The Jonathan Edwards Center at Yale University

USA
The First Source project of the Jonathan Edwards Center at Yale must be accounted one of the most ambitious, carefully planned, extensive, and successful undertakings in serious scholarly work that we will see on the web during our lifetimes.   This project has the potential to create a world-wide community of scholarship on Edwards and colonial America, serving not only scholars deeply immersed in the Edwards material but also students in classrooms, writers of dissertations, serious religious leaders, and curious onlookers wondering why this eighteenth-century minister-philosopher-theologian has attracted so much continuing attention through the centuries.  This is what the web ought to be.  Congratulations to Yale and to the editors, who have established a model that—we should all hope—others will follow in opening up the past to new generations.
 E. Brooks Holifield, C.H. Candler Professor of American Church History, Emory University

The great British preacher/theologian Martyn Lloyd-Jones once stated that Jonathan Edwards is 'the Mount Everest of theologians.'  I think he was correct!  And if he was, then this website, First Source, is the definitive guide to climbing Mount Everest.  From its extraordinary search capacities to its up-to-the-minute blogs, this new platform for scholarship is the best of its kind anywhere.  All lovers of Edwards owe a profound debt of gratitude to the Jonathan Edwards Center at Yale.
Samuel Logan, President Emeritus, Westminster Theological Seminary, International Director, World Reformed Fellowship

The Works of Jonathan Edwards Online is awesome. The richness and the range of Edwards's writings makes it especially rewarding to be able to search through them in seconds in order to find out things that might have taken months or years to figure out a generation ago. And it is amazing what one can find out. For instance, I thought, that perhaps "awesome" was a word that Edwards did not use. You can check as to whether I was right.
George Marsden, Francis A. McAnaney Professor  of  History University of Notre Dame

This is the best website--and there are many--for scholars and other devotees of that great American mind named Jonathan Edwards.  Nowhere else can you download critical editions of important Edwards texts.  And nowhere else can you do an electronic search of Edwards's terms and concepts, with such efficiency, as here.  Here you will find Edwards sermons and other documents that have never been published.  There is simply nothing else like it--either for Edwards or any other great American mind.
Gerald McDermott, Jordan-Trexler Professor of Religion, Roanoke College

Jonathan Edwards, of course, was one of the greatest American theologians, preachers, thinkers and evangelists.  The Edwards Center at Yale has long been something of a Mecca for academic Edwards studies.  Now with its first rate and unparalleled resources provided on the Internet, it offers a marvelous scope for both the novice and Edwards scholar alike.  Browse, read, use and generally be stimulated by the writing and thinking of a Mozart of theology.
Josh Moody, Senior Pastor, College Church, Wheaton, Il.

The Jonathan Edwards Center at Yale University has fulfilled a dream I did not expect to see. With the 26 volumes of the Yale paper edition of the Works of Edwards selling for over $100 each, I never expected to see every word of Edwards freely available to read, search, and quote on line. But there it is, like an ocean of hidden treasures, and no fees for the diving gear. Amazing.
This is a heartfelt thank you to everyone at Yale who dreamed and labored to make this happen.
The agony and the ecstasy of Jonathan Edwards is laid bare in this breathtaking availability of all of Edwards' remains. From the bill of sale for a slave named Venus (the agony) to 68 titles on Heaven in the Miscellanies (the ecstasy), you can find it with the search engine built into the website, or with the "find" command on your computer (command F on the Mac).
All the printed volumes are available with pagination keyed to the printed version. Besides the printed volumes there are 47 more volumes of material. These are searchable in various ways. You can enter a scripture text or key words. You can get your results in a concordance format or with contexts. You can peruse the sermons by text or chronologically. You can see the entire list of the Miscellanies and do a word search on the titles, for example, to find all the ones on "Christ's righteousness." If you don't like the small print on the site, you can click command + and it gets bigger. The reason all this matters is not merely that Edwards is the poster boy of intellectual American Historians, but, even more importantly, that, using the lens of Scripture, he saw and believed and described the greatest realities in the universe in ways that few of us would ever see on our own. He saw Jesus Christ through whom and for whom all things exist. And he saw the Gospel-that Christ died for our sins and rose again to be Lord of all. The website is a gift because Edwards is a greater gift because Christ is the greatest gift to the world.
John Piper, Pastor for Preaching and Vision, Bethlehem Baptist Church, Minneapolis, MN


The time has never been better to study Edwards' life and thought. Yale's Jonathan Edwards Center has set the gold standard for online editions of the works of well-known figures from the past, making Edwards more accessible than ever before in history. Scholars writing books, pastors writing Sunday sermons, students writing term papers, and a host of others looking for knowledge and guidance from the past--all will profit by mining the treasures in this massive, user-friendly, pleasantly-packaged database.
Douglas A. Sweeney, associate professor of Church History and the History of Christian Thought, director of the Carl F. H. Henry Center for Theological Understanding at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Chicago

Australia
Jonathan Edwards's legacy is not limited to North America - his impact on the global church continues to be felt in places like Australia, Korea and India. The launch of the improved platform will enable students, scholars and pastors around the world to access important resources, to deepen their appreciation of Edwards's thought, and to embolden their own witness to Christ. I enthusiastically commend the work of the Center and the value of the site.
Rev'd Rhys Bezzant, Dean of Missional Leadership, Lecturer in Christian Thought, Ridley College.


Belgium
The Jonathan Edwards Center at Yale deserves many congratulations for having accomplished its new platform First Source, a truly amazing research tool for scholars of history, literature and theology. First Source brings not only all 73 volumes of the annotated Works of Jonathan Edwards Online edition to your fingertips, but also the works of the impressive host of great theologians that are cited by the learned Edwards, including the most important Church Fathers, medieval theologians, Reformers and Post-Reformation theologians. This combination opens up new vistas for research on Jonathan Edwards and Post-Reformation thought, to say the least. First Source shows in exceptional ways that a happy marriage of editorial accuracy and technological accessibility is really possible.
Andreas J. Beck, Evangelical Faculty of Theology, Leuven, Belgium, Academic Dean, Professor of Theology, and Director of the Institute of Post-Reformation Studies.


Germany
For European scholars working on Jonathan Edwards and American religious history in transatlantic perspective the ‘Digital Edwards’ will prove to be an invaluable resource. In addition to having the trusted Works right at their fingertips, they will now have effortless access to a wealth of new documents that were hitherto hidden in the faraway archives of the Yale library. Together with the research databases and the didactic materials that the webpage offers these digitized (and fully annotated!) sources are going to revolutionize the ways in which we will be able to teach and study Edwards writings in conversation with both English Evangelicalism and continental Pietism.
Jan Stievermann, Assistant professor, American Studies Department, University of Tübingen

Northern Ireland
Jonathan Edwards once mused that after publishing in New England he would seek a platform in London for his distinctive theological voice. Between then and now Edwards has been heard in myriad locations largely because of the persistence of the printing press. His prodigious influence on human culture has long been recognized. Now, with the development of First Source, Edwards enjoys a platform which even in his most imaginative moments he could not have contemplated. Here are the published and previously unpublished writings of one of the most fecund heralds of the Christian faith, available for all, ordered and searchable. It is a breathtaking achievement and one that will doubtless serve to further fan the flames of interest in President Edwards and New England's God.
Rev'd Dr Michael McClenahan, Greenwell Street Presbyterian Church, Newtownards, Northern Ireland.

The Netherlands
It is no wonder at all that the interest in Edwards´ work is growing and is getting more and more international. Here is a man who knew that faith seeks understanding and that faith needs reason as well as can stand reason. That his works are being made available through the most advanced multimedia is not only a great accomplishment, it also fits to the relevance of Edwards for today.
Herman J. Selderhuis, Rektor & Professor, Theologische Universiteit Apeldoorn, The Netherlands, General Secretary International Calvin Congress


The best site for the best research into the best American theologian. Warmly recommended!
Willem van Vlastuin, Professor Free University, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Poland
I am truly amazed with the scholarly resources and research tools available online through the First Source platform recently launched by the Jonathan Edwards Center at Yale. Along with the complete collection of Edwards’ writings, secondary literature referring to Edwards thought and life, audiovisual materials, and various types of educational tools, it provides access to the works of other major scholars such as Calvin, Whitfield and Melanchthon. It is a must for scholars, educators, religious leaders and writers, whether their research and ministry draws on the rich legacy of 18th century American literature or the underlying thought of key Reformation figures. It is so much easier now worldwide to study Edwards as a theologian, philosopher, missionary, preacher and writer. Nothing like this has been available in my country until now. I expect this platform to spur considerable growth of interest in Edwards’ thought in Poland and central Europe in coming years.
Wojciech Szczerba, Rektor, Ewangelikalna Wyzsza Szkola Teologiczna, Wroclaw, Poland


South Africa
It is indeed a great privilege to endorse also from the African continent the work of the Jonathan Edwards Center based at Yale in New Haven. Work of immense proportions has been done at this Center. Unlocking the Jonathan Edwards sources and resources for people all over the world and from all walks of life, is not only encouraging a broad readership but it provides the tools for so many people to research, inform and publish on this very prominent American theologian who is still having a worldwide influence. The availability of these sources is not only indispensable for understanding the historical roots of the international evangelical movement, but it is of utmost importance to tracing its influences also in Africa and in Southern Africa.
JW(Hoffie) Hofmeyr, Emeritus professor, University of Pretoria; Extraordinary professor, University of Free State, Bloemfontein; Visiting professor, Evangelical Theological Faculty, Louvain, Belgium; Visiting Scholar, Liverpool Hope University, Liverpool, UK.