Think Wink.

For almost one year now, I have been attempting to read through Jonathan Edwards’ book The Freedom of the Will. It has taken so long, and I am still not even close to finishing, for a couple of reasons. First, I don’t have the time to focus on it as much as I’d like. I try to read a diversity of books and keep in the mix that of fiction and non-fiction. I also have the responsibility of writing sermons and this is less time to read a book of this nature. Also there is school reading as well.

But the second reason is that it is very hard to read The Freedom of the Will. Edwards packs so much into his work that it takes time to read through and to understand it. There are times I sit down and read a phrase over and over; a sentence over and over; a paragraph over and over; a page over and over. This book often gives me a headache trying to put my head around what he is saying. I am convinced that Edwards knew Jesus so deeply and so initmately that English cannot express what beauty of the Jesus he saw in the Holy Scriptures. He graduated college at an extremely young age. College in Edwards’ day required each student to learn Greek, Hebrew, and Latin. It is the greatest headache I have ever had in my life to try to understand this man’s heart and brain. Oh the joy I have in just anticipating finishing The Freedom of the Will and comprehending all this Puritan had to say about the will.

Gearing up for Christmas