Evangelical Revival · 1754

Freedom of the Will

Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758)

Edwards's most rigorous philosophical work, written in 1754, examines whether the freedom of the will that Arminians consider necessary for moral agency, virtue, and accountability can actually exist. He argues systematically that the will is always determined by the strongest motive as it appears to the mind, and that the self-determining will Arminians defend is logically incoherent. The treatise shaped Reformed theology's engagement with Enlightenment philosophy and remains the classic Protestant case against libertarian free will. Edwards composed it while serving as a missionary to the Housatonic Indians at Stockbridge, Massachusetts.

8 hrs total · 32 chapters