Did Johnathan Edwards radically change the reformed view of the will?

[5Solas5Points]

I've heard that Jonathan Edwards view of the will and determinism radically changed the way the contemporary reformed view it. I'm somewhat ignorant on exactly what the church taught prior to Edwards on the will. The guy who said Edwards view departed radically from the earlier reformed is a Thomist. I'm just learning about all this so any resources on the topic through history would be great.

 

[RamistThomist]

Kind of. He used different language than the earlier Reformed. I would not say that the earlier Reformed were Thomist. Some were.

 

[John The Baptist]

John Owen’s work on indwelling sin was a helpful intro for me.

 

[Ulster Fry]

I'm not an Edwards expert by any means, but Edwards is an intriguing figure in that he attempts to articulate Reformed metaphysics in the (then) new era of philosophy we call the modern period.

On the one hand, like many modern philosophers, Edwards seems to simplify concepts such as causation when compared to the prevalent Aristotelian metaphysics of the scholastic era. For example, the WCF speaks of primary and secondary causation regarding God's sovereignty and free will in which God is the necessary grounding for all creaturely activity. This sort of (Thomist) language is largely abandoned by Edwards as far as I'm aware.

On the other hand, I get a bit grumpy when reading or listening to some historical or systematic theologians who frame Edwards as their latest pantomime villain because he doesn't use the exact same language as his predecessors. We can't just pretend there hasn't been major philosophical developments and talk as if we're living in the scholastic era. Nobody is going to take that seriously. Old ideas have to be defended using contemporary methods (which is what good analytic theology is attempting to do).

 

[Eyedoc84]

Richard Muller has done good work on this, and I think he’s right (that Edwards departed from his predecessors). Edwards used some of the same language as his reformed predecessors, and some different. But where he used the same language, he redefined it. It wasn’t just semantic differences. I did find his book on “The Freedom of the Will” helpful in thinking through the issues of sovereignty and human choice, though ultimately do not agree with his approach.

The nature of the will wasn’t Edwards‘ only theological departure. I find his doctrines of creation and time problematic as well, although admittedly I’m not well read on Edwards in these areas.

 

[Charles Johnson]

Dr. Marco Barone does a good job in his paper of addressing Muller's claims and showing that Jonathan Edwards did believe in contingency, and was not completely departing in substance from the earlier tradition.