God created the world for his glory alone. Most Christians would confess this claim, but struggle to explain it. How could God be all-sufficient in himself and yet gain anything from creating this cosmos? Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758) provided a classic answer to this timeless question in his End for Which God Created the World, but most modern readers need a guide through this difficult text.

In this book, Joe Rigney points the way to an enriched understanding of Edwards’s classic and the sublime mysteries which it plumbs: that God has an end in creation; that God is eternally happy and self-sufficient in Himself; that God creates everything from nothing; and that God values things according to their value. Rigney’s work invites academics, pastors, and laypeople alike into conversation with one of the brightest lights of the Reformed tradition.

158 pages.

View excerpt here.

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction

PART 1: THEOLOGICAL BACKGROUND

1. Divine Incomprehensibility
2. Divine Personhood
3. Divine Happiness
4. Divine Simplicity
5. Divine Perichoresis
6. The Trinitarian Missions
7. Summary of Edwards’s Trinitarianism
8. Edwards’s Goals and Methodology in End of Creation

PART 2: EXPOSITION OF END OF CREATION

1. Exposition of End of Creation
2. Introduction
3. Chapter 1, Section 1
4. Chapter 1, Section 2
5. Chapter 1, Section 3
6. Chapter 1, Section 4
7. Chapter 2, Sections 1–6
8. Chapter 2, Section 7

PART 3: ANALYSIS AND CLARIFICATION

1. Does Edwards Rely Too Much on Reason?
2. Do Dormant Attributes Compromise Divine Aseity?
3. Is Creation Necessary?
4. Is God Free?

Conclusion