Doug Sweeney and Owen Strachan of the Henry Center have just released a five-volume series entitled The Essential Edwards Collection (Moody, 2010).

This brand-new series distills the essential thought of America’s greatest pastor-theologian.  It is written to be of help to all kinds of people–those who know little about Edwards and haven’t had time to read him, those familiar with Edwards who could benefit from short resource guides offering important quotations and critical but deeply appreciative analysis, and those who love Edwards and want to work through the searching material he authored.

The books are short (160 pages), readable, and include application sections. The following is the list of books:

Jonathan Edwards, Lover of God
Jonathan Edwards on Beauty
Jonathan Edwards on the Good Life
Jonathan Edwards on True Christianity
Jonathan Edwards on Heaven and Hell

The Essential Edwards Collection embodies the ministry of the Henry Center, as it presents the riches of profound scriptural and theological reflection to the people of God in order that they might love Him more.  It is not an anthology of Edwards’s writings, but a guide to his thought.  It includes the most important passages from his corpus along with commentary designed to illumine them and application intended to fire the heart and mind of the reader.

In the end, however, Strachan, an Edwards devotee, and Sweeney, an expert Edwards scholar, intend for this collection to not simply help people learn about America’s great theologian, but to enlarge the modern church’s understanding of God and the life of joy and excitement He offers us through His Son.

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Select Endorsements

“an excellent glimpse into a life lived unto God” Thabiti Anyabwile

“the kernel of much of Edwards’s thought in eminently accessible form” D. A. Carson

a “splendid library of volumes” David Dockery

“a fantastic introduction to the heart, mind, and ministry of the greatest theologian America has ever produced” Mark Driscoll

“I’ve read no better introduction to Jonathan Edwards” C. J. Mahaney

“five excellent and accessible introductions”…”a great achievement and a tremendous resource” Al Mohler

“Pure gold” Josh Moody

“This winsome and accessible introduction is now the first thing I’d recommend for those who want to know more about America’s greatest pastor-theologian” Justin Taylor

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Buy the collection.

The Henry Center is very pleased to make the following announcement.

From: HCTU Director Doug Sweeney
RE: New Jonathan Edwards Center at TEDS
Date: 1/12/2010

In conjunction with the Jonathan Edwards Center of Yale University, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School is pleased to announce the formation of a new Jonathan Edwards Center at TEDS, effective immediately.  This partnership was formalized on the campus of TEDS on Wednesday, January 6, 2010.  Kenneth P. Minkema, director of the Yale Center, and Douglas A. Sweeney, director of the Trinity Center, both spoke to this groundbreaking development and noted its excellent prospects.

The Center at TEDS is the newest of several satellite Edwards Centers founded by Yale’s Edwards Center in strategic locations around the world. The purpose of these Centers is to promote awareness of and scholarship on Edwards in the academy and also the church.  Existing locations include Germany (Tübingen), Poland, South Africa, and Australia (Ridley College).  The Jonathan Edwards Center at Trinity is, apart from the Yale Center, the only existing such center in North America.

The JEC at Trinity provides a rare opportunity for us to engage the larger world of Edwards studies, and to share the riches of that world with our community.  The Center will debut a website near the end of February that will offer our academic and ecclesial communities access to a wide range of Edwards resources.  The Center will also feature a designated computer terminal in the library on which students and visiting scholars will be able to access a wealth of resources for the study of Edwards and related figures and movements throughout history. Trinity is the only school in North America, other than Yale, with access to this range of materials.

As Director of the new Center, Sweeney is currently planning the further development of its work. In coming weeks, the JEC will announce a program of events.  In addition to regular conferencing, the JEC at Trinity will offer two lecture series: “Jonathan Edwards and the Church,” which will feature the best Christian Edwards scholars in the world in conversation with Sweeney and a variety of clergy who are interested in Edwards and his legacies to the church; and “New Directions in Edwards Studies,” which will feature cutting-edge research on Edwards and his influence.

Furthermore, the JEC at TEDS will seek to encourage Trinity students, and other students in the region, to undertake advanced work on Edwards and his legacies around the world. It will provide pastors and scholars with up-to-date web resources for making good on Edwards’ legacy and for staying up on the most important Edwards scholarship.

Those interested in the JEC at TEDS should look for a second announcement in late February that will make public the new website and announce a range of programs.  It is with gratefulness to God, and thanks to our friends at Yale, that we announce this unique partnership.

(Photo of Sweeney (L) and Minkema (R) by Jeff Calhoun/TEDS)

The Director of the Henry Center, Doug Sweeney, has authored an important text entitled Jonathan Edwards and the Ministry of the Word (InterVarsity, July 2009). The book covers the life and Word-centered ministry of the colonial pastor-theologian, a subject area in which Sweeney has already produced numerous important works, including Volume Twenty-Three of the prestigious Yale Works of Edwards series.

The text’s 200 pages stretch over seven chapters that each address an aspect of Edwards’s biblically based ministry.  The writing style is characteristically Sweeney: clear, thick, vivid, and doxological.  Readers of all kinds–pastors, laypeople, Edwards devotees, and even the uninitiated–will benefit greatly from Sweeney’s comprehensive grasp of the Edwardsean corpus and his ability to distill that knowledge for readers.

This is historical theology for the church.  The book succeeds in repositioning Edwards as, first and foremost, a minister of the Word.  Sweeney shows that Edwards was nothing if not a pastor, a shepherd who gave the full force of his mind and heart to strengthen the faith of his people.  Sweeney does not call pastors to be just like Edwards, but he does call them to be Edwardsean–that is, to embody a rich pulpit ministry centered on the Bible that will fill ordinary Christian living with the glory and grandeur of the gospel.

This is an important book, one that promises to transform modern conceptions of the pastorate.  The text will also permanently affect one’s understanding of both Jonathan Edwards and the Christian life.  Readers can purchase Jonathan Edwards and the Ministry of the Word from InterVarsity Press or Amazon.  Blogger Justin Taylor recently posted about the text.  In addition, a diverse and distinguished group of commentators has praised the text.  Selections below:

A “masterful analysis”–Harry Stout, Yale

“Admirable” and “authoritative”–George Marsden, Notre Dame

“Nourishing and tasty”–Gerald McDermott, Roanoke College

A “blessing to pastors, preachers, and spiritual leaders”–Kenneth Minkema, Yale

A “vibrant portrayal”–Sam Storms, Brideway Church

“Accessible and accurate”–Mark Dever, Capitol Hill Baptist Church

On Monday, April 28 at 2:30pm in Aldeen 113 on the campus of TEDS, the Henry Center will host a discussion between Dr. Doug Sweeney, Director of the Center, and Collin Hansen, TEDS MDiv student and author of the recently published Young, Restless, Reformed (Crossway, 2008). The event is free and open to all and will feature roughly an hour’s worth of discussion of the book and of recent theological movements among young evangelicals. Coffee and light refreshments will be served free of charge.

Join us for an hour of thoughtful discussion, and please note that Hansen’s book will be on sale at the event through the TEDS bookstore. The author will be signing copies free of charge for interested parties.