Description
Book SynopsisJohn Edwards of Cambridge (1637-1716) has typically been portrayed as a marginalized 'Calvinist' in an overwhelmingly 'Arminian' later Stuart Church of England. In Retaining the Old Episcopal Divinity, Jake Griesel challenges this depiction of Edwards and the theological climate of his contemporary Church.
Trade ReviewGriesel makes a convincing case that Edwards' work was part of a wider body of Calvinist theology in England in this period. Moreover, and perhaps significantly for those interested in Methodism, he shows that Edward' publications were well received by many Anglican parish clergy, especially evangelicals, as well as scholars...Griesel also has a more circumspect sense of theological definitions, and is alert to the slippery nature of some theological and ecclesiological terms. By adopting a broadly chronological approach, within which he identifies clear themes, Griesel is able to show the development and change in Edwards' thinking. * William Gibson, Proceedings of the Wesley Historical Society *
This excellent book not only helps scholars better understand late Stuart England, but it illustrates well what questions to ask and what evidence to look for in doing sound historical research. * Ryan M. McGraw, Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary, PRJ *
The era between the Glorious Revolution and the Evangelical Revival used to be seen as a 'tunnel period' in English church history, little known and little studied. Recent scholarship has shed much light on these decades, and Jake Griesel's account of the Calvinist theologian John Edwards provides further illumination. By analysing networks, controversies, and reception, it shows that Edwards was neither eccentric nor isolated, but a respected (if controversial) divine. The later Stuart Church is famed for its daring Arminians and Arians, but it also had room for the Reformed orthodox. * John Coffey, Professor of Early Modern History *
Retaining the Old Episcopal Divinity makes a convincing case that John Edwards was not the lone Calvinist voice crying out in an Arminian wilderness as he has been portrayed by some scholars, nor an irrelevant throwback to the Puritan commonwealth as portrayed by others. In colorful, vigorous prose Jake Griesel shows that Edwards was a significant figure within a broader stream of Reformed thought that persisted in the Church of England long after it is generally assumed to have expired. * Richard Snoddy, Associate Research Fellow, London School of Theology *
Griesel's research makes clear: the Church of England was at the end of the 17th and the beginning of the 18th century multicolored, and the reformed belief did not occupy a marginal position. This has its consequences for our vision of the 18th century 'evangelical revival': the reformed ideas in it were still emphatically present in the state church. * R.W. de Koeijer, Theologia Reformata *
