Synopses & Reviews
This book demonstrates the originality and coherence of Jonathan Edwards' philosophical theology using his dynamic reconception of reality as the interpretive key. The author argues that what underlies Edwards' writings is a radical shift from the traditional Western metaphysics of substance and form to a new conception of the world as a network of dispositions: active and abiding principles that possess reality apart from their manifestations in actions and events. Edwards' dispositional ontology enables him to restate the Augustinian-Calvinist tradition in theology in a strikingly modern philosophical framework.
A prime example of Edwards' innovative reconstruction in philosophical theology is his conception of God as both eternal actuality and a disposition to repeat that actuality within God and also through creation. This view is a compelling alternative to the traditional Western doctrine of God as changeless actuality, on the one hand, and the recent process theologians' excessive stress on God's involvement in change, on the other. Edwards' achievement was that he saw dynamic movement as essential to God's own life without compromising the traditional Christian tenets of God's prior actuality and transcendence. The author of this volume also explicates the way in which Edwards' dynamic reconception of reality informs his theories of imagination, aesthetic perception, the knowledge of God, and the meaning of history.
This expanded edition includes a new preface and a new appendix titled "Jonathan Edwards on Nature."
Review
[An] enduring contribution to our understanding of the essential features of Edwards's thought. His is a bold and daring work in a way appropriate to the boldness of Edwards himself. -- Roland A. Delattre, Religious Studies Review Lee's book establishes [its author] at the pinnacle of scholarship on Edwards. He significantly advances the dynamic element in Edwards's theology that has eluded so many others. -- John Stuart Erwin, American Historical Review [The author's] is no small achievement ... to present Edwards's rich thought coherently while making it intensely relevant to contemporary intellectual concerns. Sang Lee's book is a central contribution to our increasing appreciation for this magisterial figure from the American past. -- John F. Wilson, Theology Today
Review
"[An] enduring contribution to our understanding of the essential features of Edwards's thought. His is a bold and daring work in a way appropriate to the boldness of Edwards himself."--Roland A. Delattre, Religious Studies Review
Review
"Lee's book establishes [its author] at the pinnacle of scholarship on Edwards. He significantly advances the dynamic element in Edwards's theology that has eluded so many others."--John Stuart Erwin, American Historical Review
Review
"[The author's] is no small achievement ... to present Edwards's rich thought coherently while making it intensely relevant to contemporary intellectual concerns. Sang Lee's book is a central contribution to our increasing appreciation for this magisterial figure from the American past."--John F. Wilson, Theology Today
Synopsis
This book demonstrates the originality and coherence of Jonathan Edwards' philosophical theology using his dynamic reconception of reality as the interpretive key. The author argues that what underlies Edwards' writings is a radical shift from the traditional Western metaphysics of substance and form to a new conception of the world as a network of dispositions: active and abiding principles that possess reality apart from their manifestations in actions and events. Edwards' dispositional ontology enables him to restate the Augustinian-Calvinist tradition in theology in a strikingly modern philosophical framework.
A prime example of Edwards' innovative reconstruction in philosophical theology is his conception of God as both eternal actuality and a disposition to repeat that actuality within God and also through creation. This view is a compelling alternative to the traditional Western doctrine of God as changeless actuality, on the one hand, and the recent process theologians' excessive stress on God's involvement in change, on the other. Edwards' achievement was that he saw dynamic movement as essential to God's own life without compromising the traditional Christian tenets of God's prior actuality and transcendence. The author of this volume also explicates the way in which Edwards' dynamic reconception of reality informs his theories of imagination, aesthetic perception, the knowledge of God, and the meaning of history.
This expanded edition includes a new preface and a new appendix titled "Jonathan Edwards on Nature."
Synopsis
This book demonstrates the originality and coherence of Jonathan Edwards' philosophical theology using his dynamic reconception of reality as the interpretive key. The author argues that what underlies Edwards' writings is a radical shift from the traditional Western metaphysics of substance and form to a new conception of the world as a network of dispositions: active and abiding principles that possess reality apart from their manifestations in actions and events. Edwards' dispositional ontology enables him to restate the Augustinian-Calvinist tradition in theology in a strikingly modern philosophical framework.
A prime example of Edwards' innovative reconstruction in philosophical theology is his conception of God as both eternal actuality and a disposition to repeat that actuality within God and also through creation. This view is a compelling alternative to the traditional Western doctrine of God as changeless actuality, on the one hand, and the recent process theologians' excessive stress on God's involvement in change, on the other. Edwards' achievement was that he saw dynamic movement as essential to God's own life without compromising the traditional Christian tenets of God's prior actuality and transcendence. The author of this volume also explicates the way in which Edwards' dynamic reconception of reality informs his theories of imagination, aesthetic perception, the knowledge of God, and the meaning of history.
This expanded edition includes a new preface and a new appendix titled "Jonathan Edwards on Nature."
Table of Contents
Preface to the Expanded Edition ix
Acknowledgments xi
Abbreviations xv
I. Introduction: The Idea of Habit and Edwards' Dynamic Vision of Reality 3
II. The Idea of Habit 15
The Aristotelian-Thomistic Tradition 17
Ideas of Habit in Edwards' Background 22
Edwards'Idea of Habit 34
III. Being as Habit 47
Edwards' Dispositional Ontology 48
Habits and Laws as the Permanence of the Created World 51
IV. Being as Relational and Dynamic 76
Habits and Laws as the Structure of Being 76
Habits and Laws as the Dynamic Principles of Being 95
V. Imagination as the Habit of Mind 115
Locke and the Cambridge Platonists 117
The Imagination of the Habit of Mind 125
VI. Imagination as Aesthetic Sense 147
The Habit of Mind and the Sensation of Beauty 148
The Ontological Function of the Imagination 165
VII. The Increasing Fullness of the Divine Being 170
God as Disposition and Actuality 175
The Fullness of God 185
God's Self-Enlargement ad Extra 196
VIII. God and the Becoming of the World 211
The Temporality of the Self-Enlarging God and the Meaning and Destiny of History 214
The Rhythm of the Becoming of the World 223
Appendix Jonathan Edwards on Nature 243
Index 269