Author: Iain Murray

Pages: 504

Publisher: Banner of Truth

Price: 21.78

Genre: Biography


Quick Summary:

Who was Jonathan Edwards? That question invites a polarity of answers. Was Jonathan Edwards a cold theologian or a man passionate about the glory of God? Was he a man that preached more on the delights of heaven or the fires of hell? A great divine or a great tragedy? Who was Jonathan Edwards?

In this biography Iain Murray exposes the reader to the real Jonathan Edwards. Murray attempts to wrestle Edwards out of the hands of the demonizing biographers of recent scholarship and reintroduce the Edwards that was actually known by his contemporaries. Murray takes us into the mind of the great divine as well as into his heart. The reader not only observes Edwards in his study but also with his child on his lap. Edwards is seen not only as one passionately pleading with sinners but also earnestly praying for his children. Murray traces the life of Jonathan Edwards from boyhood to death to legacy and shows us the many different facets of this great man of God.

What I Liked:

In the introduction Murray says that we “fail to understand Edwards aright until the record of his life begins to [kindle a fire in our souls].” Murray’s goal is not only to reintroduce Edwards to the reader but to introduce the reader to Edwards’ God. Our author succeeds. Iain Murray is one of my favorite biographers. He does a wonderful job of letting the subject speak for himself. As you turn the last page of an Iain Murray biography you cannot help but respond in worship. Not, of course, worship directed neither to Murray— nor to his subject—but worship directed to the God they both serve.

What I Disliked:

Occasionally, Murray will let Edwards off the hook a little early. In his effort to rescue Edwards from his highly critical biographers, occasionally Murray will be under critical. This is, however, the exception and not the rule. Overall, it is historically reliable.

Should You Buy It?

This is perhaps the best biography written on Edwards—definitely so in the last 200 years. Even if you own numerous biographies of Edwards this particular work also uses material from recent studies that will not be found elsewhere. This book would be a great addition to any library.

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Looks like bloggers are back to work this morning; as soon as I looked at my Google Reader I noticed 28 new posts. It being New Year's Eve, I thought it wise to point you to a couple articles on the New Year. Matt Harmon points us to Jonathan Edwards Resolutions; which are always good to read this time of year. It is especially important that we remember Edwards' beginning statement: "Being sensible that I am unable to do anything without God's help, I do humbly entreat him, by his grace, to enable me to keep these Resolutions, so far as they are agreeable to his will, for Christ's sake." I reminded our youth on Sunday that even if we make our New Year's resolution something to the effect of "determining to know nothing in 2008 but Jesus Christ and Him crucified", we will fail by January 2nd or 3rd. Therefore we must live under and preach the gospel to ourselves daily.

Many people use this time of year to reflect upon the past year, and sometimes their entire lives. John Piper considers it a yearly dress rehearsal for meeting Jesus. Therefore, this time of year can serve to awaken us to a realization of another year passed and another moment closer to meeting the Lord. Pyromaniacs use the last words of Benazir Bhutto to remind us of the frailty of life. How ironic that her last words were "Long live Bhutto". As this year draws to an end we must remember that the only way to accurately proclaim "Long live..." is to have a relationship with Jesus Christ.

Last night Tim Challies summarized the Reality Check Conference. He concluded his blogging on sessions 6 and 7.

Timmy Brister concluded his 2007 Year in Review with post 10-6 and 5-1. One of these posts that particularly caught my interest was On Hitting Homiletical Homeruns. The conversation was also carried over at Said at Southern, here. The discussion is over plagiarism in the pulpit. The discussion began when James Merritt suggested going to his website and preaching his sermon instead of spending so much time putting together their own. This is not an uncommon thing. I frequently get fliers in the mail encouraging me to stop preparing sermons and do what really matters (and apparently what I should really want to do)--spend time with our youth. I wonder if this might be an unbiblical practice on top of another (shout out to Garrett). I wonder if we had a plurality of elders maybe a teaching pastor could spend time on sermon prep and the other elders could do some of those other things. Maybe the pastor was not meant to be the lone ranger and having to rip sermons off the internet because he spent 30 hours this week at the hospital and in counseling.

The 9 Marks newsletter has been posted online. This newsletter focuses on Corporate Prayer and will be worthy of checking out.

John Piper points us to Clyde Kilby's 10 Resolutions for Mental Health.

Lastly, the Irish Calvinist draws our attention to a video posted on James White's site. It compares Joel Osteen, The Secret, and Stuart Smalley. It would be humorous if Osteen did not boast 20,000+ deceived members. The reason I am so strongly opposed to Osteen is because he is a false prophet that deceives many. He preaches a half (maybe quarter) truth that is divorced from the bloody Cross of the Gospel. The problem is not that God doesn't want to bless us. The problem is that the blessing is not in material things it is in God Himself, and it comes through the Cross. Not only the Cross of Christ but also ours (Matthew 10:38). Here is the video: