbridge; the solitude provided ample
space to combat the Enlightenment. Such works that came from his time in
Stockbridge included The Nature of True Virtue and The End for Which
God Created the World. Finally, weeks before his death, he was invited to
serve as Princeton’s president. He died of complications from a smallpox
vaccine (131). Marsden then concludes the book with several closing remarks
about what readers can learn from Jonathan Edwards.
Critique
While not the biggest critique, it is the timeliest
issue with the book. That is, how did Marsden deal with Edwards as a
slaveholder in A Short Life? Perhaps Marsden let him off the hook as a
product of his time. The necessity of slavery in colonial America was couched
in the “fatherly rule and care” of people for whom one takes responsibility
(89). That is, what is commonly called, patriarchy. “Subordinates should depend
on their superiors, and superiors should care for those whom God has entrusted
to them” (90). This was applied in the home; it was also applied to victims of
the slave trade. Even more, Marsden stated that only a few colonists spoke out
against the slave trade. This only became a trend after the American
Revolution.
The question in mind, then, is
if readers are expected to be sympathetic to Edwards’s position on slavery?
After all, there is much is to be appreciated in the book. Marsden certainly did
do his job as a historian by highlighting Edwards in his social setting—contrasting
him against Franklin, showing how his theology fanned the flame of revolution,
and more. The Bible does, however, denounce slavery insofar as it relates to
stealing and selling human flesh (Exodus 21:16). Marsden also detailed that
Edwards was beginning to change his mind. Edwards saw that there was “no
biblical justification” for the version of the European slave trade that he
knew (92). Yet he himself still owned slaves. That is not to say that the man
was a racist. His interactions with Native Americans in Stockbridge showed that
he views all men have the same value, at least in regard to their
spiritual nature (120). The question though remains, why did this not translate
over to slavery? Marsden could have pressed more into this.
Marsden, however, has not
composed a hagiography piece. He shows many of Edwards’s weaknesses, thus
allowing readers to learn from his whole life. Not just the successes. Edwards
lacked certain people skills, as seen with disliking small talk. Marsden also
shows that Edwards was a poor judge of timing in “everyday human dynamics”
(113). This was surely on display leading up to his removal—the events that led
up to it, writing a treatise to explain his position rather than meeting with
people, and more.
In light of these things, who could be comforted with Edwards
as their pastor? Marsden does well to strike that balance of weakness exploited and
weakness redeemed. That is, Marsden put Jonathan Edwards, the redeemed man, on
display. He did not hide his weaknesses, and he even celebrated Edwards as a gift—both
to the church and to America. This book is a
lovely primer to the life of Jonathan Edwards. A Short Life is a
balanced, honest biography that does not explain away clear challenges to Edwards’
life and ministry. Church history
students, pastors, and maturing Christians will benefit from reading this book.
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