Letters and Personal Writings (The Works of Jonathan Edwards Series Volume 16)

About this book

This volume gathers together for the first time all known extant letters of Jonathan Edwards along with his major personal writings. For more than three decades George S. Claghorn has scoured America Great Britain and Scotland for letters and documents by and about Edwards. The result is an unparalleled compendium of 235 lettersincluding 116 never before published or never reprinted since Edwardss deathand four autobiographical textsEdwards meditation "On Sarah Pierpont " his future wife and "Diary " "Resolutions " and "Personal Narrative." These letters and personal writings reveal the private man behind the treatises and sermons. They trace his relations with parents siblings college classmates friends and family as well as with political religious and educational leaders of his day. New documents include Edwards only known statement on slavery and letters on the Indian mission at Stockbridge Massachusetts that display Edwards interest in native Americans and his efforts on their behalf. These writings show the human face of Edwards as he applied theological and philosophical insights to the events of his daily life. They provide an unprecedented resource for understanding the man his times and his personal connections.