God's Grand Design; The Theological Vision of Jonathan Edwards

First of all I want to thank Crossway Books for sending a copy of this book seeking my thoughts via a review.

Sean Michael Lewis does a wonderful job of research and analysis of the preaching ministry of Jonathan Edwards. His years of teaching experience with this subject show in the way that he prepared and presented the material.

In today's culture and theology with it's resurgence of "preaching the Gospel from both the Old and New Testament" it is refreshing and reassuring to discover that Jonathan Edwards was preaching this way in his ministry long before today's resurgence. Edwards saw the Gospel as being previewed and painted in word pictures through the history of the Old Testament and the lives of the Patriarchs. He pulls the Gospel from Creation, from the story of Noah, the stories of Abraham and the nation of Israel, especially the exodus from Egypt and final settlement in the promised land. Edwards preaching of theology was solid and grounded in the Gospel. He was not a pioneer of that method, but he certainly was one who held the line and preached it well.

It was encouraging to know that with our modern day emphasis on the Gospel and how it is found in both the Old and New Testament I was pleasantly affirmed to know that the great Jonathan Edwards had walked this path before us.

This book is not an easy read, it will demand that you take your time, read it thoroughly and thoughtfully and then meditate on what you have read. Edwards is a figure that most of us have heard about, but we haven't studied much of his work. Instead we look at Calvin and Luther of John Moody and kind of skip over the era of the Puritans. But Lewis gives us a great gift in describing Edwards and his preaching. He extensively quotes Edwards and that reinforces the points that he is drawing us towards from the teaching ministry of Jonathan Edwards.

This is a book that every serious student of Theology should read. It will give you good understanding and encouragement of how a pastor daily thought about Theology, taught Theology through his sermons and lived it out in his life.

Enjoy!