Charity and Its Fruits: Living in the Light of God's Love

by Jonathan Edwards, Kyle Strobel (Editor)

Jonathan Edwards took great pains to illustrate how love must be lived out and exercised in one’s life when he exposited I Corinthians 13. Thus Edwards scholar Kyle Strobel has gone to great lengths to help readers understand this classic work of biblical spirituality by providing: Here is an updated, unabridged, and enlightening version of Jonathan Edwards’s Charity and Its Fruits —the perfect blend of doctrine and application on the all-important topic, Christian love.

352 pages, Paperback

Published June 30, 2012

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database named Jonathan Edwards.

Jonathan Edwards was the most eminent American philosopher-theologian of his time, and a key figure in what has come to be called the First Great Awakening of the 1730s and 1740s.

The only son in a family of eleven children, he entered Yale in September, 1716 when he was not yet thirteen and graduated four years later (1720) as valedictorian. He received his Masters three years later. As a youth, Edwards was unable to accept the Calvinist sovereignty of God. However, in 1721 he came to what he called a "delightful conviction" though meditation on 1 Timothy 1:17. From that point on, Edwards delighted in the sovereignty of God. Edwards later recognized this as his conversion to Christ.

In 1727 he was ordained minister at Northampton and assistant to his maternal grandfather, Solomon Stoddard. He was a student minister, not a visiting pastor, his rule being thirteen hours of study a day. In the same year, he married Sarah Pierpont, then age seventeen, daughter of Yale founder James Pierpont (1659–1714). In total, Jonathan and Sarah had eleven children.

Stoddard died on February 11th, 1729, leaving to his grandson the difficult task of the sole ministerial charge of one of the largest and wealthiest congregations in the colony. Throughout his time in Northampton his preaching brought remarkable religious revivals.

Yet, tensions flamed as Edwards would not continue his grandfather's practice of open communion. Stoddard believed that communion was a "converting ordinance." Surrounding congregations had been convinced of this, and as Edwards became more convinced that this was harmful, his public disagreement with the idea caused his dismissal in 1750.

Edwards then moved to Stockbridge, Massachusetts, then a frontier settlement, where he ministered to a small congregation and served as missionary to the Housatonic Indians. There, having more time for study and writing, he completed his celebrated work, The Freedom of the Will (1754).

Edwards was elected president of the College of New Jersey (later Princeton University) in early 1758. He was a popular choice, for he had been a friend of the College since its inception. He died of fever at the age of fifty-four following experimental inoculation for smallpox and was buried in the President's Lot in the Princeton cemetery beside his son-in-law, Aaron Burr.

Reviews

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mr. Edwards combines Puritan and Revivalist styles of writing with thoughtful and passionate analysis in what must be the greatest work on Christian virtue I have ever found. Edwards shows us through Scripture how the most beautiful of Christian virtues - self-sacrifice, fellowship, joy, thanksgiving, patience, etc. - are summed up in love, or charity. He shows us how Christ and the Father are the fount of Christian love, and how the love we have in Him is unique and far more wonderful than the naive understanding of love. If you're comfortable with somewhat archaic language, this work is concise, rich, and easy to listen to, and it hopefully will transform your understanding of the Gospel, morality, and the Church.

[Hulda Gilca]

"Dacă te numești pe tine însuți creștin, unde sunt faptele tale de dragoste? Dacă acest principiu de viața divina și sfantă se găsește în tine și domnește în tine, oare nu se va manifesta în viața ta prin fapte de iubire? Gândește-te la ce fel de fapte de dragoste ai săvârșit. Îl iubești pe Dumnezeu? Ce ai făcut pentru El, pentru slava Lui și pentru înaintarea Împărăției Sale în lumea aceasta? Și cât de mult te-ai lepădat de tine însuți ca sa poți promova interesele Răscumpărătorului tău printre oameni? Îi iubești pe semenii tai? Ce ai făcut pentru ei? Gândește-te la lipsurile tale din trecut în privința aceasta și la cât de potrivit e ca tu, ca și creștin, sa abunzi mai mult de acum înainte în fapte de iubire. Nu te scuza cu faptul ca nu ai avut parte de oportunități să faci ceva pentru slava lui Dumnezeu, pentru interesele Împărăției Răscumpărătorului și pentru beneficiul spiritual și aproapele tău. Dacă inim ta este plina de dragoste, aceasta se va manifesta în afara; vei găsi ori vei crea modalități prin care să-ți exprimi dragostea prin fapte. Atunci can o fantana e plina de apa, din ea se vor revărsa râuri.”
-Jonathan Edwards
Matei 22:37-39
1 Ioan 3:18

[Anna Goerner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of good, convicting stuff but a little tricky to comprehend sometimes. The edition I read made Edwards' message a lot clearer compared to versions that the other women in book study were using. It broke things up into sections that were more bite-size rather than massive chunks of text. The type of book you need to reread to fully understand.

[Megan Lyon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good. I read an biography of Edwards before reading this book; the historical context was helpful to understanding much of his sermons. Also, I read this with a book club, which I highly recommend, as there is much depth and discussion to unearth.

[Emily Vardeman · Rating 5 out of 5]

My husband has read this at least twice and loved this book and wanted me to read it. I was hesitant because I thought I might not like it as much as he did or that I would struggle with the language of the time, but I thought it was very good and the language was not a problem. The sermons on the fruits of charity were especially good. I didn’t read the little notes from the editor or the introduction or conclusion.

[Josh G. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Searching and sobering, yet profoundly helpful and encouraging.

[Marguerite Harrell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book, and it is like a stethoscope to listens to your heart. Thankful for that book. This does teach us how to Love the way Christ loves us. Many things too! Thankful for this book!

[Cindi Love-Westberg · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has an amazing message. The hardest part to decipher is the Old English. The vernacular of the writing is a struggle so I found myself thinking too much about that instead of the message that it was telling.