Edwards the Mentor
Rhys S. Bezzant
Oxford University Press (2019). 216 pp.
Book Review
Since the Yale historian Perry Miller ushered in the Edwards renaissance resulting in Yale’s twenty-six volume print publication of a number of Edwards’ works and the launch of edwards.yale.edu, where the remaining seventy-three volumes of the Edwards corpus may be accessed—scholars, pastors, and serious lay readers have become acquainted with a number of Edwards’ personas. Edwards is known as America’s theologian, a first-rate philosopher, revival preacher extraordinaire, and, more recently, a premier exegete of the Holy Writ (c.f. Sweeney, Edwards the Exegete).
Nonetheless, Rhys Bezzant’s recent publication, Edwards the Mentor, proves that there is still much to uncover about and learn from Jonathan Edwards. As Bezzant puts it: “the sobriquet of mentor, used among those who were closest to him, points us in a new direction and occasions the goal of this book” (2). The author contends that Edwards’ employment as a “pastor-theologian” shaped his practice and his practice shaped his theology. Though one might ask, why use Edwards as a case study? Bezzant swiftly replies, “His adaptation to modern conditions and his resistance to the implications of modern categories of thought make him an excellent case study in cultural engagement as (perhaps) the first modern mentor in the guise of pastor-theologian” (4). Thus, pastor-theologians today should note Edwards activity as mentor as they consider how to pass on the legacy and labor of thinking theologically in pastoral ministry.
Chapter one of Edwards the Mentor, reaching as far back as Greek philosophy, explores the history and legacy of mentoring and Mimesis (the theory and practice of imitation). This chapter also explores the desire of discipline in the modern world along with the power of models found in Puritan practices. Bezzant also discusses more recent predecessors to Edwards include Martin Luther and Cotton Mather, both of which left an imprint on Edwards’ own method of mentoring. This chapter also includes biography of Edwards own experience as mentee.
Chapter two corrects a number of misunderstandings we have about Edwards. So many histories characterize Edwards as a socially withdrawn, principally stubborn, and interpersonally inept pastor. Bezzant paints a very different portrait of a relationally charitable and warm mentor, whose home hosted a number of live-in future pastors such as Joseph Bellamy and Samuel Hopkins, among many others. Bezzant’s portrayal reveals that, “Christian mentoring for him was a type of friendship, which, as both an end in itself and a means to greater ends, reflected the core reality of the incarnation, offering both communication and communion” (51).
Chapter three examines both how Mimesis played a prominent role in Edwards’ mentoring and how Edwards’ mentoring practice was undergirded by a theologically thick vision. Edwards’ appropriated “the first things of the imago dei, the near things of visual stimuli and imitatio Christi, and the last things of the beatific vision” in order to “animate his mentoring agenda and establish his integrative reflex” (86). Bezzant explains how this theologically rich understanding of mentoring unifies spiritual and dogmatic theology through classical understandings of theism and an “experiential ballast” (102). Just as Edwards was an expert at integrating philosophy and theology into a coherent lexicon of ideas, his practical theology emulates this sort of integration of theology into practice.
Chapter four unfolds the legacy left by Edwards’ mentoring practices—a legacy replete with leaders who shaped the later Eighteenth-century and much of the Nineteenth-century. This chapter begins with a brief vignette of Edwards’ son, Jonathan Edwards Jr., and goes on to discuss the theological movement birthed from Edwards, which became known as “New Divinity.” This movement, in addition to being a doctrinal movement, was also a devotional and disciplinary movement. Those who ascribed to this movement became a social network “with strong bonds of personal affection” (119). Bezzant makes the significant point that this “New Divinity” movement was not just an intellectual movement, but it was a revival movement that catalyzed significant elements of the Second Great Awakening. As a theological movement, “it incorporated ministry vision, evangelical priorities, and pedagogical strategies” (119). This movement fostered an educational alliance that initiated ecclesiastical reform through personal relationships, publications, and cooperative revivalism.
One of the defining features to applaud the resurgence of the pastor-theologian in the early Twenty-first century is its ecumenical texture. This texture permits a plurality of ecclesiological backgrounds and theological vantage points to collaborate and learn from one another, opening up rich avenues for mentorship. A careful reading of Edwards the Mentor ought to be a priority for those pastor-theologians who wish to integrate a robust mentoring ministry into their vision of pastoral-theology. Quite honestly, this could be the most important book a pastor-theologian reads this year, and the reading exercise may very well reconceptualize how a pastor-theologian enculturates pastor-theology into others.
Joey Cochran is Adjunct Professor of History at Trinity Christian College. He is also a PhD candidate at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. His research is focused on Jonathan Edwards and the Epistle to the Hebrews. Joey is a member of the St. Augustine Fellowship of the Center for Pastor Theologians.
