Jonathan Yeager - Profile on Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Books by Jonathan Yeager

Jonathan Edwards and Transatlantic Print Culture

On March 20, 1760, a fire broke out in the Cornhill district of Boston, destroying nearly 350 bui... more On March 20, 1760, a fire broke out in the Cornhill district of Boston, destroying nearly 350 buildings in its wake. One of the ruined shops belonged to the eminent Boston bookseller Daniel Henchman, who had published some of Jonathan Edwards's most important works, including The Life of Brainerd in 1749. Less than one year after the Great Fire of 1760, Henchman died. Edwards's chief printer Samuel Kneeland and literary agent and editor, Thomas Foxcroft, had also passed away by the end of the decade, marking the end of an era. Throughout Edwards's lifetime, and in the years after his death in 1758, most of the first editions of his books had been published in Boston. But with the deaths of Henchman, Kneeland, and Foxcroft, the publications of Edwards's writings shifted to Britain, where a new crop of booksellers, printers, and editors took on the task of issuing posthumous editions and reprints of his books.

In Jonathan Edwards and Transatlantic Print Culture, religious historian Jonathan Yeager tells the story of how Edwards's works were published, including the people who were involved in their publication and their motivations. This book explores what the printing, publishing, and editing of Jonathan Edwards's publications can tell us about religious print culture in the eighteenth century, how the way that his books were put together shaped society's understanding of him as an author, and how details such as the formats, costs, quality of paper, length, bindings, and the number of reprints and abridgements of his works affected their reception.

Early Evangelicalism: A Reader

Evangelicalism has played a prominent role in western religion since the dawn of modernity. Coinc... more Evangelicalism has played a prominent role in western religion since the dawn of modernity. Coinciding with the emergence of the Enlightenment in America and Europe, evangelicalism flourished during the transatlantic revivals of the eighteenth century. In addition to adopting Protestantism's core beliefs of justification by faith, scripture alone, and the priesthood of believers, early evangelicals emphasized conversion and cross-cultural missions to a greater extent than Christians of previous generations.

Most people today associate early evangelicalism with only a few of its leaders. Yet this was a religious movement that involved more people than simply Jonathan Edwards, John Wesley, and George Whitefield. Early evangelicals were Anglicans, Baptists, Congregationalists, Methodists, Moravians, and Presbyterians and could be found in America, Canada, Great Britain, and Western Europe. They published hymns, historical works, poems, political pamphlets, revival accounts, sermons, and theological treatises. They recorded their conversion experiences and kept diaries and journals that chronicled their spiritual development. Early Evangelicalism: A Reader is an anthology that introduces a host of important religious figures. After brief biographical sketches of each author, this book offers over sixty excerpts from a wide range of well-known and lesser-known Protestant Christians, representing a variety of denominations, geographical locations, and underrepresented groups in order to produce the most comprehensive sourcebook of its kind.

Enlightened Evangelicalism: The Life and Thought of John Erskine

John Erskine was the leading evangelical in the Church of Scotland in the latter half of the eigh... more John Erskine was the leading evangelical in the Church of Scotland in the latter half of the eighteenth century. Educated in an enlightened setting at Edinburgh University, he learned to appreciate the epistemology of John Locke and other empiricists alongside key Scottish Enlightenment figures such as his ecclesiastical rival, William Robertson. Although groomed to follow in his father’s footsteps as a lawyer, Erskine changed career paths in order to become a minister of the Kirk. He was deeply moved by the endemic revivals in the west of Scotland and determined that his contribution to the burgeoning evangelical movement on both sides of the Atlantic would be much greater as a clergyman than a lawyer. Yet Erskine was no “enthusiast.” He integrated the style and moral teachings of the Moderate Enlightenment into his discourses and posited new theories on traditional views of Calvinism in his theological treatises. Erskine’s thought, however, never transgressed the boundaries of orthodoxy. His goal was to update evangelicalism with the new style and techniques of the age without sacrificing the gospel message. While widely recognized as an able preacher and theologian, Erskine’s primary contribution to evangelicalism was as a disseminator. He sent correspondents like the New England pastor Jonathan Edwards countless religious and philosophical works so that he and others could learn about current ideas, update their writings, and provide an apologetic against perceived heretical authors. Erskine also was crucial in the publishing of books and pamphlets by some of the best evangelical theologians in America and Britain. Within his lifetime, Erskine’s main contribution to evangelicalism was as a propagator of an enlightened form of evangelicalism.

Papers by Jonathan Yeager

The Friend to America

Enlightened Evangelicalism, 2011

Chapman , Alister . Godly Ambition: John Stott and the Evangelical Movement . New York: Oxford University Press, 2012. 240 pp. $55.00 (cloth)

The Journal of Religion, 2013

„John Erskine (1721-1803): A Scottish Evangelical Minister‟

Records of the Scottish Church History Society, 2008

This article is based on original research and analysis of multiple manuscript letters written by... more This article is based on original research and analysis of multiple manuscript letters written by the Scottish Presbyterian minister Charles Nisbet (1736-1804), who emigrated to America in 1785 to become the first principal of Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. As an outspoken advocate for the American cause during the War of Independence, and a friend and colleague of John Witherspoon, Nisbet was the favorite choice for Benjamin Rush and the other trustees at Dickinson College. But soon after his arrival in Pennsylvania, Nisbet's relationship with Rush and the other trustees deteriorated. The new principal resented the absolute control of the trustees over the college, and quarreled with them for years about the late payments of his salary.

In the last fifty years, Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758) has become the subject of countless article... more In the last fifty years, Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758) has become the subject of countless articles, books, and dissertations. Yet, surprisingly, virtually nothing has been written on Edwards' main printer and publisher in Boston. The printer Samuel Kneeland (1697-1769) and the bookseller-publisher Daniel Henchman (1689-1761) are shadowy figures in the narrative that surrounds Edwards' life. These men were crucial, however, to the production and dissemination of Edwards' writings, especially in the first half of the eighteenth century. It would not be unfair to say that in the first half of the eighteenth century, much of Edwards' success as an author can be attributed to Kneeland and Henchman, who served as his chief printer and publisher in Boston. These two men were responsible for producing the bulk of Edwards' writings before his death in 1758. This article examines the role that Kneeland and Henchman played in publishing and distributing Edwards' texts while placing them within the context of the colonial Boston book trade.

Scottish Journal of Theology Review of Enlightened Evangelicalism

Baylor University, Department of History, Waco, TX 76798, USA thomas_kidd@baylor.edu

Phillis Wheatley: Biography of a Genius in Bondage

Sarah Osborn's World: An In-Depth View of Early American Evangelicalism

Review of the Notorious Elizabeth Tuttle: Marriage, Murder, and Madness in the Family of Jonathan Edwards

English Historical Review of Enlightened Evangelicalism

"An Unpublished Letter from John Erskine to Jonathan Edwards"

“The John Erskine Letterbook, 1742-45,” in Miscellany of the Scottish History Society, vol. xiv

Themelios Review of Enlightened Evangelicalism

Nature and Grace in the Theology of John Maclaurin

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, Chattanooga, TN 37403, USA jonathan-yeager@utc.edu The im... more University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, Chattanooga, TN 37403, USA jonathan-yeager@utc.edu The important, but unexplored, John Maclaurin of Glasgow (1693–1754) represents the branch of enlightened evangelicals in the Church of Scotland who defended aspects of supernaturalism as compatible with reason. Evangelicals like Maclaurin endorsed the transatlantic evangelical revivals while still maintaining that such pervasive and multifarious spiritual awakenings were not a chaotic display of enthusiasm. Maclaurin supposed that God had created humanity with the ability to reason and could influence one's thinking to adopt epistemological assumptions about religion which some saw as irrational and superstitious. In order to prove this point, Maclaurin turned the tables on the opponents of the revivals by arguing that in order to be truly natural, in the sense of being a complete human, one must embrace the inner workings of the Holy Spirit. The corruption of our nature which occurred as a result of the sin of Adam and Eve left mankind in an incomplete state. Therefore, the purpose of God's supernatural grace is to restore mankind to its authentic natural state. Without such divine aid to form knowledge, he argued, one would never be able to gain a full understanding of spiritual truth. Similar to Thomas Aquinas, Maclaurin assumed that humans can know many things about God and his work in the world using reason. Sin has not corrupted our intellect to the extent that we cannot ascertain any truth about God from observing the world around us. Nevertheless, in order to have a thorough understanding of God, divine grace is needed. Following Aquinas, Maclaurin claimed that God uses secondary causes like preaching to motivate people to seek grace. Such secondary causes cannot produce any real change in a person unless accompanied by the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit. As opposed to many of the more liberal ministers of the day, Maclaurin, although not entirely comfortable with the fainting and weeping which sometimes appeared at the revivals, was willing to admit that emotional displays could be a natural response by a person whose heart had been moved by the spirit of God. While defending extreme emotions, Maclaurin's main point in his sermons was that evangelicalism was entirely reasonable.

Review of Phillis Wheatley: Biography of a Genius in Bondage

Jonathan Edwards and Transatlantic Print Culture

On March 20, 1760, a fire broke out in the Cornhill district of Boston, destroying nearly 350 bui... more On March 20, 1760, a fire broke out in the Cornhill district of Boston, destroying nearly 350 buildings in its wake. One of the ruined shops belonged to the eminent Boston bookseller Daniel Henchman, who had published some of Jonathan Edwards's most important works, including The Life of Brainerd in 1749. Less than one year after the Great Fire of 1760, Henchman died. Edwards's chief printer Samuel Kneeland and literary agent and editor, Thomas Foxcroft, had also passed away by the end of the decade, marking the end of an era. Throughout Edwards's lifetime, and in the years after his death in 1758, most of the first editions of his books had been published in Boston. But with the deaths of Henchman, Kneeland, and Foxcroft, the publications of Edwards's writings shifted to Britain, where a new crop of booksellers, printers, and editors took on the task of issuing posthumous editions and reprints of his books.

In Jonathan Edwards and Transatlantic Print Culture, religious historian Jonathan Yeager tells the story of how Edwards's works were published, including the people who were involved in their publication and their motivations. This book explores what the printing, publishing, and editing of Jonathan Edwards's publications can tell us about religious print culture in the eighteenth century, how the way that his books were put together shaped society's understanding of him as an author, and how details such as the formats, costs, quality of paper, length, bindings, and the number of reprints and abridgements of his works affected their reception.

Early Evangelicalism: A Reader

Evangelicalism has played a prominent role in western religion since the dawn of modernity. Coinc... more Evangelicalism has played a prominent role in western religion since the dawn of modernity. Coinciding with the emergence of the Enlightenment in America and Europe, evangelicalism flourished during the transatlantic revivals of the eighteenth century. In addition to adopting Protestantism's core beliefs of justification by faith, scripture alone, and the priesthood of believers, early evangelicals emphasized conversion and cross-cultural missions to a greater extent than Christians of previous generations.

Most people today associate early evangelicalism with only a few of its leaders. Yet this was a religious movement that involved more people than simply Jonathan Edwards, John Wesley, and George Whitefield. Early evangelicals were Anglicans, Baptists, Congregationalists, Methodists, Moravians, and Presbyterians and could be found in America, Canada, Great Britain, and Western Europe. They published hymns, historical works, poems, political pamphlets, revival accounts, sermons, and theological treatises. They recorded their conversion experiences and kept diaries and journals that chronicled their spiritual development. Early Evangelicalism: A Reader is an anthology that introduces a host of important religious figures. After brief biographical sketches of each author, this book offers over sixty excerpts from a wide range of well-known and lesser-known Protestant Christians, representing a variety of denominations, geographical locations, and underrepresented groups in order to produce the most comprehensive sourcebook of its kind.

Enlightened Evangelicalism: The Life and Thought of John Erskine

John Erskine was the leading evangelical in the Church of Scotland in the latter half of the eigh... more John Erskine was the leading evangelical in the Church of Scotland in the latter half of the eighteenth century. Educated in an enlightened setting at Edinburgh University, he learned to appreciate the epistemology of John Locke and other empiricists alongside key Scottish Enlightenment figures such as his ecclesiastical rival, William Robertson. Although groomed to follow in his father’s footsteps as a lawyer, Erskine changed career paths in order to become a minister of the Kirk. He was deeply moved by the endemic revivals in the west of Scotland and determined that his contribution to the burgeoning evangelical movement on both sides of the Atlantic would be much greater as a clergyman than a lawyer. Yet Erskine was no “enthusiast.” He integrated the style and moral teachings of the Moderate Enlightenment into his discourses and posited new theories on traditional views of Calvinism in his theological treatises. Erskine’s thought, however, never transgressed the boundaries of orthodoxy. His goal was to update evangelicalism with the new style and techniques of the age without sacrificing the gospel message. While widely recognized as an able preacher and theologian, Erskine’s primary contribution to evangelicalism was as a disseminator. He sent correspondents like the New England pastor Jonathan Edwards countless religious and philosophical works so that he and others could learn about current ideas, update their writings, and provide an apologetic against perceived heretical authors. Erskine also was crucial in the publishing of books and pamphlets by some of the best evangelical theologians in America and Britain. Within his lifetime, Erskine’s main contribution to evangelicalism was as a propagator of an enlightened form of evangelicalism.

The Friend to America

Enlightened Evangelicalism, 2011

Chapman , Alister . Godly Ambition: John Stott and the Evangelical Movement . New York: Oxford University Press, 2012. 240 pp. $55.00 (cloth)

The Journal of Religion, 2013

„John Erskine (1721-1803): A Scottish Evangelical Minister‟

Records of the Scottish Church History Society, 2008

This article is based on original research and analysis of multiple manuscript letters written by... more This article is based on original research and analysis of multiple manuscript letters written by the Scottish Presbyterian minister Charles Nisbet (1736-1804), who emigrated to America in 1785 to become the first principal of Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. As an outspoken advocate for the American cause during the War of Independence, and a friend and colleague of John Witherspoon, Nisbet was the favorite choice for Benjamin Rush and the other trustees at Dickinson College. But soon after his arrival in Pennsylvania, Nisbet's relationship with Rush and the other trustees deteriorated. The new principal resented the absolute control of the trustees over the college, and quarreled with them for years about the late payments of his salary.

In the last fifty years, Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758) has become the subject of countless article... more In the last fifty years, Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758) has become the subject of countless articles, books, and dissertations. Yet, surprisingly, virtually nothing has been written on Edwards' main printer and publisher in Boston. The printer Samuel Kneeland (1697-1769) and the bookseller-publisher Daniel Henchman (1689-1761) are shadowy figures in the narrative that surrounds Edwards' life. These men were crucial, however, to the production and dissemination of Edwards' writings, especially in the first half of the eighteenth century. It would not be unfair to say that in the first half of the eighteenth century, much of Edwards' success as an author can be attributed to Kneeland and Henchman, who served as his chief printer and publisher in Boston. These two men were responsible for producing the bulk of Edwards' writings before his death in 1758. This article examines the role that Kneeland and Henchman played in publishing and distributing Edwards' texts while placing them within the context of the colonial Boston book trade.

Scottish Journal of Theology Review of Enlightened Evangelicalism

Baylor University, Department of History, Waco, TX 76798, USA thomas_kidd@baylor.edu

Phillis Wheatley: Biography of a Genius in Bondage

Sarah Osborn's World: An In-Depth View of Early American Evangelicalism

Review of the Notorious Elizabeth Tuttle: Marriage, Murder, and Madness in the Family of Jonathan Edwards

English Historical Review of Enlightened Evangelicalism

"An Unpublished Letter from John Erskine to Jonathan Edwards"

“The John Erskine Letterbook, 1742-45,” in Miscellany of the Scottish History Society, vol. xiv

Themelios Review of Enlightened Evangelicalism

Nature and Grace in the Theology of John Maclaurin

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, Chattanooga, TN 37403, USA jonathan-yeager@utc.edu The im... more University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, Chattanooga, TN 37403, USA jonathan-yeager@utc.edu The important, but unexplored, John Maclaurin of Glasgow (1693–1754) represents the branch of enlightened evangelicals in the Church of Scotland who defended aspects of supernaturalism as compatible with reason. Evangelicals like Maclaurin endorsed the transatlantic evangelical revivals while still maintaining that such pervasive and multifarious spiritual awakenings were not a chaotic display of enthusiasm. Maclaurin supposed that God had created humanity with the ability to reason and could influence one's thinking to adopt epistemological assumptions about religion which some saw as irrational and superstitious. In order to prove this point, Maclaurin turned the tables on the opponents of the revivals by arguing that in order to be truly natural, in the sense of being a complete human, one must embrace the inner workings of the Holy Spirit. The corruption of our nature which occurred as a result of the sin of Adam and Eve left mankind in an incomplete state. Therefore, the purpose of God's supernatural grace is to restore mankind to its authentic natural state. Without such divine aid to form knowledge, he argued, one would never be able to gain a full understanding of spiritual truth. Similar to Thomas Aquinas, Maclaurin assumed that humans can know many things about God and his work in the world using reason. Sin has not corrupted our intellect to the extent that we cannot ascertain any truth about God from observing the world around us. Nevertheless, in order to have a thorough understanding of God, divine grace is needed. Following Aquinas, Maclaurin claimed that God uses secondary causes like preaching to motivate people to seek grace. Such secondary causes cannot produce any real change in a person unless accompanied by the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit. As opposed to many of the more liberal ministers of the day, Maclaurin, although not entirely comfortable with the fainting and weeping which sometimes appeared at the revivals, was willing to admit that emotional displays could be a natural response by a person whose heart had been moved by the spirit of God. While defending extreme emotions, Maclaurin's main point in his sermons was that evangelicalism was entirely reasonable.

Review of Phillis Wheatley: Biography of a Genius in Bondage

S amuel Kneeland is one of those characters in the history of the book in America who we know pla... more S amuel Kneeland is one of those characters in the history of the book in America who we know played a vital role; yet, very little has been written about him. Related to the prolific Green family of printers, he forged relationships with leading colonial booksellers like Daniel Henchman, printed for the colony of Massachusetts Bay, and published several key religious texts. In the following article, the objective is to shed light on Kneeland's overall contribution to the colonial book trade, identifying those for whom he printed, at what price, and the kinds of literature that he put forward. From an analysis of Kneeland's life and business, we can gain a further understanding of the history of the book in eighteenth-century America from the perspective of Kneeland, one of the premier bookseller-printers in Boston.