What is a true Christian? What is the church? Though these are fundamental questions they often go unanswered in our current evangelical context. Far too many pastors and thinkers celebrate the trappings of faith and the mere benefits of Christianity, ignoring the biblical testimony on true conversion that shouts from countless texts from Scripture. This has fed an age-old problem: nominal Christianity. Though Edwards is sometimes presented as a scourge, a mean-hearted parson who lived to belt out thunderous damnations, a careful study of the historical record and of Edwards' writings shows that he was in fact a Christian man devoted to the cultivation of true and saving faith in a spiritually fickle people he tenaciously loved.
The problem of noncommittal Christianity did not end with Edwards. It not only survives but thrives in the current day. In studying it, then, we are studying ourselves. We see that nominal Christianity, a considerable challenge today, has historic roots.
We need not face this problem alone, growing more discouraged by the day, flailing as we try method after method to address the problem, but can find solace, instruction, and encouragement from the Biblically saturated life and ministry of Jonathan Edwards. Easily accessible and readable, you do not need to be a scholar to enjoy these insights about Jonathan Edwards and his writings.
