Customer Reviews

Jonathan Edwards on the Good Life (The Essential Edwards Collection)

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Book Review

By

Jason Scott

The Essential Edwards Collection: Jonathan Edwards on The Good Life

By

Owen Strachan and Doug Sweeney

This was the final volume of the five-volume set that I read. This set was not sequential, each volume can be read individually. However, I highly recommend reading the entire set.

This volume covered Edwards' view on a topic that is particularly relevant today. People are constantly striving for the good life. Both secular and "Christian" airwaves are full of advice on how to obtain the good life. Edwards' definition of the good life, however, greatly contrasts what is generally thought as the good life. "The Edwardsean doctrine of happiness is rich with irony. To save one's soul and experience deepest delight one must abandon the instinct to selfishly pursue one's well being. True self-interest involves turning one's life over to God..." Pg 33.

Edwards' did believe that God desires His creation be happy, however that happiness is only found in Him, and not the material things of this world.

This book contains five chapters: 1) The Nearness of the Good Life, 2) The Distance of the Good Life, 3) The Taste of the Good Life, 4) The Pleasures of the Good Life, and 5) The Shape of the Good Life.

Jonathan Edwards is a life that is worth studying. It can be intimidating because of his deep thoughts and difficult writing style. Thankfully Strachan and Sweeney have done a great service and made Edwards more accessible. My desire is not to stop with this five volume set, but use it as a launching pad to more of Edwards' writings. Edwards' writings are available for free at [...].