Free Will: Jonathan Edwards’ Psychological, Ethical, and Theological Philosophy in his Freedom of the Will
Ebook
Overview
Free Will, also known as Freedom of the Will, is appraised as the one of the greatest works ever produced in America. The mid-eighteenth-century New England philosophical theologian Jonathan Edwards (1703-58) defines the will by importing terms from John Locke. Edwards states the Arminian nature of free will, suspects the need for such free will, and finally defends Calvinist free will and objects to the Arminian one.
In his argument, he chooses three British antagonists: Daniel Whitby, Thomas Chubb, and Isaac Watts. These antagonists insist that the self-determining will is necessary for us to be morally accountable. Edwards disputes their objections that God’s determination is contradictory to the liberty of the human will. He then goes to argue what kind of freedom of the will is necessary for the former and latter to be compatible. Edwards’s psychological, moral, and theological philosophy is displayed. In addition, readers can learn how our will chooses something pleasant by following the dictate of understanding, while the author demonstrates the natures of New England Arminianism and Calvinism.
This book alone is sufficient to establish its author as the greatest philosopher-theologian yet to grace the American scene.
——Paul Ramsey, Princeton University
This new study guide will aid the reading of an important work of philosophy and theology, Freedom of the Will by Jonathan Edwards. Dr. Jung has offered a great service to many in the academy and the church in preparing this study guide.
——Adriaan C. Neele, Consulting and Digital Editor, Jonathan Edwards Center at Yale University
Peter Jung is one of the most important Korean scholars at work on Jonathan Edwards and his thought. And this monograph on Edwards and the will is a great example of Jung’s scholarly acumen. It is a marvelous accomplishment that deserves a wide reading.
——Douglas A. Sweeney, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School
This new edition of Edwards’s classic philosophical argument will help readers understand this important text and its implications for past and contemporary debates.
——Gerald R. McDermott, Samford University
Jonathan Edwards’s treatise on Freedom of the Will is one of the most important, and also one of the most demanding, works in philosophical theology from the modern era, but any who commit themselves to serious engagement with it will be rewarded. This new study guide will be helpful to students on many levels and to church study groups seeking to understand Edwards’ magnificent view of God and of the human person.
——Kenneth P. Minkema, Yale University
- Title: Free Will: Jonathan Edwards’ Psychological, Ethical, and Theological Philosophy in his Freedom of the Will
- Author: Peter B. Jung
- Publisher: Resource Publications
- Print Publication Date: 2019
- Logos Release Date: 2024
- Pages: 424
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Ebook
- ISBNs: 9781532661426, 9781532661419, 153266141X, 9781532661402, 1532661401, 1532661428
- Resource ID: LLS:9781532661426
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2026-02-22T01:15:09Z
Peter Jung is the research associate of Jonathan Edwards Center
at Yale. He is the author of Life of Jonathan Edwards (1996)
and Jonathan Edwards and New England Arminianism
(2019).