Esteemed historian George Marsden, following his definitive 2003 biography of Jonathan Edwards (along with a more recent short biography), seeks in An Infinite Fountain of Light: Jonathan Edwards for the Twenty-First Century to present Edwards’ theological and spiritual relevance for the 21st century. Undergirded with impeccable scholarship, this small book is a highly personal meditation written primarily for the church, Christian believers, and seekers who are drawn to Christian faith. As Marsden writes in the opening pages, “In studying the Christian past, I have found Jonathan Edwards especially helpful in challenging assumptions of our own age and in offering guidance in my own quest to follow Christ” (3). Known for his Reformed faith perspective, he appeals here to Christians broadly, invoking the model of C. S. Lewis’ Mere Christianity (Geoffrey Bles, 1952) and referencing a wide range of recent religious, scientific, and sociological studies. At times Marsden employs the prayerful language of a devotional guide. In his discussion of Edwards’ theology of “the dynamic beauty of God,” for example, Marsden even alludes to jazz musician John Coltrane: “May the beauty of that love supreme draw me to it so that it may keep my other loves in their proper orbits” (73). The book might prompt readers to return to Marsden’s earlier manifestos, The Soul of the American University and The Outrageous Idea of Christian Scholarship (Oxford University Press, 1994 and 1997 respectively).
The opening chapter includes a brief outline of Edwards’ life and ministry for those new to or only vaguely aware of this significant thinker. Marsden shows how Edwards embraced in a unique way both of the 18th century’s major developments, the rise of scientific rationalism with the Enlightenment and the emphasis on experiential religion with the birth of evangelicalism. Marsden also addresses head on recent arguments against looking to Edwards for guidance or inspiration. These include elements of his theology (e.g., his eschatology) that are no longer viable and the fact that he owned several enslaved household servants. “One good working principle in life,” Marsden argues, “is to recognize that we can learn things from people who have serious blind spots and moral failings even while we may criticize those shortcomings” (15). He points out, for example, that Edwards’ next-generation followers in the New Divinity movement, including his own son, developed Edwards’ theology as an ethical framework to condemn slavery as sinful and contrary to God’s higher law.
Marsden positions his central chapter on those elements of Edwards’ theology that he deems most attractive and relevant for today between chapters on rival worldviews that continue to prevail in American society. These worldviews, pioneered by two contemporaries, are the can-do rationalist scientism exemplified by Benjamin Franklin and the pragmatic experience-oriented revivalism associated with George Whitefield. Edwards’ ministry and writing existed in tension between these two dominant cultural forces. Marsden focuses not on the Edwards of the all-too-familiar “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” sermon, but on his subtle exposition of the ineffable beauty of the personal God who creates the universe and reveals his love in Jesus Christ. Those who are Franklin-minded see reality as “the material universe governed by natural laws,” but for Edwards this is too small a conception of life. In “the magnificent Christian view of the universe,” Marsden writes, the spiritual is the most truly real. “Rather than being most essentially the product of vast interacting material forces,” the created universe is not only the result of God’s Big Bang, but also the ongoing “personal expression of the exploding or overflowing love of the loving triune God” (48). Here Marsden alludes to eminent scientist Francis Collins (“the created world speaks the language of God”) (58) and cites novelist and essayist Marilynne Robinson, who acknowledges that “Edwards rescued me out of the deprivations of what we’ve called ‘modern thought’” (47-48).
Marsden’s account of divine beauty—the core of Edwards’ theology, and the aspect potentially most attractive for today’s spiritual seekers—could have gone even more deeply into Edwards’ own devotional life, but this is a minor quibble. A spirituality informed by the example of Edwards would be rooted in God’s intention that we “live in the infinite pleasure of the joy of God’s love” (65). Further, it would be committed to care for the earth and for all of humanity, especially those in need. As a primary source for developing such a spirituality, a lightly edited version of the 1733 sermon “A Divine and Supernatural Light” is included as an appendix to the book.
The chapter on the Whitefield legacy, despite Marsden’s appreciation for the evangelical tradition, then contains a strong indictment of “the dangers of populist-based versions of Christianity” (99). He identifies trends such as the ascendency of anti-intellectualism, the prosperity gospel, and single-minded allegiance to political agendas as especially corrosive of Christian faith in America today. Rather than despair, however, he expresses hope that “the core gospel message” will somehow endure in the church’s ministry as it has, albeit imperfectly, in the past. Using as a model Edwards’ refusal to dismiss the revivals of the 1740s because of their emotional excesses, Marsden contends that “we should not reject the entire evangelical tradition just because it sometimes leads to false teachings and scandals” (100-101). He devotes his final chapter to a presentation of Edwards’ A Treatise Concerning Religious Affections as a guide to the reordering of both the lives of individuals and the priorities of the church in today’s society. Covering ground long familiar to those who know Edwards, Marsden offers an excellent introduction and interpretation of this great work. Religious Affections stands as a penetrating corrective to the self-focused individualism that suffuses American life.
Marsden writes predominantly for a Christian audience, but scholars and serious readers concerned for the state of American society and culture will all benefit from reading this book.
Charles Hambrick-Stowe is an independent scholar.
Charles Hambrick-Stowe
Date Of Review:
July 3, 2024
