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One might easily take the legendary "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" and other hellfire-and-damnation-tinged sermons by Jonathan Edwards as Christian cases for thoroughly separating oneself from the secular concerns of the culture. But the popular view of Edwards gives us only half the picture. A more careful examination of Edwards's theology reveals new ways for Christians today to understand how their faith can relate to the public square.

Jonathan Edwards shows us that true faith is deeply private (arising from a transformed heart) but not privatistic (devoid of active concern for society). His public theology is also a reminder that evangelism should never be opposed to social action. Rather, Edwards was convinced that a time of revival is precisely the time when the church needs to show social concern.

Gerald McDermott is a professor of religion at Roanoke College in Salem, Virginia. He is the author of One Holy and Happy Society: The Public Theology of Jonathan Edwards (Penn State Press).

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July (Web-only) 2001, Vol. 45