Jonathan's Lecture Hall: Introduction
Jonathan's Lecture Hall is a personal study of a collection of sermons--in small bites. It began at a separate location, and is moving here to simplify things.Jonathan Edwards composed sixteen "lectures" drawn from 1 Corinthians 13, the great "love" chapter. His writing on the true nature of Christian love is simple, full of thought and timeless. These are great old works, still loved today (see links below).
In order to make the lectures more accessible to those of us with a busy schedule, this study will divide them into much more than sixteen parts. We'll follow Edwards's divisions within the works to break them down. In some cases, I will act as a sort of secretary or editorial assistant to create explanatory footnotes for the old style of grammar.
Even if you're not into the "blog" thing, I encourage you to share your thoughts by clicking the "Post a Comment" button at the bottom of the entry you're reading. You can type your name in the space above your comments where it says "Anonymous." (That's just a default setting.) The sharing so far has been a huge added bonus to this study. You don't have to agree to give your opinion, in fact, it's more interesting if you have an alternate view to express.
We're working from the Sixth American Edition of "Christian Love, As Manifested in the Heart and Life," published sometime in or shortly after 1874 by the Presbyterian Board of Publication. Credit for the editorial work on this old edition goes to the Rev. Tryon Edwards, D.D.
Here's what the Preface says about the book:
This work, under the title of "CHARITY AND ITS FRUITS," or "CHRISTIAN LOVE, AS MANIFESTED IN THE HEART AND LIFE," was first published from the original manuscripts in 1851. It was republished in England in 1852. After that, several editions were issued in this country, when the work was purchased by a Christian gentleman of wealth and culture, with the express view of printing it for distribution as a means of doing good. He had himself been so impressed with its great value as a treatise on the Christian spirit and life that he intended to issue edition after edition, at his own expense, for gratuitous circulation in every part of the land. On second thought, however, he liberally presented the stereotype plates to the Presbyterian Board of Publication, so arranging with them as to be able to carry out his design, while, at the same time, the work, in their hands, might have a more extended circulation, and thus be the means of a greater good....
October, 1872.
The sixteen sermons can be found online at Bible Bulletin Board's Jonathan Edwards Collection. The Collection is ordered by its own topical index, so the Lectures are dispersed in a different order to that of the original publication.
A current hardcopy edition of this work can be found through Grace and Truth Books.
Other Edwards sermons (in the public domain due to their antiquity) can be located at Select Sermons of Jonathan Edwards.
Labels: BibleStudy, JonathanEdwards
