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This dissertation first examines how Scripture describes the internal workings of the human person, which can be referred to as the heart. The heart is shown to function cognitively, affectively, and volitionally, all of which are relational in nature. Second, the dissertation establishes that faith in Christ is the means by which all of these functions are restored. Specifically, the heart's cognitive, affective, and volitional functions are changed as a person relates rightly to his or her Designer and Redeemer through faith. In sum, this dissertation describes the biblical understanding of the heart and the necessity of faith in Christ for its proper operation. Chapter 1 examines the major anthropological terms used in the New Testament, considering how each functions in context and concluding that the biblical perspective of internal human functioning is holistic and unified. Chapter 2 establishes that a gospel-centered hermeneutic of Scripture implies that faith is central to the illocutionary intent of Scripture as a whole. The Gospel of John and the Epistle to the Romans are examined to establish further the centrality of faith. Chapter 3 describes the transformative effect of faith on the cognitive, affective, and volitional functions attributed to the heart as it relates rightly to God. Chapter 4 describes implications for an evangelical model of counseling, also considering the thought of Jonathan Edwards as a historical precedent to the present study.

This research endeavors to answer the question of why the believer should obey, specifically considering the issues of motive and ability. The thesis of this study is that Jonathan Edwards provides the critical missing element of happiness in the sanctification debates of today, an element that is crucial for the doctrine of sanctification because it points to the One in whom true happiness is found and who is the believer’s good. This argument puts the focus on relationship and underlines the importance of union, all the while keeping the necessary tension of God’s work and man’s responsibility in obedience where Scripture places it. Edwards is a needed voice amid the questions that are raised concerning this essential doctrine today. Edwards shows that the affections and happiness do matter. This happiness comes through union, which not only connects the believer to the source of happiness, which is the Triune God but also enables a Christian to pursue it. Chapter 1 introduces the topic of study, setting the framework of what this research intends to do. Chapter 2 establishes the context of the sanctification debates today and the need in also showing how this context is bridged with Edwards own time. Chapter 3 provides the foundation of Edwards’s theology of sanctification with the Trinity, observing the ground of holiness, happiness, and grace. Chapter 4 gives the context of sanctification and how it fits into Edwards’s theology of the Christian life in a holistic redemption, showing both the objective and subjective work of Word and Spirit. Chapter 5 picks up the heart of the argument in looking at three major undercurrents in the Christian life as observed by Edwards, with the chapter answering the question of why the believer should obey. Chapter 6 explores the means to happiness, by examining the principle means of grace developed by Edwards all of which revolve around the truth of God’s Word as used by the Holy Spirit. Chapter 7 the research provides a biblical and theological evaluation of Edwards’s arguments as discussed in this dissertation, giving a defense of happiness as an answer to obedience. Chapter 8, the conclusion, presents the application of this research to the debates today as well as providing the theological legacy of Jonathan Edwards on the doctrine of sanctification.

Jonathan Edwards has been described as the "theologian of the will," the "theologian of the heart," and the "theologian of revival." This dissertation seeks to prove that Edwards should rightly be called the "theologian of prayer." Chapter 1 defines the parameters of this study and argues for the importance of Edwards's contribution to this area of practical theology. Chapter 2 examines the nature of God the Father, asking and answering three questions regarding prayer: Who is God? Does God answer prayer? and, What about unanswered prayer? Chapters 3, 5, and 7 examine Edwards's life and consider the role prayer played during three stressful times: his first pastorate, the First Great Awakening, and his dismissal from the church in Northampton. Chapter 4 considers the role of Christ in prayer. The answer to two questions provides the outline for Edwards's Christology: Who is Jesus? and, What is Jesus doing? Chapter 6 addresses the person and work of the Holy Spirit as it applies to prayer. Again, three questions drive the study: Who is the Holy Spirit? What does the Holy Spirit do? and, What does the Holy Spirit have to do with prayer? Chapter 8 looks at the nature of man and the role of faith in prayer. The questions that undergird this chapter are: What did man have in the creation? What did man lose in the Fall? and, What can man have again in the recreation? Chapter 9 summarizes Edwards's arguments and provides a brief exhortation to application. This dissertation contends that Edwards believed that an accurate theology of prayer requires a right understanding of God and man, of the Trinity and man's needs, of divine grace and human faith. Ultimately, Edwards's theology of prayer begins and ends with God. In all of his Trinitarian glory, God is the source and the summa of all grace. In saving fallen men through faith, he resumes communion with them that they might glorify and enjoy him forever, that they might seek him and savor him. / This item is only available to students and faculty of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. If you are not associated with SBTS, this dissertation may be purchased from <a href="http://disexpress.umi.com/dxweb">http://disexpress.umi.com/dxweb</a> or downloaded through ProQuest's Dissertation and Theses database if your institution subscribes to that service.

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This thesis focuses on the legacy of Jonathan Edwards on the Particular Baptists by way of apprehending theories held by their congregations during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. In particular, special attention is directed to the Edwardsean legacy as manifested in the theology of Andrew Fuller. The thesis positions itself between Edwards and Fuller in the transatlantic, early modern period and attempts by the two theologians to express a coherent understanding of traditional dogma within the context of the Enlightenment. The scope of the research traces Fuller’s theological indebtedness by way of historical reconstruction, textual expositions, and theological and philosophical implications of the following works: Freedom of the Will, Religious Affections, Humble Attempt, and Justification by Faith Alone et al. It identifies unique Edwardsean ideas as the basis for investigating whether such concepts permeate Fuller’s intellectual and spiritual life. In that process, the study establishes whether Fuller read and interpreted Edwards correctly or otherwise. This dissertation, therefore, endeavors to determine the extent of Edwards’s impact upon Fuller over and above such other influential factors, which could also have been considered influential in his works. An attempt to determine the parameters of such factors is the basis for the ensuing discussion.

The views of Edwards and Wesley regarding the sovereignty of God present a puzzle. On the face of things, both were successful evangelists while both held contrary doctrines of sovereignty. Does this mean that the doctrine of sovereignty is irrelevant? This thesis argues that the doctrine of sovereignty is crucial in evangelism and revival, and that the views of Edwards and Wesley regarding the sovereignity of God were in fact very similar. A useful framework for showing this is the Five Points of Calvinism, as well as the doctrines of justification by faith and the omnipotence of God.

The extent to which the 'honour' of the Spirit influenced the theology of Jonathan Edwards is a hitherto underdeveloped theme. Against a backdrop of Patristic thought and in dialogue with the theology of Karl Barth, evaluation is made of pneumatological union in Edwards' Trinitarian theology as this centres on the nature and inter-relatedness of the 'three unions' that characterize his theology: the union of the three Persons of the Trinity, the union of the saints with God, and the union of the divine and human natures of Christ. Edwards' seeks to honour the Spirit as the mutual love of the Father for the Son within his Augustinian, Lockean model of the immanent Trinity, and as 'Person' in the economy. The challenges of doing so within the limits of this psychological model of the Trinity are evaluated in dialogue with the Cappadocian Fathers and Barth. In a manner patterned after union in the Trinity, Edwards gave prominence to the concept of the pneumatological union of the saints with God in Christ, in fulfilment of the self-glorifying purpose of God in creation and redemption. Edwards' experiential theology of conversion, and his elevation of subjective sanctification by the Spirit over objective justification in Christ, for assurance, is contrasted with Barth's greater emphases on the Christological union of God with humanity and objective justification in Christ. Barth's more contemplative approach is contrasted with the overly introspective spirituality of Edwards. Edwards' view of the role of the Spirit in the hypostatic union of God with humanity in Christ, which is reflective of the other unions, is also evaluated in light of Patristic, Reformed-Puritan and Barthian thought on the nature of the humanity Christ assumed, and the doctrine of the vicarious humanity of Christ. A more emphatic incarnational emphasis may have saved Edwards' Spirit- honouring spirituality from an anthropocentricity which is ironical given that the glory of God is his ontic doxological concern.

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