Friday, August 11, 2006

Jonathan Edwards' Study Bible: Yes, it is True

Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758)
is considered the greatest American preacher and theologian and has had a wide spread influence through important works such as Religious Affections, his most famous modern disciple being John Piper.

Yale University Press has just published Jonathan Edwards' The Blank Bible. Here's a description:

"In 1730, Jonathan Edwards acquired a book-like, leather-bound manuscript containing an interleaved printed edition of the King James Version of the Bible. Over the next three decades, Edwards proceeded to write in the manuscript more than five thousand notes and entries relating to biblical texts (though paradoxically he called the manuscript his 'Blank Bible'). Only a fraction of the entries has ever been published. This volume presents a complete edition of the 'Blank Bible' accompanied by an informative introduction, multiple appendices, and an extensive index."

Yes, it is a lot of money ($147.77 CDN from www.amazon.ca; see here), but as Justin Taylor says: "While I admit I'm not yet ready to fork over that amount of cash for this volume, the question should be asked: How much money would you pay if someone offered you an unlimited pass which allowed you to peer over Jonathan Edwards's shoulder as he made notes in his Bible?"

Now to convince my wife...

(Thanks to Justin Taylor for the information)