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Charity and Its Fruits: Living in the Light of God’s Love by Jonathan Edwards

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About the Book

Jonathan Edwards took great pains to illustrate how love must be lived out and exercised in one’s life when he exposited 1 Corinthians 13. Thus Edwards scholar Kyle Strobel has gone to great lengths to help readers understand this classic work of biblical spirituality by providing:

  • A detailed introduction
  • Over 150 explanatory notes addressing difficult concepts throughout the text
  • Definitions of arcane terminology
  • Relevant quotes from Edwards’s other writings
  • A conclusion showing how to appropriate Edwards’s work

Here is an updated, unabridged, and enlightening version of Jonathan Edwards’s Charity and Its Fruits―the perfect blend of doctrine and application on the all-important topic, Christian love.

About the Author

Jonathan Edwards (1703–1758) was a pastor, theologian, and missionary. He is generally considered the greatest American theologian. A prolific writer, Edwards is known for his many sermons, including “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,” and his classic A Treatise Concerning Religious Affections. Edwards was appointed president of the College of New Jersey (later renamed Princeton University) shortly before his death. 

Book Reviews

“I am thrilled that Kyle Strobel has edited this new edition of Edwards’s Charity and Its Fruits. This series of sermons holds a special place in my affections for Edwards for three reasons. First, in Munich, Germany, my wife and I read it aloud to each other in 1972. What a way to build a young marriage! Second, Edwards’s treatment of ‘Charity seeketh not her own’ profoundly shaped my emerging Christian Hedonism. Third, the last chapter, ‘Heaven Is a World of Love,’ is simply unsurpassed in its power to make me want to go there. I am unabashed in my love for Jonathan Edwards―and the grandeur of his God. May God give him an ever-wider voice.”
―John Piper, Founder and Teacher, desiringGod.org; Chancellor, Bethlehem College & Seminary; author, Desiring God

“This new edition of Charity and Its Fruits is a most welcomed addition to the growing library of books by and about the great Jonathan Edwards. For those who mistakenly think that Protestant theologians overemphasize faith at the expense of love, these classic sermons by Edwards will be an antidote to a stereotype. But even more important, this deep mining of 1 Corinthians 13 is a pathway into spiritual theology that will draw every believer closer to Christ.”
―Timothy George, Distinguished Professor of Divinity, Beeson Divinity School, Samford University

“For Jonathan Edwards, the true Puritan understanding of Christianity as love-life in God through Christ was a lifelong theological-pastoral-devotional focus, and his fullest display of it is found here. Kyle Strobel’s comments help us appreciate this classic on communion with God.”
―J. I. Packer, Late Board of Governors’ Professor of Theology, Regent College

“As best I can tell, this is a first in Edwardsean studies. No one has done with Charity and Its Fruits what Kyle Strobel accomplishes here―providing us with an enlightening commentary and a readable text of one of Edwards’s most important, though highly neglected, treatises. All who love Edwards (and everyone should) will profit immensely from this exceptional volume.”
―Sam Storms, Senior Pastor, Bridgeway Church, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

“Jonathan Edwards is America’s most famous theologian, and he is experiencing a resurrection among some evangelicals today. Not all who clap for Edwards have read him extensively, and for some the applause appears to be little more than groupthink. But this annotation of Edwards’s seminal exposition of 1 Corinthians 13, edited by a competent young Edwards specialist who offers an informed introduction to Edwards’s moral thought, holds promise for all of us to become more dedicated to the theological vision for the glory of God at work in the theology of Edwards. All who read Edwards aright know they are in for an experience of sensate knowledge, and not simply academic intelligence. Read this book into worship.”
―Scot McKnight, Karl A. Olsson Professor of Biblical and Theological Studies, North Park University

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