Jonathan Edwards’s Affective Anthropology

Abstract

Jonathan Edwards (1703–1758) is often utilized in modern philosophical and psychological research as the theologian of affect. While affection is, undoubtedly, at the heart of his theological enterprise, one might mistakenly assume that affections are equivalent to our contemporary understanding of emotions. This article argues that this is a reduction of Edwards’s view, who advances a theological psychology rather than its secular counterpart. To address the question of what an emotion is within the context of Edwards’s theological psychology, this article addresses Edwards’s use of the term “emotion” alongside of his understanding of the affections and the passions within both an unregenerate and a regenerate frame. This focus is developed, not for its own sake, but to consider inquiries concerning the felt experience of the Christian life of affection, and questions concerning the formation of one’s experiential life.