Jonathan Edwards on Preaching

Jonathan Edwards, in the popular imagination, is synonymous with the hellfire preaching of the puritans, hardly distinguishable from his most famous (or infamous) sermon, Sinners in the hands of an angry God. This one sermon, however, is not representative of his homiletics as a whole. In this lecture, Oliver Crisp will present a fuller portrait of Edwards the homiletician, articulating Edwards’ understanding of the nature and task of preaching. While dissimilarities between Edwards’ social context and our own makes any univocal appropriation impossible, Crisp argues that Edwards’ understanding of preaching as an exercise in rhetorical power, whereby words are believed to change hearers (heart and mind) via the attending work of the Holy Spirit, remains commendable.

Biography

Oliver D. Crisp is a professor of systematic theology who joined Fuller Theological Seminary in 2011. Prior to his appointment at Fuller, he was a Lecturer and then Reader in Theology (Associate Professor) at the University of Bristol, UK. He has also taught at the University of St. Andrews, in Scotland, and has been a visiting lecturer at Regent College, Vancouver, BC, Canada. His current research projects include work on the doctrines of original sin, atonement, and election. Dr. Crisp has published many articles in professional journals including Religious Studies, Journal of Theological Studies, and International Journal for Systematic Theology, among others. He has edited or coedited eight books and is the author of eight monographs, including Divinity and Humanity: The Incarnation Reconsidered (2007) and, most recently, Revisioning Christology: Theology in the Reformed Tradition (2011) and Jonathan Edwards on God and Creation (2012).