Mark Noll on Jonathan Edwards

Here’s a great quote from the highly respected American historian Mark Noll (a former teacher of mine) on Jonathan Edwards (who we talked a lot about in our Adult Sunday class last week). This is from the conclusion to Noll’s book America’s God, which is a history of religion in the United States from Jonathan Edwards to Abraham Lincoln.

Noll says:

‘Attentive readers of these pages will realize that if I had to recommend only one American theologian for the purposes of understanding God, the self, and the world as they really are, I would respond as the Separatist Congregational minister Israel Holly did in 1770 when he found himself engaged in theological battle: “Sir, if I was to engage with you in this controversy, I would say, Read Edwards! And if you wrote again, I would tell you to Read Edwards! And if you wrote again, I would still tell you to Read Edwards!“’

Posted by Stephen Witmer on Feb 11, 12:58 PM