What Would You Ask Jonathan Edwards?
00:00:00.000 | (upbeat music)
00:00:02.580 | - Well, it is no secret that Jonathan Edwards
00:00:07.280 | has shaped you profoundly, Pastor John.
00:00:10.000 | And as we heard earlier in the week,
00:00:12.360 | back in episode number 554,
00:00:14.160 | you explained a little bit about how
00:00:16.160 | and why that has happened.
00:00:17.920 | And Andy writes in to ask this.
00:00:20.080 | Pastor John, if you could ask Jonathan Edwards one question,
00:00:24.400 | what would you ask him?
00:00:26.360 | - Well, I'm assuming that these answers to APJ
00:00:30.840 | should be longer than 30 seconds.
00:00:32.840 | - Right, yes.
00:00:33.800 | - So I'm going to fudge on the question
00:00:38.800 | and instead of answering what one question
00:00:44.240 | would you ask Edwards,
00:00:46.200 | I'm going to answer what one kind of question
00:00:50.480 | would you ask Edwards and then give a bunch of examples
00:00:55.240 | and fill up the time we're supposed to take.
00:00:57.560 | I would not ask Edwards anything about theology.
00:01:02.180 | Not because it isn't important.
00:01:05.960 | It has been the most important source of inspiration
00:01:09.640 | and insight for me outside the Bible, more than anybody.
00:01:13.100 | Edwards is at the top of that list.
00:01:15.960 | The reason I wouldn't ask him about his theology
00:01:19.560 | is that I think he has been so full and so clear
00:01:24.120 | on what he thinks theologically
00:01:26.300 | that if he hasn't written about it,
00:01:28.080 | then it's probably not important to him
00:01:32.000 | and he doesn't want to talk about it.
00:01:34.240 | And if it's not plain there,
00:01:35.820 | I doubt that he can improve on it.
00:01:37.520 | And so I'm not going to go there with him
00:01:41.240 | because I think he's done us the great service
00:01:44.240 | of putting it in books
00:01:45.760 | and he should expect that I would read them.
00:01:47.440 | So that's not the direction my questions are going to go.
00:01:51.440 | I'm going to go where 18th century Puritan type preachers
00:01:54.760 | were not willing to go, namely about their private life.
00:01:59.080 | You will read two volumes or 25 Yale volumes
00:02:04.080 | of Edwards' works and find almost zero references
00:02:09.240 | to his family or his personal life
00:02:12.240 | or his struggles or anything.
00:02:14.000 | So I'm going to put him on the spot big time
00:02:17.680 | if I get a chance to meet him.
00:02:20.360 | And he probably will not answer a bunch of these
00:02:24.120 | just because the way 18th century people are wired,
00:02:28.760 | but I'm going to ask him anyway.
00:02:30.160 | Mr. Edwards, you had 11 children.
00:02:34.600 | Was that intentional?
00:02:36.380 | Did you want 11 children?
00:02:38.400 | Could you have had more?
00:02:40.360 | Mr. Edwards, it's simply astonishing and wonderful
00:02:44.920 | that all your children walked with the Lord,
00:02:49.140 | as far as I know, till the day they died.
00:02:52.600 | Can you give me any insight
00:02:55.500 | into what your relationship with them was like?
00:02:58.360 | Since you have the reputation of working in your study
00:03:02.200 | 13 hours a day, can you help me understand
00:03:07.200 | a little bit of how you discipled your children?
00:03:11.560 | Mr. Edwards, can you describe any of your own battles
00:03:16.360 | with temptation to sin?
00:03:17.920 | I'm thinking about sexual lust and anger and pride.
00:03:22.920 | What were your battles like?
00:03:25.880 | How did you mortify these sins?
00:03:29.520 | Mr. Edwards, did you ever have misgivings
00:03:34.520 | about the pattern of your parish ministry,
00:03:38.100 | giving so much time to study and writing?
00:03:43.020 | How did you make those choices in a God-honoring way,
00:03:47.300 | whether to write or read and study,
00:03:50.920 | or whether to visit and evangelize and disciple?
00:03:54.720 | Mr. Edwards, would you tell me
00:03:58.160 | about some of the sweetest times
00:04:00.880 | you enjoyed in communion with God?
00:04:03.480 | What were they like?
00:04:05.320 | Were there patterns of devotion that led into those times?
00:04:10.320 | I know you've written just a little bit
00:04:11.720 | in your personal narrative about a horse ride once,
00:04:15.840 | but you didn't say much more after that.
00:04:17.620 | I'd love to know what your pattern of devotional life,
00:04:22.620 | or, Mr. Edwards, would you tell me
00:04:25.600 | about your devotional Bible reading,
00:04:28.520 | or did you even distinguish between reading your Bible
00:04:32.360 | for personal enjoyment of God
00:04:35.120 | and reading it for study of doctrine
00:04:38.200 | or scripture in general?
00:04:40.080 | How did you mingle prayer with Bible reading?
00:04:44.480 | Were they separate?
00:04:45.560 | Did you pause?
00:04:47.200 | Did you have lists in your prayer?
00:04:49.940 | Did you have a pattern of prayer, a time for prayer?
00:04:52.840 | How did it look?
00:04:55.200 | Mr. Edwards, what books did you consult most often
00:04:59.320 | in your study of the Bible?
00:05:00.880 | How important was a concordance to you?
00:05:04.360 | I don't even know if you had a Greek concordance
00:05:06.840 | and a Hebrew concordance.
00:05:07.800 | Did you?
00:05:08.720 | Did you use them?
00:05:09.760 | I'm just amazed at how much scripture you quote.
00:05:12.160 | (laughs)
00:05:13.120 | On any topic, you string 10 texts together
00:05:15.680 | and I just wonder how you found them,
00:05:18.120 | or are they all in your head?
00:05:19.640 | Mr. Edwards, you are known for being in touch
00:05:25.280 | with cultural currents of the day, like philosophy.
00:05:29.360 | How did you include reading of John Locke
00:05:35.220 | or other philosophers in your pastoral work, in your study?
00:05:40.040 | Was there a plan for that?
00:05:41.840 | Or did, when a book was published,
00:05:43.360 | you just happened to kick back and read it?
00:05:45.520 | Or how did you mingle cultural reading
00:05:49.000 | with theological study?
00:05:51.520 | Mr. Edwards, would you be surprised
00:05:55.440 | that thousands of people, scholars, pastors,
00:05:58.880 | lay people in the 21st century are studying your works
00:06:03.200 | 250 years later?
00:06:08.360 | Thank you, Mr. Edwards, for all that you have given us.
00:06:11.720 | Very insightful, yes.
00:06:13.960 | It would have been great to get more
00:06:15.640 | of the personal detail from Edwards' life
00:06:18.080 | and perhaps someday we will know more about him.
00:06:20.960 | Thank you, Pastor John, and for the question, Andy.
00:06:24.040 | And thank you for listening to the Ask Pastor John podcast.
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00:06:57.800 | And I know you're out there listening, so thank you.
00:07:00.600 | Well, does God want me most to be happy or to be holy?
00:07:05.240 | That's a question from Josh tomorrow.
00:07:07.360 | I'm your host, Tony Reinke.
00:07:08.200 | We'll see you then.
00:07:09.120 | (silence)
00:07:11.280 | (silence)
00:07:13.440 | (silence)
00:07:15.600 | [BLANK_AUDIO]