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36 Clarifying the Aim of the Book<br />
beings in the image of God, and if we are to glorify God fully, we must<br />
engage our mind in knowing him truly and our hearts in loving him<br />
duly. The both-and plea of this book is not a mere personal preference<br />
of mine. It is rooted in the nature of God’s Trinitarian existence<br />
and in how he has created us to glorify him with mind and heart.<br />
Clear Truth for the Sake of Strong Affections<br />
Edwards set the pattern for us in seeking to awaken the affections,<br />
not with entertainment or hype but with clear views of truth. In<br />
other words, he made the work of thinking serve the experience of<br />
worship and love.<br />
I should think myself in the way of my duty to raise the affections of<br />
my hearers as high as possibly I can, provided that they are affected<br />
with nothing but truth, and with affections that are not disagreeable<br />
to the nature of what they are affected with. 6<br />
What an amazing example he was of the both-and—strong emotions<br />
for the glory of God based on clear biblical views of the truth of God.<br />
So you know it is not for any kind of academic gamesmanship when<br />
he said, “Get that knowledge of divine things that is within your<br />
power, even a doctrinal knowledge of the principles of the Christian<br />
religion.” 7 This was not for show. This was the work of the mind for<br />
the sake of marveling at God and ministering in love.<br />
I hope it is clear now that the emphasis of this book on thinking<br />
is not at the expense of feeling or delighting or loving. Both are<br />
essential to being human, and both are essential to glorifying God.<br />
And, while it is true that mind and heart are mutually enlivening, 8<br />
it is also clear that the mind is mainly the servant of the heart. That<br />
is, the mind serves to know the truth that fuels the fires of the heart.<br />
6 Jonathan Edwards, “Some Thoughts Concerning the Revival,” in The Works of Jonathan Edwards,<br />
vol. 4, The Great Awakening, ed. C. C. Goen (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1972), 387.<br />
7 Jonathan Edwards, “A Spiritual Understanding of Divine Things Denied to the Unregenerate,” in<br />
The Works of Jonathan Edwards, Sermons and Discourse 1723–1729, ed. Kenneth P. Minkema (New<br />
Haven: Yale University Press, 1997), 92.<br />
8 See Thomas Goodwin’s explanation of this mutuality in chap. 6.
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