Jonathan Edwards on Worship

The great American pastor-theologian Jonathan Edwards remains undeniably relevant today, more than 250 years after his death, as attested by the unending flurry of articles, books, and dissertations treating him. Despite this, virtually nothing has been written concerning Edwards’s views on worship, a subject central to the Christian faith, and certainly to Edwards himself. This volume explores Edwards’s perspective on both public and private dimensions of worship, aspects of which rise from well-understood Puritan categories, and proposes the practice of self-examination as a bridge between public and private devotion. As Ken Minkema, of the Jonathan Edwards Center at Yale, writes in the foreword, ''Ted Rivera’s study is the first that systematically attempts to show us Edwards’s views of worship, and so represents an important resource for scholars and religious practitioners alike who are interested in liturgy, ’the practice of piety,’ and spiritual growth. Through an engagement with Edwards’s own words--in letters, notebooks, and sermons--we learn of Edwards’s own spiritual life, and of the nature of private and corporate devotion.''''Worship was a central feature of Jonathan Edwards’s life, yet there has been little sustained study of this topic. Ted Rivera begins to fill that gap by providing a helpful account of some of the most important of Edwards’s views and practices of worship.''--George MarsdenFrancis A. McAnaney Professor of History University of Notre Dame''The time is ripe for a book on Jonathan Edwards on worship, especially such a book as Ted Rivera provides. Many younger Christians, tired of modern and even postmodern novelties, are increasingly looking back for roots in Christian life, practice, and worship. Edwards was one of the foremost exemplars of Puritan worship . . . . [A]n entire chapter on self-examination, a practice at the heart of Edwards’s preaching and personal devotional life . . . is reason enough for those interested in a deep Christian life to read, purchase, and ’go and do likewise.’''--John S. HammettProfessor of Theology and Associate DeanSoutheastern Baptist Theological Seminary''Early America was turbulent but full of adventure and excitement. The intellectual and spiritual engagement of Jonathan Edwards in the midst of that culture could not possibly have had worldwide implications without the remarkable grasp Edwards had of what it meant to walk with God in personal and corporate worship. Ted Rivera has captured in this volume the pathos of that walk with God. This is a unique volume.''--Paige PattersonPresidentSouthwestern Baptist Theological SeminaryTed Rivera is Assistant Professor of Religion at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia.