"An Infinite Fountain of Light" by George Marsden. A Review
An Infinite Fountain of Light: Jonathan Edwards for
the Twenty-First Century
George Marsden
IVP Academic
ISBN: 9781514006627; 176 pages; June 2023; $26.00
A few years ago, I was invited to a
Christian school to do a class on Jonathan Edwards’s notable sermon, “Sinners
in the Hands of an Angry God.” It was an intriguing class, interacting with
teenagers who were trying to get their heads around Edwards’s perspective and
position. After what I thought was a fairly successful class, I was saddened
that the only thing these teens would likely remember Edwards for is that
sermon. And then recently I have seen him receive another black eye from some, because
he owned African slaves. Rarely do most people know that Edwards was a very
compassionate man and preached with a view to the compassion of God. And rarely
do most recall that he actually addressed the underlying racism in American slavery
and laid some of the groundwork what would later turn slavery on its head and
throw it out on its ear. But George Marsden, professor emeritus at the
University of Notre Dame, historian, and author, has given readers a delightful
hand in reexamining Edwards in his context in a brand-new 176-page hardback, “An
Infinite Fountain of Light: Jonathan Edwards for the Twenty-First Century”.
This work gives us the opportunity to “step back in order to gain perspective
on where we are by looking at how we got there” (2).
Marsden takes us through five
chapters geared to aid readers with proportion and prospect. He does this by
bringing in details of Edwards’s moment and time, and two crucial people in
Edwards’s life: Benjamin Franklin and George Whitfield. The author shows how
each of those other men saw things, and the lasting impact they had on Twenty-First
Century America. The role of liberty on the one hand, and ecclesiastical
license on the other. He does this to give a clearer backdrop to what made
Edwards unique and makes him lastingly valuable for today. “My central argument
in these reflections is that Edwards’s core vision, grounded as it is in
mainstream Augustinian Christianity, has much value to offer for renewal today”
(23).
Because Marsden is an historian, each
chapter draws close lines from the 18th Century characters he is
working on, and our moment in time. That means that the author presents astute social
critique, whether it is regarding Franklin’s liberty, Edwards’s trinitarianism
and assessment of creation, or Whitfield’s ecclesiastical license that helped
to spawn our modern love affair with superstars and democratized versions of
American Christianity. There was so much in this work that I found helpful,
especially the historical ties from then to now.
Marsden is not Edwards’s defense
lawyer or PR frontman. Therefore, he was able to point out Edwards’s blemishes,
without burning Edwards’s house down. One aspect of the author’s analysis I
found most useful was his taking Edwards’s twelve positive signs of conversion,
and then slowly moving to our moment of time and pastoral situations to see how
they give us a hand in evaluating society, ourselves, and our congregations. Another
feature was Edwards’s conclusions about the Trinity and its impact on how we
perceive creation, “For Edwards, the dynamics of the physical universe were to
be understood and admired most essentially as beautiful expressions of
the love of their Creator and Sustainer. And not just in the gaps, but everywhere.
The dynamic beauty of love, then, is the center of reality” (50).
To put the volume in a nutshell, the
heartbeat is clearly about how, in our personal lives and communities, “the
beauty of rightly ordered loves can shine through the clouds…that what must
hold our lesser loves in place is our loving response to the personal love
of God, expressed most fully in the sacrificial love of Christ and sustained by
the person of the Holy Spirit” (138). Toward this end, Marsden attaches one
sermon Edwards should be remembered for, “A Divine and Supernatural Light”.
All told, the book is a must. Before
you pass judgment on Edwards and slough him off into the dusty confines of “antiquated”
take up this volume and allow it to challenge some reassessment in your mind.
If you’re concerned with modern Christianity in North America, you ought to
quickly grab a copy. If you’re a Christian activist trying to think more
clearly about our moment in the human story, you should take the time to read
this book first before you do anything. If you’re a pastor or
person-in-the-pew, grab hold of this work and make it a priority to read. I
highly recommend the book.
My thanks to IVP Academic. I asked
for a copy of this book to review, and they promptly sent it to me before its
release date. There were no demands made or bribes given. All they wanted was
an honest evaluation, which I have freely made, and now freely give to you.
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