My latest reading of George Marsden's Jonathan Edwards: A Life
covered a variety of topics: the growing influence of Anglicanism in
early eighteenth New England, which concerned a number of Puritans;
Jonathan Edwards' prophetic speculation, as he calculated that Christ
would return in 1866 (1260 years after the start of the papacy, which
Edwards dated to 606 C.E.) and viewed himself as one of those who would
bring people to Christ in the latter days, through logical
argumentation; Edwards' admiration for his future wife, Sarah, on
account of her joy (an attribute he himself desired) and her enjoyment
of God in solitude (something that he himself experienced); and how
Jonathan Edwards----an educated man----could bring his sermons down to
earth for his congregation by means of effective analogies.
There
was a period of time when Edwards' sermons were rather positive, and
that was when Edwards was seeking to encourage himself as he was
struggling with negative thinking. Edwards also had experience in
trying to suppress resentment, and that was manifest in some of his
sermons, which sought to teach people how to have a loving and forgiving
attitude. Edwards urged people to hate the sin but love the sinner,
and even to live at peace with those who had different religious
beliefs, for, as Edwards said, people can't help what they believe (page
97----in case you're interested in seeing Marsden's discussion and in
tracking down his reference). That's actually a provocative statement,
and it inspires me to ask: Why does God judge those who don't believe in
Christ, if they can't help what they believe? And, if we should cut
people some slack because they can't help what they believe, why doesn't
God do the same?