Jonathan Edwards, Religious Tradition, and American Culture

“Conforti’s presentation is solidly researched and clearly written. . . . [His] volume ends up illuminating more than the history of Jonathan Edwards’s reputation or the development of what came to be called 'the New England theology'. . . . [he] shows how the cultural transmission of ideas involves a complex dynamic of change as well as continuity.” — Religion & Literature

“A carefully documented, lively account of Edwards' cultural influence in American history that will be read quite profitably across several disciplines for years to come. . . . It is likely that this fine book will secure its author a well-deserved reputation as the leading socio-cultural historian of the Edwardsian tradition.” — Historical Journal of Massachusetts

“The research is excellent, the prose clear and attractive, and the argument thoughtful. . . . This is scholarship of a high order.” — Church History

“Conforti’s feast is rare and delightful. By marching the figure of Jonathan Edwards across so much cultural terrain, from the Second Great Awakening to yesterday’s neo-orthodoxy, Conforti will jolt readers outside the Edwards 'industry' awake to the presence of an Edwardsean figure of long duration in American cultural and intellectual history.” — Harvard Divinity Bulletin

“Examines the full sweep of Edwards’s influence from his death in 1758 through the early years of this century. . . . An important contribution to Edwards studies and to the study of the history of religion in America.” — Christian Century

“The historical sweep of this book poignantly dramatizes the continually politicized reinventions of a protean Jonathan Edwards. In light of ongoing discourse about the American canon, readers should find compelling Conforti’s discussion of the linkage between the colonial revivalist movement and the historiography of American literature in late-nineteenth-century America.” — American Literature

“This is the definitive work on the life, thought, and career of America’s ‘first philosopher.’ . . . It is a model of its kind. The prose is clear, witty, and wise . . . . Every professional student of American philosophy needs a copy of this book.” — International Philosophical Quaterly

“Conforti’s study ranges widely across the fields of intellectual and cultural history, challenging a number of longstanding judgments. It is a major, original contribution to our understanding of the formation and impact of the Edwardsean tradition.” — Stephen J. Stein, Indiana University

“[Conforti] explains fully the wide appeal of this difficult thinker for his nineteenth-century audiences, illustrating how Edwards became something new and different when his texts were transformed into artifacts of emergent popular culture.” — Philip F. Gura, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill