Free Will

Free Will, also known as Freedom of the Will, is appraised as the one of the greatest works ever produced in America. The mid-eighteenth-century New England philosophical theologian Jonathan Edwards (1703-58) defines the will by importing terms from John Locke. Edwards states the Arminian nature of free will, suspects the need for such free will, and finally defends Calvinist free will and objects to the Arminian one. In his argument, he chooses three British antagonists: Daniel Whitby, Thomas Chubb, and Isaac Watts. These antagonists insist that the self-determining will is necessary for us to be morally accountable. Edwards disputes their objections that God's determination is contradictory to the liberty of the human will. He then goes to argue what kind of freedom of the will is necessary for the former and latter to be compatible. Edwards's psychological, moral, and theological philosophy is displayed. In addition, readers can learn how our will chooses something pleasant by following the dictate of understanding, while the author demonstrates the natures of New England Arminianism and Calvinism. ""Beyond all peradventure, the Freedom of the Will is the cornerstone of Edwards' fame; it is his most sustained intellectual achievement, the most powerful piece of sheer forensic argumentation in American literature. It became the Bible of the New England theology, and is considered by logicians one of the few proofs in which the conclusion follows inescapably and infallibly from the premises."" --Perry Miller, Harvard University ""This book alone is sufficient to establish its author as the greatest philosopher-theologian yet to grace the American scene."" --Paul Ramsey, Princeton University ""This new study guide will aid the reading of an important work of philosophy and theology, Freedom of the Will by Jonathan Edwards. Dr. Jung has offered a great service to many in the academy and the church in preparing this study guide."" --Adriaan C. Neele, Consulting and Digital Editor, Jonathan Edwards Center at Yale University ""Peter Jung is one of the most important Korean scholars at work on Jonathan Edwards and his thought. And this monograph on Edwards and the will is a great example of Jung's scholarly acumen. It is a marvelous accomplishment that deserves a wide reading."" --Douglas A. Sweeney, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School ""This new edition of Edwards's classic philosophical argument will help readers understand this important text and its implications for past and contemporary debates."" --Gerald R. McDermott, Samford University ""Jonathan Edwards's treatise on Freedom of the Will is one of the most important, and also one of the most demanding, works in philosophical theology from the modern era, but any who commit themselves to serious engagement with it will be rewarded. This new study guide will be helpful to students on many levels and to church study groups seeking to understand Edwards' magnificent view of God and of the human person."" --Kenneth P. Minkema, Yale University ""A new edition of Edwards' work is a worthy project given the importance of this work for the history of debates about free will and religious belief. The introduction to this new edition by Peter Jung concerning the history and scholarly discussions of Edwards' seminal work is especially thorough, well-researched, and very informative."" --Robert Kane, University of Texas at Austin Peter Jung is the research associate of Jonathan Edwards Center at Yale. He is the author of Life of Jonathan Edwards (1996) and Jonathan Edwards and New England Arminianism (2019).