What hath Northampton to do with Nicaea? This paper examines kingdom and monarchical language in the sermon set A History of the Work of Redemption by Jonathan Edwards and compares such language’s resonance with the theological constructs affirmed by the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed (381). The Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed affirms, “And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God … whose kingdom shall have no end” (καὶ εἰς ἕνα Κύριον Ἰησοῦν Χριστὸν τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ τὸν Μονογενῆ . . . οὗ τῆς βασιλείας οὐκ ἔσται τέλος). Defending the Nicene definition contra Arianism, even though suspected of a modified Sabellianism, Marcellus of Ancrya appeals to 1 Corinthians 15:24–28 (“the Son at the end hands the kingdom over to the Father”) which influenced the inclusion of the words “whose kingdom shall have no end” in the Creed. From late antiquity, the kingdom has been constructed by exegetes in terms of ownership Christologically. Scripture, however, only a few times explicitly ascribes the kingdom to Christ.
Markan and Lukan pericopes have a penchant for “kingdom of God” and Matthean pericopes prefer “kingdom of heaven.” Only with five instances (Eph. 5:5; 2 Tim. 4:1; 2 Pet. 1:11; Rev. 11:15, 12:10) is the kingdom conveyed explicitly as belonging to Jesus Christ. Overall, then, the phrase “kingdom of Christ” sounds rather a soft note in the mixed chorus of the biblical data. Some commentators stress this apparent biblical emphasis. However, certain biblical interpreters stress instead the Nicene emphasis to augment their own ecclesial situations in important ways. Edwards, known for being a capable homiletician and biblical exegete, positions the kingdom of God as synonymous with “the kingdom of Christ,” a favored term of his to refer to the scriptural notion. From a careful examination of his sermons, I propose Edwards’s exegesis demonstrates deep resonance with what the council of Constantinople in 381 elucidates about kingdom.
There remains significant investigation into Edwards’s exegetical methods and biblical exegesis, yet there has been little consideration of how he uses monarchical terminology in his sermons and writings. While the addition of the Jonathan Edwards Encyclopedia (2017) and The Oxford Handbook on Jonathan Edwards (2021) are welcomed volumes touching on related topics, a clear omission of these encyclopedic works is they lack any entry on Edwards’s view of the kingdom.
Accordingly, further inquiry as to how Edwards’s usage of monarchical and kingdom language informs his theology would help to fill such lacunae. Edwards’s view seems to develop through his 1739 sermon series as he interprets, with capacious biblical reference and monarchial language, patterns of historical progress and regress of the kingdom of God in the world against the kingdom of Satan. Thus, this paper will summarize Edwards’s broader historical project to situate the omission of studies of the kingdom in the field, evaluate his usage of monarchial language and biblical references to “the kingdom of Christ,” and offer a constructive account of Edwards’s categories and their resonance with orthodoxy affirmed by the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed.