Jonathan Edwards: “Born to be a Man of Strife” The Evolution of a Persona Carol Elaine BALL BTh (ACTh), GradDipMin (QBCM), BA, MPhil (Queensland) A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at The University of Queensland in 2012 School of History, Philosophy, Religion, and Classics ABSTRACT It has been rightly noted that, while three centuries of scholarship on Jonathan Edwards has revealed much of his philosophy, theology and epistemology, yet we know very little of the person himself. Using insights from philosophical and literary disciplines as applied to the field of persona, this thesis examines a representative selection of the writings of Jonathan Edwards, in order to trace and assess the evolution of Jonathan Edwards’s persona in the context of eighteenth-century New England. In particular, it shows how the Edwards persona was developed not only as a result of a carefully crafted intentional strategy on his part but also in response to the unplanned but inevitable conflicts that plagued his ecclesiastical career. The tension between his innately contemplative nature and the active demands of public office as he executed his professional role was a constant source of internal and public strife for Edwards. He was, as he termed it, “born to be a man of strife.” This tension was a major factor in the self-fashioning which Edwards progressively underwent, and so the motif of persona development through conflicts and crises runs through the thesis. While such tension caused him to be ousted from his public office, it also led ultimately to a personal liberation in which his authentic self was expressed. Early in his adult life, Edwards’s personal experiential religion had laid the groundwork of his essential theological message. While constantly seeking to master this message, he was in turn mastered by that message and came to embody the truths he thought important to communicate. It was in his mature writings rather than his ministerial practice that we see revealed the essential personal Edwards. Consequently, while Edwards is often hailed as a great practitioner and apologist of religious revival as experienced in the Great Awakening, it is as a writer that he has made such a great contribution to religious thought and practice. The thesis begins by locating the study of Edwards’s persona within the investigative parameters of philosophy and literature. Thus it establishes a base for the analysis of Edwards’s self-fashioning of his persona in terms of the many conflicts in which he was engaged, the critical turning points in his life, and the strategies he crafted for managing these conflicts and crises (Introduction). After analysing the fundamental theological grounding of Edwards in his developing concept of and submission to the absoluteness of God in his sovereignty (chapter 1), the thesis traces his many conflicts, both universal and local, which were instrumental in shaping his persona (chapters 2-4). It was these conflicts that determined not only the focus of his battles but also the literary means by which he would counter and 1 control those alien forces ranged against him. Progressively, the fully developed persona of Edwards as a self-assured authoritative theological and ecclesial leader became clearly manifest. His growing mastery of literary forms is analysed in chapter 5, which focuses on this literary aspect of Edwards, not as a study of his literary talents per se, but as a study of his use of literature as a deliberate tool in the crafting of his public persona. The thesis then reviews Edwards’s vocational life in several stages which demonstrate the formation and consolidation of his public persona to the point of its mature expression at Stockbridge (chapter 6), The concluding Chapter 7 brings together the various strands of the foregoing chapters in an overall assessment of the significance of Edwards’s self-fashioning for an appreciation of his overall contribution to the history of Christian thought and practice. Finally, when he became relatively freed from the constraints of ecclesiastical politics and social distractions of office, Edwards attained the self-assured quasi-apostolic status of one who believed not only that he had the right to be heard but indeed that he must be heard. Ultimately, the public face and the essential person became merged into one integrated whole. This is the development of that persona that he worked so consistently, so strategically and so successfully to fashion. In summary, the Edwards persona was shaped definitively not by his praxis but by his writing. In some ways a somewhat pedestrian active practitioner, Edwards stamped himself as a superlative contemplative apologist and theorist of experiential spirituality. 2 Declaration by author This thesis is composed of my original work, and contains no material previously published or written by another person except where due reference has been made in the text. I have clearly stated the contribution by others to jointly-authored works that I have included in my thesis. I have clearly stated the contribution of others to my thesis as a whole, including statistical assistance, survey design, data analysis, significant technical procedures, professional editorial advice, and any other original research work used or reported in my thesis. The content of my thesis is the result of work I have carried out since the commencement of my research higher degree candidature and does not include a substantial part of work that has been submitted to qualify for the award of any other degree or diploma in any university or other tertiary institution. I have clearly stated which parts of my thesis, if any, have been submitted to qualify for another award. I acknowledge that an electronic copy of my thesis must be lodged with the University Library and, subject to the General Award Rules of The University of Queensland, immediately made available for research and study in accordance with the Copyright Act 1968. I acknowledge that copyright of all material contained in my thesis resides with the copyright holder(s) of that material. Where appropriate I have obtained copyright permission from the copyright holder to reproduce material in this thesis. 3 Publications during candidature No publications. Publications included in this thesis No publications included in this thesis. Contributions by others to the thesis No contributions by others. Statement of parts of the thesis submitted to qualify for the award of another degree None. Keywords authority, conflict, experience, jonathan edwards, literature, persona, self-fashioning Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classifications (ANZSRC) ANZSRC code: 220401, Christian Studies (including Biblical Studies and Church History), 100% Fields of Research (FoR) Classification FoR code: 2204, Religion and Religious Studies, 100% 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS page no Abstract 1 Declaration by Author 3 Reference Details and Key Words 4 Table of Contents 5 Introduction: The Elusive Jonathan Edwards 7 Getting to Know Edwards 7 A New Approach 8 Casting the Mould 11 What We Know about Edwards Thus Far 15 Defining the Research: Works and Scope 20 Developing the Argument 21 Chapter 1 Edwards’s Concept of and Submission to an Absolute Authority 24 Introduction 24 The “Horrible Doctrine” of God’s Sovereignty 24 Morphology of Conversion 29 The Transformation of Edwards 33 Conclusion 45 Chapter 2 The External Threatening Other 47 Introduction 47 Context and Conflict 48 Edwards’s Engagement with the Aliens 52 Conclusion 67 Chapter 3 The Internal Threatening Other 69 Introduction 69 Preamble: Religious and Literary Background 70 Chaos Generated 76 Control Mechanisms 89 Control Achieved 97 Conclusion 105 5 Chapter 4 One Man’s Authority is Another Man’s Alien 107 Introduction 107 The Halfway Covenant: A Crisis of Pragmatics 107 Confronting the Crisis: Edwards on the Offensive 112 Mounting a Defence: Family and Friends Rally 119 The Campaign in Review: “Narrative of Communion Controversy” 122 Sharing the Pain 128 The Person Beneath the Persona 132 The Parting Shot: The Farewell Sermon 135 Conclusion 139 Chapter 5 The Development of Edwards’s Literary Persona 141 Introduction 141 Literary Philosophy 142 Early Writings 144 Middle Career 150 Later Writings 159 Conclusion 169 Chapter 6 Turning Points: The Persona Established 171 Introduction 171 Early Period (1722-1729) 171 Vocational Life: Northampton (1729-1759) 179 Church Controversies 183 Later Period: Stockbridge and Presidency (1751-1758) 191 Conclusion 200 Chapter 7 Conclusion: Understanding Edwards the Man 203 Introduction 203 The Development of the Edwards Persona 204 Conclusion. Jonathan Edwards: the Self-Shaped Man 218 Bibliography 220 Appendix: Natural Philosophy Cover-Leaf Memoranda 236 6 INTRODUCTION THE ELUSIVE JONATHAN EDWARDS I GETTING TO KNOW EDWARDS Jonathan Edwards was a person of immense personal integrity, piety and faith, regarded by many as the greatest theologian, pastor, preacher, philosopher and literary artist that America has ever produced. Churchmen and academics alike are nonplussed by the fact that a man of Jonathan Edwards’s stature could be fired by his parishioners. Perhaps this anomaly can be explained in part by the conclusions drawn at the 2003 birthday celebrations for Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758), where it was suggested that despite the enormous volume of writing on Edwards, we still may not know him very well. Most agreed that more work needs to be done to tell stories about Edwards’s thought and life that are realistic, located, disturbing or edifying, depending on the perspective of the reader.1 To address these challenges, this study investigates the persona of the philosophical theologian Jonathan Edwards by using the concept of persona as developed in philosophical and literary disciplines. In focussing on the persona of Edwards, the study traces the stance which he self-consciously developed, a stance which was to some degree both inherited and adopted, and shaped by both the private and public expectations of office as well as the context which set the parameters of such expectations.