Nathaniel Taylor New Haven Theology and the Legacy of Jonathan Edwards .
Nathaniel Taylor, New Haven Theology, and the Legacy of Jonathan Edwards (Religion in America Series (Oxford University Press).)
- Author: Douglas A. Sweeney
- Length: 255
- Edition: Hardcover
- Publisher: Oxford University Press
Description of Nathaniel Taylor New Haven Theology and the Legacy of Jonathan Edwards .:
Nathaniel Taylor was arguably the most influential and the most frequently misrepresented American theologian of his generation. While he claimed to be an Edwardsian Calvinist, very few people believed him. This book attempts to understand how Taylor and his associates could have counted themselves Edwardsians. In the process, it explores what it meant to be an Edwardsian minister and intellectual in the 19th century.
Information on Nathaniel Taylor New Haven Theology and the Legacy of Jonathan Edwards . from the publisher:
"Nathaniel William Taylor (1786-1858) was arguably the most influential American theologian of his generation. Despite his tremendous national influence, however, his views were chronically misunderstood. He and his associates always declared themselves to be Edwardsian Calvinists - working in the train of "America's Augustine," Jonathan Edwards - but very few people, then or since, have believed them." In this revisionist study, Douglas A. Sweeney examines why Taylor and his associates counted themselves Edwardsians. He explores what it meant to be an Edwardsian minister and intellectual in the nineteenth century, how the Edwardsian tradition evolved after the death of Edwards himself, how Taylor promoted and eventually fragmented this tradition, and the significance of these developments for the future of evangelical America. Taylor's theology has been misconstrued by the vast majority of scholars, argues Sweeney. He has been interpreted variously as a Connecticut liberal, a Jacksonian Arminian, or a moderate Old Calvinist. Nearly all, however, have depicted him as a powerful symbol of the decline of Edwardsian Calvinism and the triumph of democratic liberalism in early national American religion. Sweeney instead sees Taylor as a symbol of the vitality of Edwardsian Calvinism throughout the first half of the nineteenth century, a vitality that calls into question some widely held assumptions about this era. Charting Taylor's contribution to the modification, diversification, and ultimate dissolution of the Edwardsian tradition. Sweeney demonstrates his role in the translation of Edwardsian ideals to the ever-expanding evangelical world that would succeed him.
Description of Douglas A. Sweeney, author of Nathaniel Taylor New Haven Theology and the Legacy of Jonathan Edwards .:
Nathaniel Taylor was arguably the most influential and the most frequently misrepresented American theologian of his generation. While he claimed to be an Edwardsian Calvinist, very few people believed him. This book attempts to understand how Taylor and his associates could have counted themselves Edwardsians. In the process, it explores what it meant to be an Edwardsian minister and intellectual in the 19th century.