Federal Theology of Jonathan Edwards, The: An Exegetical Perspective

Jonathan Edwards is remembered for his sermons and works of theology and philosophy—but he has been overlooked as an exegete.

Gilsun Ryu’s The Federal Theology of Jonathan Edwards explores how exegesis drove Edwards’s focus on the headship of Christ as second Adam—and likewise formed a foundation for his broader theological reasoning and writing, especially on Christ and the covenants. Edwards’s distinctive emphases on exegesis, redemptive history, and the harmony of Scripture distinguish him from his Reformed forebears.

Ryu’s study will help readers appreciate Edwards’s contribution as an exegetically informed Reformed theologian.

368 pages.

Contents:

• Foreword by Douglas A. Sweeney
• Introduction
• A Sketch of the History of Redemption Among Edwards’s Antecedents
• The Doctrine of the Covenant of Redemption and the History of Redemption
• The Doctrine of the Covenant of Works and the History of Redemption
• The Doctrine of the Covenant of Grace and the History of Redemption
• The Exegetical Basis of the Doctrine of the Covenant of Redemption
• The Exegetical Basis of the Doctrine of the Covenant of Works
• The Exegetical Basis of the Doctrine of the Covenant of Grace
• Edwards’s Federal Theology in Ecclesiastical Perspective
• Conclusion

In addition to demonstrating conclusively that Jonathan Edwards was a federal theologian, this study also provides a helpful overview of his Reformed predecessors—Johannes Cocceius, Hermann Witsius, Petrus van Mastricht, and Francis Turretin—and the development of federal theology. That historical look at the idea of a ‘history of redemption,’ combined with detailed examination of Edwards’s exegetical basis for all the aspects of his covenant theology, makes this a landmark study in the scholarship of federal theology in general and Edwards scholarship in particular. ... This is a valuable book for preachers and students of Scripture as well as scholars.

–John Bolt, emeritus professor of systematic theology, Calvin Theological Seminary