Moral Character, Reformed Theology, and Jonathan Edwards. (August 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Crisp, Oliver D.
• Is Part Of: Studies in Christian ethics. Volume 30:Number 3(2017)
• Page Start: 262
• Page End: 277
• Publication Date: 2017-08
• Subjects: character -- Holy Spirit -- infused grace -- Jonathan Edwards -- Reformed theology -- virtue theory; Christian ethics -- Periodicals; Morale chrétienne -- Périodiques; 241.05
• DOI: 10.1177/0953946817701042
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0953-9468

Abstract

Reformed theology is often thought to be antipathetic to virtue theory. However, Jonathan Edwards is a counterexample to this way of thinking. In this article, I offer an account of Edwards's moral thought as a case study of Reformed theology that is also a species of virtue theory, focusing on what he says about the formation of character. I argue that key doctrinal commitments drive his moral theology, and generate some interesting problems for his ethics. Although his work is not without shortcomings, Edwards is a thinker whose moral theology might be usefully repaired and retrieved by contemporary theologians in the Reformed tradition for whom 'duties are founded on doctrines'.