THE DEVELOPMENT IN JONATHAN EDWARDS’ COVENANT VIEW

Abstract

Relatively little has been written about the covenant views of Jonathan Edwards, and the majority that has been written on the topic was part of the discussion about the relationship of and possible tension between ‘pure Calvinism’ and the development of federal theology by the Puritans. After Perry Miller argued that Edwards was the first to abandon covenant theology and return to the so-called pure Calvinism, many authors argued that covenant theology was not at odds with Calvinism and had a firm place in Edwards’ thought, most notably Helm, Stout, Gerstner and Bogue. Although Bogue’s work provides a broad overview of the covenant concept in Edwards’ works, he treats Edwards’ works as a complete unity, without commenting on possible developments and different concerns. Only recently McClymond and McDermott came up with an arrangement of Edwards’ views in three different periods. Until their contribution, accounts of Edwards covenant views have been largely descriptive, without looking for specific concerns or related discussions that led to developments in Edwards’ views.