MEMORANDA AND DOCUMENTS

VEINS of untapped ore lie concealed in the biblical notebooks of Jonathan Edwards. But prospective students confront an unmapped field, for few scholars even bother to survey this portion of his writings. Many shy away because of the relative unavailability of the materials, the prevailing cultural surfeit with things scriptural, and the conviction that the heavy investment will yield only fool's gold. Buttressing these attitudes is the common opinion that the genius of Edwards lies elsewhere. Why bother with pebbles buried in inaccessible places when nuggets are obtainable on the surface of his other writings? One reason for trying to mine these exegetical sources is clear: Edwards thought of himself as a biblical theologian. For him this self-conception was not in tension with his philosophical and polemical interests. Biblical studies functioned as an essential supportive mechanism for his work. Edwards spent an immense amount of time during his mature years writing private commentary on the texts of Scripture, but this feature of his work has not emerged from the shadow of more prominent public accomplishments. The shadow is perhaps less real than imaginery. All of the major treatises of Edwards published during the past hundred years contain extended exegetical discussions. Frequently these sections appear to readers merely as salt sprinkled on meat, seasoning unrelated to the substance of his concerns. That view not only distorts Edwards' intentions; it destroys his own perspective as a theologian. There is no evidence that he ever relinquished his early resolution: "To study the Scriptures so steadily, constantly and frequently, as that I may find and plainly perceive myself to grow in the knowledge of the same."' Yet no satisfactory examination of Edwards' approach to the