ABSTRACT
Scholars have long recognized that certain elements in Edwards's theology are in tension with classical Protestantism. Jaroslav Pelikan, a world authority on the history of Christian thought and a later-life convert to Eastern Orthodoxy, has made reference to the affinities between Edwards's theology and the Orthodox doctrine of divinization.1 Traditional Calvinists, though typically delighted with Edwards's treatment of grace, predestination and the issue of free will, have often been troubled by his affirmations of continuity between the Creator and creatures. The nineteenth-century Presbyterian stalwart Charles Hodge wrote that Edwards's theology 'in its consequences is essentially pantheistic.'2 Others have used softer terms, such as 'mysticism' or 'Platonism,' to describe an aspect of Edwards's thought that is allegedly alien to, and in tension with, his doctrinal Calvinism. Even Edwards's partisans and defenders have sometimes felt the need to explain or qualify his assertions regarding the depth and pervasiveness of God's union with creatures.
