This study explores continuities in thought between Jonathan Edwards and Ralph Waldo Emerson by comparing their respective views on spiritual awakening. Their parallel ideas are discussed as results of similar perceptual dispositions which lead both to view awakening as an inner metamorphosis that leaves man less self-centered and more capable of a universal perception and appreciation of spiritual unity and beauty. Emphasized are parallels in Edwards's and Emerson's concepts of God, their views on the nature of awakening, their versions of preparation, and their thoughts about virtue and the awakened man. These continuities are also discussed as ideas that compose an underlying unity in American thought which unites the seemingly contradictory heritages of Puritanism and transcendentalism.

Virtue can be seen as a core construct of pastoral theology when it is understood as a relational dynamic which includes the experience of suffering and the pastoral response of compassion. This thesis probes the philosophical theology of Jonathan Edwards, who proposed that virtue is a form of beauty defined as "consent to being." Edwards' construct of virtue is examined from its inception in his pastoral work at Northampton parish. Although it was offered in the context of the 18th century debates in moral philosophy, it is argued that Edwards' idea of virtue is a unique theological contribution to our understanding of the nature of virtue. The implications of this conception of virtue are weighed against current discussions in ethics and moral philosophy on the theme of virtue. Edwards' idea of "consent to being" is expanded from a pastoral theological perspective to include the notion of compassion as an integrative motif. The structure of experience and how we speak about our experiences are explored in relation to this aesthetic understanding of virtue as a form of beauty. This leads to the notion of compassion as ontological consent. Since language is the vehicle by which our experiences are conveyed, the thesis probes the issue of how moral vision is expressed in "experience-near" language through parable, poem, and lament. Moral vision is articulated most adequately through such language, the formulation of which takes the form of a necessary quest. The thesis concludes with a constructive proposal concerning a mature pastoral theology of virtue. This may be seen as an expansion of Edwards' concept of "consent to being" from the vantage point of pastoral theology. It is argued that a dynamic vision of virtue requires some connection between the experience of suffering and the inward striving toward the greatest good. The essence of virtue can be best understood, from a pastoral theological perspective, as the relational dynamic of "suffering with" another human being. / Practical Theology / D.Th. (Practical Theology)

Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2012. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study examines the work of John Calvin, Jonathan Edwards, and N.T. Wright on the doctrine of Justification. As a comparative study in theology, this work aims to discover areas of continuity and discontinuity between these three theologians. Since all three are identified, or self-identity, with the Reformed theological tradition, it seeks to discern whether the Reformed tradition has been historically open to change, development and transformation in the articulation of doctrine. An underlying question in the study of Calvin, Edwards, and Wright on Justification is what it means to faithfully embody a theological tradition while standing critically within it. As this pertains to the Reformed tradition, the question is whether this robust theological tradition is in fact a “living tradition,” open to fresh insight and re-articulation from succeeding generations of scholars. In this sense, the study examines whether the Reformed tradition has been generally faithful to the principles of semper reformanda and sola scriptura. The work briefly traces the historical development of the doctrine of Justification through some of the major periods of church history. This is followed by chapters on Calvin, Edwards, and Wright, one chapter each, in order to examine their major works on the subject. This analysis takes note of how each one defines particular subjects related to Justification. These include the notions of “justification” itself, “faith,” “the righteousness of God,” “imputation,” and the place of obedience and good works in relation to justification. The sections on Calvin, Edwards, and Wright also include some discussion of scholarly response, reception, or evaluation of each one’s work. The final chapter discusses the idea of “tradition” as a dynamic, living, and on-going conversation about doctrine. This section also focuses on some of the main areas of agreement and disagreement in the views on Justification between Calvin, Edwards, and Wright. The overall aim is to take one of the principle theologians of the Protestant Reformation, and the Reformed tradition in particular – John Calvin – and to see how later theologians, in different historical contexts, develop, build upon, react to, or contribute to Calvin’s doctrine. Edwards represents 18th century Puritan-influenced American Colonialists and the Reformed theology of their day. N.T. Wright represents 20th and 21st century English Biblical scholarship. Wright approaches the subject of Justification as an Anglican New Testament specialist and historian. Since both Edwards and Wright are associated with the Reformed tradition and have found commentators and respondents within that tradition, they become important voices for discerning the direction this doctrine has taken since the time of the Reformation. Ultimately, one hopes that if a living theological tradition is discernible and demonstrable, this can contribute positively to the current debates on Justification within the Reformed churches, further encouraging the semper reformanda principle. Furthermore, one hopes that a living Reformed tradition will enable improved ecumenical relationships and lead to greater unity in the universal Church which has often been divided over the doctrine of Justification. Perhaps the work of Calvin, Edwards, and Wright can assist today’s Reformed theologians by pointing us in a constructive way forward. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie studie ondersoek die werk van Johannes Calvyn, Jonathan Edwards, en NT Wright ten opsigte van die leerstelling aangaande die regverdigmaking deur die geloof. As 'n vergelykende studie in die teologie, het hierdie studie ten doel om areas van kontinuïteit en diskontinuïteit tussen hierdie drie teoloë te vind. Aangesien al drie geïdentifiseer word, of self-identifiseer, met die Gereformeerde teologiese tradisie, poog die studie om te onderskei of die Gereformeerde tradisie histories oop was vir verandering, ontwikkeling en transformasie ten opsigte van die artikulasie van hierdie leerstelling. 'n Onderliggende vraag by die studie van Calvyn, Edwards, en Wright aangaande die leer van die regverdigmaking deur die geloof is die vraag wat dit beteken om 'n teologiese tradisie getrou te beliggaam en terselfdertyd krities binne die tradisie te staan. Aangesien hierdie studie verwys na die Gereformeerde tradisie, is die vraag of dié robuuste teologiese tradisie in werklikheid 'n "lewende tradisie" is wat oop is vir vars insigte en re-artikulasies deur opvolgende geslagte van navorsers. In hierdie opsig ondersoek die proefskrif of die Gereformeerde tradisie oor die algemeen getrou was aan die beginsels van semper reformanda en sola Scriptura. Die studie skets kortliks die historiese ontwikkeling van die leer van die regverdigmaking deur die geloof tydens enkele belangrike tydperke in die kerkgeskiedenis. Dan volg hoofstukke oor onderskeidelik Calvyn, Edwards, en Wright, waarin hulle belangrike werke oor die onderwerp ondersoek word. Hierdie analise neem kennis van hoe elkeen van hulle bepaalde onderwerpe definieer wat met die leerstelling oor die regverdiging deur die geloof verband hou. Dit sluit in die begrippe "regverdigmaking", "geloof", “God se geregtigheid", "toerekening", en die posisie van gehoorsaamheid en goeie werke in verhouding tot regverdigmaking. Die gedeeltes oor Calvyn, Edwards, en Wright sluit ook ‘n bespreking van die akademiese resepsie en evaluering van elkeen se werk in. Die laaste hoofstuk bespreek die idee van "tradisie" as 'n dinamiese, lewende, en deurlopende gesprek oor doktriene. Hierdie afdeling fokus ook op 'n paar van die belangrikste ooreenkomste en verskille in Calvyn, Edwards, en Wright se standpunte oor regverdigmaking. Die oorhoofse doel is om te kyk na die werk van een van die vooraanstaande teoloë van die Protestantse Hervorming, spesifiek in die Gereformeerde tradisie - Johannes Calvyn - en te ondersoek hoe latere teoloë, in verskillende historiese kontekste, sy artikulasie van die leerstelling oor regverdigmaking ontwikkel, daarop bou, daarop reageer, of daartoe bydra. Edwards verteenwoordig die 18de eeuse Puriteins-beïnvloede Amerikaanse kolonialiste en die Gereformeerde teologie van hul dag. N.T. Wright is gekies as verteenwoorder uit die 20ste en 21ste eeuse Engelstalige wetenskaplike wereld. Wright benader die onderwerp van regverdigmaking as 'n Anglikaanse Nuwe Testamentiese spesialis en historikus. Aangesien sowel Edwards as Wright verbonde is aan die Gereformeerde tradisie en gespreksgenote binne daardie tradisie gevind het, gee hulle ʼn belangrike aanduiding van die rigting waarin hierdie leerstelling sedert die Reformasie ontwikkel het. Ten slotte, ‘n fokus op 'n lewende teologiese tradisie kan 'n positiewe bydrae lewer tot die huidige debatte oor regverdigmaking in die Gereformeerde kerke, en die beginsel van semper reformanda verder aanmoedig. Die fokus op ʼn 'n lewende Gereformeerde tradisie kan beter ekumeniese verhoudings bevorder en tot groter eenheid in die universele (“katolieke”) kerk lei, wat dikwels oor die leer van die regverdigmaking deur die geloof verdeel is en verdeel word. Miskien kan die werk van Calvyn, Edwards, en Wright vir vandag se Gereformeerde teoloë ʼn konstruktiewe rigting vorentoe aandui.

Includes bibliographical references (leaves 303-325) / The topic of God’s beauty, while receiving attention in theological aesthetics, is not often a focused pursuit in Christian spirituality. The study attempts to answer the question of what the nature would be of an Evangelical Protestant Christian spirituality predicated upon seeking and apprehending God’s beauty. The study establishes the relevance of beauty to Christian spirituality. It then develops a definition of God’s beauty from Jonathan Edwards. God’s beauty is found to be his love for his own being. Examining Scripture and Christian history, the study establishes that God’s beauty was regarded as an objective reality until the Enlightenment. The focus of the research then turns to the subjective apprehension of beauty, and examines the methodology of pursuing beauty in art, and finds parallels in spirituality. The study considers the epistemological dichotomy of subject and object with reference to beauty, and considers Christian proposals for a form of correspondence theory for transcendentals. The findings are united in a model of spirituality. Apprehension of God’s beauty occurs through the subject possessing a correspondent form of God’s love. Findings from the aesthetic and epistemological study are united with theology to suggest that this love can be cultivated through four areas: Christian imagination, an implanted new nature, the exposure to communion with God, and the nurture of spiritual disciplines. Each of these areas is explained and justified as means to cultivate correspondent love. The postures and approaches found in the study of art and epistemology are used for explaining the nature of correspondent love. Evangelical Protestant Christian spirituality predicated upon seeking and finding God’s beauty is one which cultivates love for God that corresponds with God’s own love. / Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / D. Th. (Christian Spirituality)

Virtue can be seen as a core construct of pastoral theology when it is understood as a relational dynamic which includes the experience of suffering and the pastoral response of compassion. This thesis probes the philosophical theology of Jonathan Edwards, who proposed that virtue is a form of beauty defined as "consent to being." Edwards' construct of virtue is examined from its inception in his pastoral work at Northampton parish. Although it was offered in the context of the 18th century debates in moral philosophy, it is argued that Edwards' idea of virtue is a unique theological contribution to our understanding of the nature of virtue. The implications of this conception of virtue are weighed against current discussions in ethics and moral philosophy on the theme of virtue. Edwards' idea of "consent to being" is expanded from a pastoral theological perspective to include the notion of compassion as an integrative motif. The structure of experience and how we speak about our experiences are explored in relation to this aesthetic understanding of virtue as a form of beauty. This leads to the notion of compassion as ontological consent. Since language is the vehicle by which our experiences are conveyed, the thesis probes the issue of how moral vision is expressed in "experience-near" language through parable, poem, and lament. Moral vision is articulated most adequately through such language, the formulation of which takes the form of a necessary quest. The thesis concludes with a constructive proposal concerning a mature pastoral theology of virtue. This may be seen as an expansion of Edwards' concept of "consent to being" from the vantage point of pastoral theology. It is argued that a dynamic vision of virtue requires some connection between the experience of suffering and the inward striving toward the greatest good. The essence of virtue can be best understood, from a pastoral theological perspective, as the relational dynamic of "suffering with" another human being. / Philosophy, Practical and Systematic Theology / D.Th. (Practical Theology)

Text in German with summaries in German and English / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 350-377) / Die Doktorarbeit hat die Absicht herauszufinden, was Jonathan Edwards unter dem Begriff „Sündenerkenntnis“ verstanden hat und dabei die Frage nach der Bedeutung dieses Verständnisses für die Erweckungsbewegung zu beantworten. Während Jonathan Edwardsʼ Theologie und Philosophie im Allgemeinen gut erforscht ist, wurde dieser Aspekt noch nicht genauer untersucht. Zunächst wird auf der Grundlage einer chronologischen Einordnung seiner Werke Jonathan Edwardsʼ Verständnis von Sündenerkenntnis aus seinen wichtigsten Schriften erarbeitet, wobei eine Entwicklung in seinem Gedankengut deutlich wird (Qualitative Inhaltsanalyse). In einem zweiten Teil wird Jonathan Edwardsʼ Verständnis von Sündenerkenntnis mit der Theologie seiner Vorläufer, Zeitgenossen sowie Nachfolger und Gegner verglichen, wobei sich die Untersuchung auf die Bewegung des Puritanismus, die Epochen des „Great Awakening“ und des „Second Great Awakening“ beschränkt (Diachronischer Vergleich). In einem dritten Teil wird Jonathan Edwardsʼ Verständnis von Sündenerkenntnis systematischtheologisch und theologiegeschichtlich eingeordnet. Mit dieser Studie soll ein weiterer deutscher Beitrag zur internationalen Jonathan Edwards-Forschung geleistet werden. Der Ansatz dieser Forschung ist dabei historisch ausgerichtet, da er den systematisch-theologischen Begriff „Sündenerkenntnis“ auf der Grundlage der Biografie Edwardsʼ und einer chronologischen Einordnung seiner Werke zu ermitteln sucht, um ihn dann in einem diachronischen Vergleich mit Verständnissen aus verschiedenen zeitlichen Epochen zu vergleichen und so den Begriff „Sündenerkenntnis“ in einem theologiegeschichtlichen Kontext einordnet und versteht. / The thesis tries to answer the question, how Jonathan Edwards understood the term “conviction of sin”. The intention is to find out the significance of his understanding of this term for the revivalmovement of his time. While numerous studies have been done on his theology and philosophy, this aspect has not been thoroughly examined yet. Based on a chronological assessment of his works Jonathan Edwardsʼ understanding of conviction of sin is established from his major works (qualitative content analysis). This reveals a development in his thought-system. In a second part Jonathan Edwardsʼ understanding of conviction of sin is compared with the theology of his predecessors, contemporaries and opponents. This examination is limited to the time of the Puritans, the “Great Awakening” and the “Second Great Awakening” (diachronic comparative analysis). In a third part Jonathan Edwardsʼ understanding of conviction of sin is assessed in a systematictheological way and classified historically. The author intends to make another German contribution to international Jonathan Edwards Studies. This research is historically focused, because of the fact, that the term “conviction of sin” is analysed by means of the biography of Edwards and a chronological classification of his works to compare it with meanings of different historical epoches and classify it in its theological historical context by that approach. / Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / D. Th. (Church history)