The Jonathan Edwards Center at Yale University

New Book

Hall. Richard A.S., ed. The Contribution of Jonathan Edwards to American Culture and Society: Essays on America’s Spiritual Founding Father. Lewiston, N.Y.: Edwin Mellen Press, 2008. Pp. xi + 355 + Appendixes.

To borrow a line from Annie Dillard, “the flood of fire” of the tercentenary obervations of Edwards’ birth has abated, but we are “still spending the power.” Not entirely abated. Witness the new volume that brings together resources from events held at First Churches in Northampton in that very busy year. From the conference, we have eighteen papers on a wide variety of topics, touching on, among other things, Edwards as a political philosopher and as an interpreter of nature, his place in American philosophy, and in transatlantic metaphyics and and theology. If volumes commemorating the bicentenary of Edwards’ birth, not to mention Edwards family reunions in the nineteenth century, were characterized by the addition of poetry (of questionable quality, alas), this volume is characterized by the addition of fascinating musical scores composed and performed for the tercentenary—fitting, given Edwards’ emphasis on music and aesthetics. Four different pieces, classical and jazz, are presented here. The volume concludes with the program of a conference on “Edwards and the Environment” from 2007, the proceedings of which we hope to see published, as well as a gallery of images from the 2003 gathering.