Typological Writings (The Works of Jonathan Edwards, Vol. 11 | WJE)
Overview
This volume presents for the first time a comprehensive, readable, and annotated text of the key typological notebooks of Jonathan Edwards: “Images of Divine Things,” “Types Notebook,” and Miscellany 1069, “Types of the Messiah.” These three works illustrate the way the eminent eighteenth-century theologian developed his theory of typological exegesis, a theory that helped him to understand the relationship between the Old and New Testaments and to comprehend the correspondence between the natural and the spiritual worlds.
Edwards’ theories of typology have long fascinated scholars from a variety of fields and have dominated literary studies of his work. These documents illuminate Edwards’ epistemology and show clearly his involvement in contemporary philosophical and exegetical trends. Introductions to the documents place Edwards’ typology within the context of his period, describe his typological practices, clarify some of the complex problems posed by his ambiguous use of the types throughout his career, and discuss his philosophical defenses of typologizing against the claims of materialists, deists, and rationalists.
Top Highlights
“First, to lay down that persons ought to be exceeding careful in interpreting of types, that they don’t give way to a wild fancy; not to fix an interpretation unless warranted by some hint in the New Testament of its being the true interpretation, or a lively figure and representation contained or warranted by an analogy to other types that we interpret on sure grounds.” (Page 148)
“Traditionally, typology involved the exercise of matching biblical ‘types’—prophetic figures, events, or circumstances—in the Old Testament with their ‘antitypes’ or fulfilling figures, events, or circumstances in the New. In Edwards’ hands, however, typology took on a broadened significance that comprehended not only Scripture but also nature and history.” (Page 3)
“The central point in Edwards’ response to this objection is indicated in ‘Miscellanies’ no. 362: ‘The whole outward creation, which is but shadows of beings, is so made as to represent spiritual things.” (Page 14)
“In the process, he transcended philosophical dualism, linking the natural and the supernatural in a compelling and dynamic unity in God.” (Page 33)
“The type is only the representation or shadow of the thing, but the antitype is the very substance, and is the true thing.” (Page 62)
About the Authors
Wallace E. Anderson was Associate Professor of Philosophy at The Ohio State University and Editor of Jonathan Edwards' Scientific and Philosophical Writings, the sixth volume in The Works of Jonathan Edwards.
Mason I. Lowance, Jr. is Professor of English at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
David H. Watters is Professor of English at the University of New Hampshire.