Copyright © 2017 Henry Lester Fiske, Jr. All rights reserved. The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary has permission to reproduce and disseminate this document in any form by any means for purposes chosen by the Seminary, including, without limitation, preservation or instruction. VIRTUE IN THE CORK SERMONS OF MORGAN EDWARDS ON 2 PETER 1:3-9 __________________ A Thesis Presented to the Faculty of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary __________________ In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Ministry __________________ by Henry Lester Fiske, Jr. May 2017 APPROVAL SHEET VIRTUE IN THE CORK SERMONS OF MORGAN EDWARDS ON 2 PETER 1:3-9 Henry Lester Fiske, Jr. Read and Approved by: __________________________________________ Michael A. G. Haykin (Supervisor) __________________________________________ Michael Pohlman Date ______________________________ To my beloved, Christine: Your sacrifice and support are a direct reflection of the love of Christ. Through it I am reminded why God, in His gracious kindness, chose you to be my wife. You have given up much to allow the pursuit of this endeavor. Thank-you, my love! To our four children, Sterling, Lindsey, Lukas, and Jacob: I am so very grateful and blessed that God chose me to be your dad. My ultimate prayer is that you live your lives with only two goals in mind: the glory of God, and the advancement of His kingdom TABLE OF CONTENTS Page PREFACE . vi Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION . 1 Familiarity with Literature . 2 Thesis . 4 2. THE LIFE OF MORGAN EDWARDS . 5 Introduction . 5 Beginnings . 6 The Wives and Children of Edwards . 8 Conversion . 12 Education . 18 Pastoral Ministry . 22 The Philadelphia Baptist Association . 35 Brown University . 40 Conclusion . 42 3. VIRTUE . 46 Introduction . 46 Ancient Greek View of Virtue . 47 Christian Thinking about Virtue . 49 Concept of Virtue in Eighteenth Century Thought . 59 iv Chapter Page 4. VIRTUE IN THE CORK SERMONS OF MORGAN EDWARDS ON 2 PETER 1:5-7 . 67 Sermon 1: “Add to Your Faith Knowledge” (2 Pet 1:5) . 69 Sermon 2: “Add to Your Faith Temperance” (2 Pet 1:6) . 75 Sermon 3: “Add to Your Faith Patience” (2 Pet 1:6) . 81 Sermon 4: “Add to Your Faith Godliness” (2 Pet 1:6-7) . 88 Sermon 5: “Add to Your Faith Brotherly Kindness” (2 Pet 1:7) . 93 Sermon 6: “Add to Your Faith Charity” Part 1 (2 Pet 1:7) . 100 Sermon 7: “Add to Your Faith Charity” Part 2 (2 Pet 1:7) . 105 5. CONCLUSION . 112 Appendix 1. MORGAN EDWARDS, SERMON 1: “ADD TO YOUR FAITH KNOWLEDGE” (2 PET 1:5) . 115 2. MORGAN EDWARDS, SERMON 2: “ADD TO YOUR FAITH TEMPERANCE” (2 PET 1:6) . 124 3. MORGAN EDWARDS, SERMON 3: “ADD TO YOUR FAITH PATIENCE” ((2 PET 1:6) . 133 4. MORGAN EDWARDS, SERMON 4: “ADD TO YOUR FAITH GODLINESS” ((2 PET 1:6-7) . 141 5. MORGAN EDWARDS, SERMON 5: “ADD TO YOUR FAITH BROTHERLY KINDNESS” (2 PET 1:7) . 150 6. MORGAN EDWARDS, SERMON 6: “ADD TO YOUR FAITH CHARITY (PART 1)” (2 PET 1:7) . 159 7. MORGAN EDWARDS, SERMON 7: “ADD TO YOUR FAITH CHARITY (PART 2)” (2 PET 1:7) . 167 BIBLIOGRAPHY . 175 v PREFACE I would like to thank many who have either made possible or contributed to the completion of this thesis. First of all, I would like to thank the one true and living God, whose great strength sustained me when I was too tired to go on, whose inspiration prompted me when my intellect had failed, and whose sweet Spirit brought me comfort and encouragement when I felt like giving up. I pray this work brings you and you alone glory and honor. Writing this project has convicted my heart many times, and caused me to ponder how my life can better emulate my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, in all I do. I thank my beloved wife, Christine, for the innumerable sacrifices she has made to make this thesis possible. Her encouragement, prayers, love, support, and dedication to our family are priceless gifts from God. I am so very glad I get to do this journey with you. I would like to thank our two precious little boys, Lukas and Jacob. My life is forever changed for the better because of you two. Every day you all teach me how to be a better man, to be more like Jesus. Thanks for your unconditional love, even when I could not be with you. Thanks to Dr. Michael Haykin, whose guidance, correction, mentoring, kindness, patience, friendship, and scholarship are the key reasons my writing, scholarship, and this thesis are what they are today. I am grateful beyond words. I would like to thank the community of faith at Ninth & O Baptist Church for being a wonderful place for my family to grow and flourish in our faith, and to pastor Larry Buchanan for allowing me to learn so much from you about ministry, life, pastoring, and leadership. A special thanks goes to our church, New Liberty Baptist. I am a better preacher, teacher, and pastor because of your patience, kindness, love, and generosity. vi I am grateful I had the opportunity to travel through this education process with those in my D.Min. cohort. It was a joy and a privilege being in class with them. I also want to thank the entire faculty at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. They have challenged me over and over to be the very best that God had made me to be. Because of them, my faith is anchored in the holy Word of God, and steeped in the rich heritage of the Baptist faith. I would like to thank all those at the Country Lake Christian Retreat Center and the Abby at Gethsemane for giving me the hundreds of hours of quiet study time and reflection I needed to make this work possible. A grateful thanks go to the many who made great coffee in the doctoral commons room at Southern Seminary, and the stimulating conversation that surrounded it. Heine Brothers coffee on Chenoweth Lane, and Quill’s coffee on Baxter Ave both deserve a show of gratitude for letting me study for countless hours while buying only a single cup of coffee. I hope and pray this work will encourage others to do further research about the many other unsung heroes and scholars in our rich Baptist heritage. There is much to learn from those who came before us. Henry Fiske Louisville, Kentucky May 2017 vii CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION Morgan Edwards (1722-1795) pastored in England and Ireland during the birth of Evangelicalism in Great Britain. In 1761, he left Cork, Ireland, to pastor in the American colonies at the Baptist Church of Philadelphia. He resigned in 1771, and shortly afterwards became an itinerant evangelist for the Philadelphia Baptist Association. He was a key figure in the advancement and unification of the Baptist denomination within the United States during the eighteenth century, planting churches throughout Maryland and Virginia. 1 His final and most substantial effort produced the first comprehensive history of the Baptists within the American colonies. His extensive travel (1771-1773), diligent research, and copious notes produced a work that to this day is used extensively by historians and researchers of early American Baptist history. 2 Despite these facts, little has been written about his life and ministry. Edwards was also acclaimed as a gifted 1William D. Thompson, Philadelphia’s First Baptists (Philadelphia: First Baptist Church of Philadelphia, 1989), 13. 2Edwards had projected a twelve-volume work. In the end, only eleven volumes (either in “notebook” or “manuscript” form), covering eleven colonies, were completed: “notebooks” (abbreviated form) on Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia; and “manuscripts” (extended form) on Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Rhode Island, and Delaware. Edwards also wrote volumes on New York and Massachusetts, though these have been lost. Only three manuscripts were published while Edwards was still living: Materials Towards a History of the Baptists in Pennsylvania (1770), Materials Towards a History of the Baptists in New Jersey (1792), and Materials Towards a History of the Baptists in the Provinces of Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia (1772), which was written from notes gathered on Edwards’s southern tour, and upon its completion was lent to Richard Furman (1755–1825). Only one notebook, that on North Carolina, was published. Since his death, three other manuscripts have been printed: Materials Towards a History of the Baptists in Delaware (1885), Materials Towards a History of the Baptists in Rhode Island (Print date unknown), and Materials Toward a History of the Baptists in the Province of North Carolina (1930) . 1 expository preacher, yet no work has been dedicated to the evaluation of his sermons, and specifically nothing on the exegesis and exposition within those sermons. Familiarity with the Literature Howard R. Stewart ( A Dazzling Enigma, The Story of Morgan Edwards ) and Thomas McKibbens and Kenneth Smith ( The Life and Works of Morgan Edwards ) are the only writers known to have penned recent biographies of Morgan Edwards. 3 While these biographies lead to a deeper understanding of Edwards, this present work depended primarily on the original sources upon which both Stewart, and McKibbens and Smith based their biographical works. Aside from the biographies by Stewart and McKibbens, several other works were used in writing Edwards’s biography. The Early Baptists of Philadelphia (1877) by David Spencer, has several chapters concerning Morgan Edwards, covering his pastorate in Philadelphia, his itinerant evangelistic work for the Philadelphia Baptist association, and his materials on early American Baptist history. 4 The Baptist Annual Register by John Rippon, Jr., gives early insights and information concerning the life and ministry of Edwards.