Journal: Westminster Theological Journal
Volume: WTJ 56:1 (Spring 1994)
Article: Jonathan Edwards: The History of the Work of Redemption
Author: Stephen M. Clark

WTJ 56:1 (Spring 1994) p. 45

Jonathan Edwards:
The History of the Work of Redemption

Stephen M. Clark

There are a number of remarkable passages in the writings of Jonathan Edwards, but among them one of the most incisive and extraordinary is this part taken from the “Letter to the Trustees of the College of New Jersey.”

I have had on my mind and heart, (which I long ago began, not with any view to publication,) a great work, which I call a History of the Work of Redemption, a body of divinity in an entire new method, being thrown into the form of a history; considering the affair of Christian Theology, as the whole of it, in each part, stands in reference to the great work of redemption by Jesus Christ; which I suppose to be, of all others, the grand design of God, and the summum and ultimum of all the divine operations and decrees; particularly considering all parts of the grand scheme, in their historical order.—The order of their existence, or their being brought forth to view, in the course of divine dispensations, or the wonderful series of successive acts and events; beginning from eternity, and descending from thence to the great work and successive dispensations of the infinitely wise God, in time, considering the chief events coming to pass in the church of God, and revolutions in the world of mankind, affecting the state of the church and the affair of redemption, which we have an account of in history or prophecy; till at last we come to the general resurrection, last judgement, and consummation of all things; when it shall be said, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End … introducing all parts of divinity in that order which is most scriptural and most natural; a method which appears to me the most beautiful and entertaining, wherein every divine doctrine will appear to the greatest advantage, in the brightest light, in the most striking manner, showing the admirable contexture and harmony of the whole.1

These dramatic words of Jonathan Edwards revealed to the trustees of the College of New Jersey the reason for his reticence in accepting their offer to become the president of the college. Edwards not only expressed a preference for the life of research and writing that he had been able to do since his dismissal from the pulpit at Northampton in 1750, but

WTJ 56:1 (Spring 1994) p. 46

he also revealed his desire to attempt a new and complete body of divinity. What is interesting for our purposes are the words “in an entire new method, being thrown into the form of a history.”2

This proposal, despite the fact that it has been noted often enough, h...