Jonathan Edwards and the Theocratic Ideal
Looking back upon the Puritan Holy Commonwealth from the vantage point of our Great Society, we recognize continuity, but it would be surprising if we were not more conscious of differences. Not the least of these, we might assume, would be the abandonment of a colonial ideal of theocracy in favor o...
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| Format: | Electronic/Print Article |
| Language: | English |
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| Published: |
Cambridge University Press
[1966]
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| In: |
Church history
Year: 1966, Volume: 35, Issue: 3, Pages: 328-343 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (doi) |
| Parallel Edition: | Electronic
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| Summary: | Looking back upon the Puritan Holy Commonwealth from the vantage point of our Great Society, we recognize continuity, but it would be surprising if we were not more conscious of differences. Not the least of these, we might assume, would be the abandonment of a colonial ideal of theocracy in favor of a wall of separation between church and state in a thoroughly secularized world. Surely in a day when God is hidden or dead we do not look for any avenues of divine direction in mundane affairs or for some visible body of saints through whom God's continuing will for culture may be made known. Yet it has been urged that even after the Puritan theocracy collapsed “the Puritan vision of the political order subdued to God and operating under his will by his people was not lost. It persisted in American life through various transformations until thoroughly secularized.” The thesis deserves scrutiny, period by period, person by person. For our purposes we can find substantial evidence of a continuing theocratic ideal in such a suggestive period as the Great Awakening,2 when revivalist preachers and excited followers seemed to rattle and even threaten the structure of their own society, and certainly left a legacy of movements and causes to affect the body politic later. Towering over all other figures in the upheavals of the 1740's is that fascinating and enigmatic Puritan, Jonathan Edwards. The specific purpose of this paper is to inquire whether this contemporary of Davenport and Tennent—as well as Franklin and Mayhew—did what we might expect him to do: support and transmit a theocratic ideal. |
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| ISSN: | 0009-6407 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Church history
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.2307/3162311 |