Jonathan Edwards At Home And Abroad: Historical Memories, Cultural Movements, Global Horizons

Book Summary

In this major contribution to the study of one of America's best-known and most-imposing religious figures, fifteen scholars offer a sustained analysis of Jonathan Edwards's historical legacy throughout the world. The first collection of essays to focus primarily on Edwards's lasting influence, Jonathan Edwards at Home and Abroad is also the only volume to date to focus on the enduring effects of his writings worldwide. This collection moves the discussion beyond the borders of the United States and considers Edwards's impact on the larger world. Although Edwards's corpus and personality have received considerable scholarly attention in the United States, the contributors recognize that attention to the continuing significance of his life and ministry in this country and elsewhere lags behind. These scholars examine the reach of Edwards's writings, his roles as a clerical and intellectual exemplar, his influence outside the world of religion, and the appropriation and reappropriation of his remarkably resilient cultural authority. They trace the convergence of these developments into discernible intellectual and ecclesiastical movements. In surveying Edwards's domestic influence, the contributors illustrate how his life and American legacy continue to generate innovative scholarship that has moved beyond intellectual history. They bring into clear view Edwards's influence on discussions of sex, property rights, the salvation of children, and the status of African Americans in nineteenth-century America. In taking the measure of Edwards's global impact, the contributors open new territory in Edwards studies and map a direction for further inquiry. They look into Edwards's influence on theological developments in England and Scotland, on the burgeoning missionary movement in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, and on people throughout the world who have encountered his writings, now translated into German, French, Dutch, Swedish, Welsh, Gaelic, Arabic, Choctaw, Chinese, and Korean. Their conclusion is that Edwards's legacy is momentous, abroad as well as at home.

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