Finding God in Solitude: The Personal Piety of Jonathan Edwards (1703–1758) and Its Influence on His Pastoral Ministry by Donald S. Whitney (review)

Even with the steady stream of publications, interest in Jonathan Edwards does not seem to be waning. The author offers three reasons at the outset for this: the three hundredth anniversary of Edwards’ birth in 2003 generated a new wave of publications, John Piper, a popular evangelical pastor, especially among the millennial generation, has long stressed the importance of Edwards in his pastoral and public ministry and the continual production of the critical edition of Edwards’ works by Jonathan Edwards Center at Yale University has stimulated increased research into the life of this great American theologian and author (38–39). This volume focuses in particular on Edwards’ personal spiritual disciplines. While other recent works trace the spirituality and the spiritual practices of Edwards this book is unique seeking to examine how his personal piety shaped his pastoral ministry (see 1, 20, 131, 132). Finding God in Solitude is an edited version of Donald Whitney’s PhD dissertation from the University of the Free State in Bloemfontein, South Africa. Fortunately, for readers, much of the tedious and often repetitive academic jargon of dissertations has been removed to create a readable introduction to Edwards’ life and ministry.

Structurally the book is divided into five sections. The opening introduction establishes the foundation by first clarifying such terms as piety, godliness and spiritual disciplines. Whitney, who teaches at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, as professor of Biblical Spirituality, is particularly interested to trace the biblical foundation for every aspect of Edwards’ life and that is evident throughout this helpful study. This initial section also compares and contrasts the emphasis upon devotion and pastoral ministry of the seventeenth-century Puritans with that of Edwards in the eighteenth century. Numerous parallels have long been advanced including the claim that Edwards was the “last of the Puritans.” Along the way Whitney provides helpful contextual background to better situate and appreciate the historical challenges and successes of Edwards’ ministry.

Section one examines the life and work of Edwards emphasizing his piety and pastoral ministry. Essentially this portion of the book advances the agenda in its global nature while the next two divisions of the book explores each one in greater depth. After sketching his early life, education at Yale, first expressions of pastoral ministry, the author presents a more detailed treatment of the Great Awakening and Edwards’ contribution to it. Whitney again provides insightful historical background to supplement many of the primary events in Edwards’ life. For example, in his discussion of Edwards’ dismissal from his Northampton congregation he informs readers that even after he had preached his farewell sermon the congregation invited him, somewhat begrudgingly, to return to the pulpit on a number of occasions since they could not locate a replacement preacher (69). The cause for this tragic termination was not only theological due to Edwards’ efforts to tighten the requirements for church membership but as Whitney will discuss later was directly related to the Northampton pastor’s unbalanced practice of his personal piety. Another observation is Whitney’s reminder that Edwards’ tendency toward emphasizing human depravity could well have been formed, at least in part, by his own family genealogy. Edwards’ “grandmother was an incorrigible profligate, his great–aunt committed infanticide, and his great–uncle was an ax–murderer” (44).

The next section delves more deeply into the personal piety of the Northampton preacher. Themes explored include Edwards’ perception of the nature of God, the role and authority of Scripture, prayer, journaling, fasting, solitude and the often debated question: was Edwards a Christian mystic? Of particular interest to readers of this journal is the section that reviews Edwards’ practice of meditation on Scripture. Whitney concludes that while there are some parallels with lectio divina, Edwards would not have been familiar with this method of praying Scripture (80–81). More descriptive and expansive...