Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 06.djvu/768

* SCWARDS. 670 EDWAKDS. he wrote his Freedom of the Will; his Nature of ^'irtue; and his Original Sin. Here he wrought a work for the Indians, the traces of which are discernible to this day. And liere lie continued hi;; aciiuaintance with the first and principal in the line of his successors, and of the members of his 'school,' Samuel Hopkins. Ill IToS lie reluctantly accepted the presidency of Princeton College, but after a few weeks of service was removed by death, !Mareh 22, 1758. Edwards's great fame rests upon his work as a theologian in the defense and the development of the evangelical system. He was originally, and remained, a strong Calvinist. His earliest discussion, that on .Justification, was marked by a certain conventionality of treatment, in- dicating the controlling inllucnce of theological tradition. But there is even here the breatiiing of a new s]Hrit. as when faith is defined in a way unknown in the previous century, and identified with repentance as constituting with that the in- divisible act of conversion. The treatise upon the Freedom of the Will is an unwavering defense of determinism, and contends not only that this is the teaching of Scripture and reason, but that any other view is false, absurd, and inconceivable, even by those who propound it. The doctrine which he thus maintains is only the position of Locke, from whose earlier editions all the posi- tions and all the arguments, including even the famous Keductio ad Absiirdum of the infinite series, are all drawn. But the fineness, the dia- lectical skill, the detail with which every con- ceivable objection is broiiglit forward and de- molished, and the tremendousness of the gen- eral effect, are all Edwards's own. While too much praise has often been lavished upon the book as a contribution to the permanent ad- vancement of the thenie, too much cannot well be said of its perfection of form, or of the influ- ence which it immediately obtained and has con- tinued to hold. It is jirobably the most famous book in theology that America has yet produced, and one of the most famous philosopliical works of the world. But there was much that was new in Edwards and which was destined to begin a distinct theological movement in America. In the treatise upon Orif/iiuil Sin suggestions look- ing to a new emphasis upon the voluntary char- acter and personal nature of sin were made, which, in combination with suggestions in the Freedom of the ^yill upon the natural power of man. led ultimately to a new anthropology, in which the doctrines of original sin. imputation, ability, and regeneration were to undergo iiujeh modification. (See New Engl. d Theology.) More directly influential was the treatise upon the Xature of Virtue. This propounded the doc- trine that the essence of virtue is love, or the choice of the good of being according to its worth. Thus for the first time in America an intelligible answer was given to the*r|uestion. What is holi- ness? and the moral attributes of God were viewed as comprised in love. 'I'lie treatise was a posthumous one, but its leading ideas were at once adopted by Hopkins, became the underlying idea of the theory of the Atonement adopted by Edwards's son. and have become the characteristic yirineiples of the school of thought called 'Xew England,' or often 'Edwardean.' from Edwards himself. Other suggestions are to he found scat- tered up and down the pages of Edwards, many of which have greatly inlluenccd his followers. But most of all, perhaps, should be noted his utter loyalty to truth and his fearlessness in invcstigatiun. Edwards was preeminently a religious man. As a child he was profoundly impressed with the thought of God. He dis|)layed modesty, liuniii- ity, and serenity of spirit. Although engaging constantly in theological eontrover.sy, he is im- personal, calm, just, fair, and candid in his method of conducting the discussion. He was a student from his childhood, and extended his studies over jiretty much the entire range of learning in his day. As a preacher he was one of the first of his age. His ability to hold the attention of his audiences to long and careful trains of thought till ho had convinced and won them, would of itself illustrate this statement. But the well-known instances of his great power over congregations, as in the sermon at Enfield, where the people rose in their seats and wept and sobbed as he described the state of the lost, till lie was obliged himself to ask them to be still, prove his ability to stir the feelings profoundly, and that he felt profoundly himself. Editions of his works are the Worcester (1800), originally in eight volumes, now re- printed in four volumes; and (the best) the Dwight edition in ten volumes (New York, 1829- 30), with memoir. Consult Allen, Jonathan Edwards (Boston, 1889). EDWARDS, .ToxATHAN (the younger) (1745- 1801). An American theologian, born at North- ampton, the second son of .Jonathan lOdwards the Elder. Early left an orphan, his education was proviiled for by friends, and he was graduated at Princeton in 1765. While in college he was con- verted, and after graduation studied theology with the friend of his father, Jo.sepli Bellamy, of Bethlehem, Conn. He was tutor in Princeton, 1767-69; pastor in White Haven, Conn., 1769- 95; in Colebrook. Conn.. 1795-90; whence he went to the presidency of Union College. Schenec- tady. As a theologian his fame rests upon his reply to Chauncy uiion the salvation of all men, in which he defended the usual evangelical doc- trine; his reply to Samuel West's Essai/s on Lib- erlij and Neeessiti/, in which he largely modified Ms father's theory of the will by giving it a liberal interpretation scarcely reconcilable with its plain meaning; and by his sermmis upon the Atone- ment. He took part, in the last work, in the I'niversalist controversy then raging in New England. The Universalists of the Murray school had argued upon the basis of the standard Cal- vinistic theory of the Atonement, that Christ had satisfied justice in behalf of all those for whom He died. an<l paid their debt before God. But He had died for all men ; therefore all men are saved. EllKvards rejected the conclusion as against the Bible. But he could not deny the minor premise; and he therefore was led to modify the major premise and teach that Christ did not satisfy justice for men so that their debt to God was paid, but was a penal example, ren- dering it. not oliligatdiv upon God to fnrgive all men. but. consistent with all the interests in- volved (which, according to the new theory of virtue, he must maintain), to forgive repentant sinners. The main idea was borrowed from Grotius. but the ideal basis of the Atonement in the love of God was a new feature. Edwards thus founded the 'New England' or 'govern- mental' theorv of the .tonement, which main-