A very important first edition complete of the works of one of the primary disciples of Jonathan Edwards, and certainly his most significant theological inheritor, Joseph Bellamy [1711-1790].
The Great Awakening itself, especially as articulated by Jonathan Edwards, could be seen as a response against the half-way covenant, i.e. the idea that unconverted persons in the church may still be meaningful members of the church, have their children baptized, etc., Edwards saw this as a serious compromise; the Church was not composed of assenting people, but regenerate people. Edwards went a step further and called into question the very notion of any covenant aside from that which occurs mystically between the soul of a person and Christ, thus making them part of the Church universal.
As the Great Awakening wound down, the old tendencies flared up and Bellamy took up the mantle of Edwards, again arguing for the necessity of conversion to Christ to meaningfully participate in the Kingdom of God. Here is Edwards afresh, more accessible, and developed for a new generation with new challenges. A desirable set.
Contains recommendations by Samuel Miller, Benjamin Trumbull, Moses Stuart, Edwin Dorr Griffin, etc.
Bellamy, Joseph. The Works of the Rev. Joseph Bellamy, D. D. Late of Bethlem, Connecticut. In Three Volumes Complete. New-York. Stephen Dodge. 1811. 540 + 544 + 546 [with textual index.
Volume I. Noah Benedict's Funeral Discourse for Rev. J. Bellamy | True Religion Delineated and Distinguished from its Counterfeits | The Millennium | An Election Sermon Delivered in 1762, etc.
Volume II. The Wisdom of God in the Permission of Sin | An Essay on the Nature and Glory of the Gospel of Jesus Christ | On the Nature of Love to God, Faith in Jesus Christ, and Assurance of Eternal Life | Sin an Infinite Evil | The Nature and Effects of Divine Illumination, etc.
Volume III. The Law Our School-Master | Mr. Cotton Mather's Scheme Inconsistent With Itself | The Nature of the Carnal Mind and its Enmity with God | The Christian Creed and the Arminian Creed | The Half-Way Covenant: A Dialogue between a Minister and His Parishioner | Early Piety Recommended, etc.
Original tree calf, the first darker. Some stains and rippling throughout. Textually solid and clean. Title to volume two torn crosswise with loss. A very solid, attractive, usable set.
