Heaven on Earth: Capturing Jonathan Edwards's Vision of Living in Between Paperback – June 6, 2006

What a visually light, bright book, and how easy and pleasant it is to read! Author Stephen Nichols is well aware "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" is the Jonathan Edwards sermon most people know about, even if they don't know the content; scarily dour, strict, sober, and somber tends to be the image of Puritans in colonial America most people imagine. Nichols completely shatters those imaginings with Edwards' "contagious vision" of a life centered in Jesus Christ fully lived, completely savored, both feet solidly planted on the ground of planet earth. "[Edwards] knew well how to live in between, to live now in all of the realities of heaven and the life to come." (page 84) How some ever, colonial American sermons were very very very (very...) long indeed, sometimes preached in two separate sessions, morning and afternoon, so that's not simply stereotype.Professor Nichols brings pastor, theologian, (revivalist, evangelist, missionary), and philosopher Jonathan Edwards' historical and geographical setting vividly to life. The place references are a delight, especially given that I've lived in Massachusetts, traveled the Mass Pike from Boston to Stockbridge, enjoyed the Housatonic River and loved its name, yet it still surprised me to learn that when Edwards went west to the frontier only 50 miles from his famous pastorate in Northampton, Stockbridge was that frontier town! I researched and discovered "Housatonic" probably means "beyond the mountain." Charles Ives' tone poem, Three Places in New England No. 3 is "The Housatonic at Stockbridge.""Heaven is a world of love" extracts Nichols' and Edwards' main thesis to easy shorthand. Our primary citizenship is in heaven, basking, being, and laboring in the presence of the Triune God, yet just as Roman citizens during Paul/Saul of Tarsus' earthly journey brought Roman religion, privileges, fashions, and culture to wherever they resided, God in the Spirit calls and enables us to bring heavenly sensibilities of love, justice, compassion, and service wherever we find ourselves. Heaven on Earth speaks more of milk-and-honey happiness than of ecstatic joy; I love the word "happified" on page 96, though Nichols is extremely mistaken when he says it's "a word that only Edwards could invent," since an undergrad classmate and I both frequently used to refer to being "happified." Do I recommend this book? Absolutely! Check out some of Stephen J Nichols' other writings, also.

Most think of Edwards as an angry preacher who condemned sinners in his classic sermon "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God." How refreshing to read that Edwards preached many more sermons on heaven and the joy of following Christ, even in the harsh frontier of the New World. He gave his life for the preaching of the Gospel. What a life!

Jonathan Edwards has long been a beckon for Christians and this book puts forth the best of his view of heaven. His description of heaven is full of everything a child of God desires.

Shows a rarely seen side of Jonathan Edwards that helps reframe this important thinker.

Very Good .... worth the your time read and ponder.

I enjoyed this book very much. Stephen Nichols encouraged me by the examples he used from this great man's life. I have even bought a copy for my sister.

Heaven on Earth by Stephen J. Nichols attempts to capture the essence of Jonathan nicholsEdwards's vision for living in between heaven and earth. The author confronts the typical negative response to Jonathan Edwards who is regularly caricatured as a mean-spirited Puritan who is preoccupied with the wrath of God. Of course, nothing could be further from the truth. Anyone familiar with Edwards admits that the Puritan divine preached unashamedly about the holy wrath of God. But limiting the essence of his thought to eschatological fury is short-sighted and wrong.Stephen Nichols skillfully alerts readers to the passion the resides in Jonathan Edwards to live a God-centered life on this side of heaven. After introducing the broad strokes of Edwards's biography, the author recasts some sermons which were penned by Edwards. In these sermons, readers will note that Edwards emphasized the pursuit of pleasure, a theme which has been popularized by John Piper in his best-selling book, Desiring God. Piper gets to the core of Edwardsian thought in his pithy statement, "God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him."Nichols unpacks the emphasis on charity and works of love that emerges in Jonathan Edward's writing: "It is the absolute and indispensable duty of the people of God, to give bountifully and willingly for supplying the wants of the needy."And the happiness of God's people is clearly revealed in the work of Jonathan Edwards: "The happiness of the saints in heaven consists partly in that they serve God ... When the creature is in that state that is most agreeable to the proper perfection of its nature, then it is in its most happy state."Stephen Nichols successfully accomplish his objective in this short introduction to the worldview of Jonathan Edwards. My prayer is that newcomers to Edwards will read this excellent book and be drawn to read the primary sources. My experience with Jonathan Edwards over the last twenty-five years has been nothing short of revolutionary.

...but here is another good book, that is well worth the read. It is easy to read and digest without skimping on the theological depths of Edwards's thought.

An excellent book that describes the spiritual thoughts of Jonathan Edwards. The beauty and idea of heaven on earth is wonderful.