Part of the reason I found it so absorbing--aside from the way Marsden shows Edwards deeply joyful view of God and all reality, that all reality is ultimately relational, ultimately an overflow of the ultimate happiness of God--was the way it showed that Edwards' life was, from a certain perspective, sort of tragic. The image I had from reading Edwards was very much the opposite: energetic, passionate, able to envision, through Scripture and by using his noggin, to the very edges of created reality. But his main pastorate, in Northampton, while enjoying truly amazing revivals in 1735 and 1740-41, descended thereafter into bitter arguments and gossip; and there were plenty of Old Light critics of the Great Awakening. Right in the middle of the mess in Northampton, his daughter Jerusha died; he was absolutely heartbroken. Eventually he left for an Indian mission post in Stockbridge--and most of the same problems came up again: frivolous opposite, gossip, and slander by people who (let us say) weren't putting the interests of the Kingdom above their own. (Edwards was horrified by how the British used the natives to make a profit.) Wars with the French pretty much ruined the mission. When an opening for the presidency of Yale came up, he wept when he got the go-ahead from surrounding pastors to take it; but died from a smallpox vaccination soon after! He had several planned masterpieces which we have only in note form. From one perspective, his life story isn't terribly impressive: not a lot of obvious victories. Who could have known doctoral dissertations would be written about him now, that a definitive collection of his works would be published, that he would have had so much influence?
One quote from the book, on Edwards as preacher--especially on how he was convincing without raising his voice:
"Through sheer intensity he [Edwards] generated emotion. 'His words often discovered a great degree of inward fervor, without much noise or emotion, and fell with great weight on the minds of his hearers. He made but little motion of his head or hands in the desk, but spake so as to discover the motion of his own heart, which tended in the most natural and effectual manner to move and effect others.' The combination of controlled but transparent emotion, heartfelt sincerity both in admonition and compassion, inexorable logic, and biblical themes could draw people into sensing the reality of ideas long familiar. . . .
"As he [Edwards] argued in A Divine and Supernatural Light, even devils had theoretical knowledge of many spiritual realities. His hearers needed to grasp truths with their affections, with their whole hearts, so that they would be moved by God's Spirit to act of what they now saw vividly to be true." -Pg. 221
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