If you have ever studied the life of Jonathan Edwards or read some of his sermons, you know that he, especially to those of us living a couple of hundred years later, often seems, intense.

This is something I love about him, but of course, not everyone does.

As George Marsden begins his biography on Jonathan Edwards, which of course, was written to be read by a broad audience, he gives a clue to his readers that he thinks will help them better understand where Edwards was coming from.

He writes,

“If there is an emphasis that appears difficult, or harsh, or overstated in Edwards, often the reader can better appreciate his perspective by asking the question: How would this issue look if it really were the case that bliss or punishment for a literal eternity was at stake?”

Now, I believe like Edwards does in heaven and hell, a literal eternity and I just wonder if some were writing a biography of my life, would have they have to add this sentence to explain it. Would they have to say, to understand Joshua Mack, you have to remember that he really believed in forever?

What about you?