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The Jonathan Edwards and Timothy Dwight Collection
The Complete Works of Jonathan Edwards and Dwight's System of Theology
Jonathan Edwards and Timothy Dwight CD
$19.95
Works on both Windows and Macintosh
Contents of the Jonathan Edwards and Timothy Dwight Collection
* Dwight's System of Theology
* Complete Works of Jonathan Edwards
* Completely revised
1. SYSTEM OF DOCTRINES
1. Doctrines of Natural Religion
1. Existence of God
2. Unity of God
3. Attributes of God
4. Decrees of God
5. Sovereignty of God
6. Works of God
2. DOCTRINES PECULIAR TO THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION; OR, THE MEDIATORIAL SYSTEM
1. The Character of Jesus Christ; The Mediator
2. The Covenant Under Which Christ Acted: That of Redemption
3. The Offices Which Christ Sustained
4. The Miracle of Christ
5. The Resurrection of Christ
6. The Amiableness of Christ in Publishing the Gospel to Mankind
7. The Consequences of Christ's Mediation
1. Justification
2. Regeneration
2. SYSTEM OF DUTIES
1. Duties of Natural Religion
1. Character of the Law of God
2. In What it is Summed Up
1. In the Two Great Commandments
2. In the Decalogue
3. Man's Inability to Obey the Law of God
2. Duties of the Christian Religion
1. Mode of Restoration to the Spirit of Obedience
2. Means of Restoration, or Means of Grace
1. Ordinary Means of Grace
2. Extraordinary Means of Grace
3. SYSTEM OF DISPENSATIONS
1. Death
2. Consequences of Death
1. Immediate Consequences
2. Remoter Consequences
3. Conclusion
Jonathan Edwards
(1703-1758)
Biography from the Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological, and Eccleslastical Literature
Edwards, Jonathan, was born at East Windsor, Connecticut, on the 5th of October,
1703. His great-great-grandfather on the paternal side was the Reverend
Richard Edwards, a clergyman in London in the time of queen Elizabeth.
His greatgrandfather, William Edwards, was born in England, came to America
about the year 1640, and was an honorable trader in Hartford, Connecticut.
His grandfather, Richard Edwards, was born at Hartford, and spent his
life there as a respectable and wealthy merchant. His father, Reverend
Timothy Edwards, was born in Hartford May 14, 1669. He entered Harvard
College in 1687, "and received the two degrees of Bachelor and Master
of Arts on the Same day, July 4, 1691, one in the morning and the other
in the afternoon, 'an uncommon mark of respect paid to his extraordinary
proficiency in learning.'" He was ordained pastor of the church at
East Windsor in May, 1694. In 1711 he was appointed by the Legislature
of Connecticut, chaplain of the troops sent on an important expedition
to Canada. He was distinguished for his scholarship, devoutness, and general
weight of character. He generally preached extempore, and until he had
passed his seventieth year he did not often write the heads of his discourses.
He lived to enjoy the fame of his son, and died January 27, 1758. On the
maternal side, the great-grandfather of President Edwards was Anthony
Stoddard, Esq., who emigrated from the west of England to Boston, and
was a member of the General Court from 1665 to 1684. The grandfather of
Edwards was the Rev. Solomon Stoddard, of Northampton, Massachusetts,
one of the most erudite and powerful clergymen of New England. Edwards'
mother was Esther, the second child of the Northampton pastor, a lady
of excellent education and rare strength of character.
The history of President Edwards cannot be fully understood without considering that
both on the paternal end maternal side he was allied with families belonging
to the ecclesiastical aristocracy of New England. He was an only son,
and had ten sisters, some of whom became the wives of eminent men. He
was trained by his father and his four eldest sisters (all of whom were
proficient in learning) for Yale College, which he entered in 1716, just
before he was thirteen years of age. During the next year his favorite
study was Locke on the Human Understanding. "Taking that book into
his hand upon some occasion not long before his death, he said to some
of his select friends who were then with him, that he was beyond expression
entertained and pleased with it when he read it in his youth at college;
that he was as much engaged, and had more satisfaction and pleasure in
studying it, than the most greedy miser in gathering up handfuls of silver
and gold from some new-discovered treasure." When about twelve years
of age he wrote a paper which indicates that he had been thoroughly interested
in the question of Materialism. At about the same age he composed some
remarkable papers on questions in natural philosophy. Having distinguished
himself at college as an acute thinker, and also as an impassioned writer,
he took his Bachelor's degree in 1720, and delivered the "salutatory,
which was also the valedictory oration."
Timothy Dwight
(1752-1804)
Timothy Dwight DD, LL.D., grandson of Jonathan Edwards the elder, was born at Northampton,
Massachussetts, May 14, 1752, and was graduated at Yale College at a very
early age in 1769. Two years after his graduation he was elected a tutor
in his college, and held the office during six years. Near the end of
his tutorship he was licensed to preach, and soon joined the army of the
Revolution as a chaplain to General Parsons's brigade. After a year spent
in this service, he was called home by the news of his father's death
in 1778, to take care of his mother and the family, being the eldest child
of thirteen. Relinquishing his part of the family property, he taught
school and preached for his own family's support. So highly was he thought
of by his fellow citizens that they called him into public life, solicited
him to give himself permanently to politics, and promised to secure for
him a place in the Continental Congress. But he preferred to preach the
Gospel, and, after several flattering calls which he declined, accepted
one from the parish of Greenfield, in Connecticut, to become their pastor.
Here he spent twelve years, from November 1783, onward. As his salary
was inadequate to the expenses which his family and his hospitality obliged
him to incur, he established an academy, the oversight of which he took
upon himself, which was distinguished for the advanced and thorough training
of its scholars, and in which upwards of a thousand young persons of both
sexes came under his instruction. His reputation as an instructor and
as a preacher led the corporation of Yale College in 1795 to elect him
to the presidency of that institution, which had lately become vacant
by the death of President Stiles.
It was during his residence at Greenfield that his two poems, one on the "Conquest
of Canaan" by Joshua, an epic in rhyme, the other entitled "Greenfield
Hill," and describing the scenery and the events of the neighboring
country, were given to the world. These poetical works, which are not
without glow and fire, are now forgotten; but some of the versions of
the Psalms which he inserted in a revision of Dr. Watts's Psalms, with
hymns annexed, published by direction of the General Association of the
state in 1800, have stood their ground, and probably will never go out
of use; we refer especially to those whose first lines are, "I love
thy kingdom, Lord" (Psalm 137), and "Shall man, O God of life
and light" (Psalm 88).
The state of Yale College at his accession to the presidency was far from being
satisfactory, but his vigor, ability, and wisdom ere long infused into
it a new life. With great wisdom, he selected young men for the several
professional chairs. He himself preached, and with very great acceptance,
in the college chapel; he instructed in morals, mental philosophy, natural
theology, and the evidences of revelation; and the religious interests
of the students found in him a director and a guide. Soon after he came
to Yale College he found that many students were tainted with infidelity.
He was among the first, and one of the very ablest defenders of the Christian
faith in this country, and by his preaching, as by his sermons on "The
nature and danger of infidel philosophy" published at the time, he
may be fairly said to have driven infidelity from the college. On the
whole, his administration of the college was a very successful one. To
him more than to any other man Yale College is, indebted for its highly
respectable position among the seats of learning in this country.
President Dwight died January 11, 1817, when not quite sixty-five, of a cancer in
the neck of the bladder. He had a commanding person, a noble voice, great
pathos, an ardent temper, an excellent judgment, and sincere piety. His
conversational powers were of the highest order. His style in his extempore
addresses and in his written discourses was fervid and eloquent, but somewhat
too rhetorical. He entered with great interest into the politics of the
day, as an adherent of the principles of Washington and of the Federal
party. His theology was Calvinism as modified by the two Edwardses, his
grandfather and uncle. In his youth he preached it with warmth, but as
he advanced in years he laid little stress on any doctrines except those
in which all evangelical Christians were agreed. His life was full of
acts of hospitality and benevolence, and his sympathies were of the tenderest
sort. During a great part of his life his eyes were too weak to be used,
and his works were principally written by an amanuensis. His principal
works published under his name, besides those which have been already
mentioned, were Theology explained and defended (Middletown, Connecticut,
1818, 5 volumes; and in a multitude of editions afterwards in 4 volumes,
both in the United States and in England): - Travels in New England and
New York (New Haven, 1821, 4 volumes, which contained the record of journeys
on horseback undertaken for his health during vacations), and Sermons
of an occasional character (New Haven, 1828).