Understanding Affections in the Theology of Jonathan Edwards: "the High Exercises of Divine Love"

While reading Jonathan Edwards's references to "affections" or "passions" in his Christian classic A Treatise Concerning Religious Affections, most contemporary readers assume that he is referring to the same thing that they call "emotions." At the same time, for decades many Edwardsean scholars, from Perry Miller to Paul Helm, have accepted that, from his reading of the empiricist Enlightenment philosopher John Locke, Jonathan Edwards revolutionized the Puritan notion of affections in order to justify the First Great Awakening. Both these views have misread Edwards in important ways.

This book argues that the notion of "affections" in Jonathan Edwards (and Christian theologians before him) meant something very different from what contemporary English speakers call "emotions." Moreover, Edwards's notions of affections came almost entirely from traditional Christian theology in general and the Reformed tradition in particular. Martin shows that Christian theologians for centuries emphasized affection for God, associated affections with the will, and distinguished affections from passions. In general, they generally conceived of affections and passions as inclinations and aversions of the soul. This was Edwards's own view, and he held it throughout his entire ministry, not as a result of his reading of John Locke or the pressures of the Great Awakening (as many Edwardsean scholars argue), but from his own biblical interpretation and theological education.