De toekomst in de tegenwoordige tijd. De bijdrage van Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758) aan het huidige debat over eschatologie

Samenvatting

Recently, eschatology has become the central lens through which other theological loci are understood. McDermott’s and McClymond’s claim that Jonathan Edwards’ theology is ‘most eschatologically minded,’ makes it an ideal object for an examination of his eschatology in the context of the contemporary development in eschatology, namely, the theology of retrieval. The first part of this article summarizes the research on Edwards’ eschatology and shows the importance of his historical-eschatological thought within his theology. The second shows how Edwards’ historical-eschatological perspective becomes the hermeneutical key in his theology, especially his presentation of the Bible and theology within the ‘drama’ of God’s history with humanity. Part three focuses on the pneumatological dimension of Edwards’ theology, with a view to its importance for the material world and its radicalization of eschatology as a present category. The article concludes with a consideration of this theology’s strong and weak points.