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Modernized text, "In Part 3 of A Treatise on the Religious Affections, Jonathan Edwards sets out to identify the distinguishing marks of truly spiritual, divine grace versus counterfeit religious emotions. In his introductory remarks, he establishes crucial boundaries for these signs: they are not meant to enable Christians to definitively judge the salvation of others (a prerogative reserved for God alone), nor will they give assurance to backslidden or spiritually lukewarm believers, who must regain clarity through active obedience and repenting of sin rather than mere self-scrutiny. Finally, while acknowledging that self-deception and spiritual pride often make hardened hypocrites impervious to conviction, Edwards presents these biblical criteria to refine the faith of genuine believers, strip away mixed motives, and guide growing Christians toward true assurance through active, vibrant holy living."

This part of the Treatise on The Religious Affections and been converted to a more modern, easier to grasp English. In Section 2 of *A Treatise Concerning Religious Affections*, Jonathan Edwards argues that genuine Christianity consists largely in holy affections, demonstrating that true faith requires vibrant, heartfelt engagement rather than weak, intellectual indifference. Drawing from Scripture, human experience, and the example of Christ, he establishes that the affections—chiefly holy love, from which all other godly emotions like fear, joy, sorrow, and zeal flow—serve as the primary mainspring of all human action and spiritual obedience. Edwards asserts that divine truth only transforms a soul to the extent that it deeply affects the heart, noting that Scripture consistently equates sin with an unaffected "hardness of heart" and true conversion with a tender, responsive spirit. Ultimately, while acknowledging that natural emotions can mingle with spiritual grace, he concludes that without habitual, holy affections, no amount of doctrinal light or outward religious duty is acceptable to God.

Jonathan Edwards's Treatise on the Religious Affections - language updated to a more modern English. "In the Preface to A Treatise on the Religious Affections, Jonathan Edwards argues that determining the true nature of saving faith is the single most vital question facing humanity, yet it remains deeply obscured by widespread debate and counterfeit experiences. Reflecting on past spiritual awakenings—from biblical revivals to the Protestant Reformation and New England's Great Awakening—Edwards explains how Satan consistently undermines divine revivals not through open persecution, but by mixing false, unexamined emotionalism with true holiness. Unmasking these counterfeits is essential, as mistaking false zeal for genuine grace leads to spiritual self-deception, bitter division among Christians, and the eventual decay of genuine revivals. Edwards writes this treatise to provide clear, biblical criteria for distinguishing the saving operations of the Holy Spirit from non-saving spiritual counterfeits, urging believers to pursue lasting spiritual clarity.

The text of this edition of the Religious Affections has been modernized to assist the listener. In Section 1 of A Treatise Concerning Religious Affections, Jonathan Edwards draws from 1 Peter 1:8 to argue that genuine Christianity consists largely in holy affections—specifically the vigorous, lively exercises of the soul's will and inclination, such as love and joy. Examining how early Christians endured fiery persecutions, Edwards explains that trials serve to reveal, display, and purify true faith, stripping away empty pretense and dross. He distinguishes between the soul's two primary faculties—the understanding (which perceives and judges) and the inclination or heart (which actively approves or rejects)—and clarifies that affections are not separate from the will, but are simply its most intense and felt operations. Ultimately, while strong affections often produce physical sensations, Edwards emphasizes that the mind alone is their true seat, and that genuine religious vitality manifests through deep, supernatural devotion to an unseen Christ rather than superficial emotional surges.

Welcome back to the podcast as we continue our systematic journey through William Goold's classic edition of The Collected Works of John Owen. In today's episode, we explore the deep pastoral landscape of Volume 7, charting Owen's clinical diagnosis of spiritual backsliding and his gospel remedy for a languishing soul. We begin in 1676 with The Nature and Causes of Apostasy from the Gospel, examining Owen's surgical breakdown of Hebrews 6 and his diagnostic checklist in Chapter 6 for identifying secret heart-declension and spiritual sloth. From there, we open his 1681 work, The Grace and Duty of Being Spiritually Minded, pausing in Chapter 9 to confront Owen's searching concern that true spiritual mindedness has become tragically rare in the church—a warning we compare directly with the psychological severity of Jonathan Edwards's Religious Affections and Alexander Allen's famous commentary on it. Finally, we conclude with Owen's posthumous 1688 treatise, Of the Dominion of Sin and Grace, walking through Chapters 3 and 4 to distinguish between the persistent presence of indwelling corruption and the reigning dominion of sin, anchoring our ultimate assurance in the covenantal promise that under grace, sin shall not have the final say.

Welcome to today's episode, where we begin an in-depth, step-by-step journey through Volume 1 of the landmark two-volume Hickman edition of *The Works of Jonathan Edwards*, published by Banner of Truth. In this discussion, we lay the groundwork for our series by exploring the history of this monumental collection—including Sereno Dwight's foundational 19th-century *Memoirs* and how it compares to early biographies like those of Samuel Hopkins and Alexander Allen—before providing a guided tour through each treatise in the table of contents. From landmark philosophical and theological masterworks like *Freedom of the Will*, *Original Sin*, *The End for Which God Created the World*, and *Religious Affections*, to historical revival accounts, church controversy defenses, and pastoral sermons, this episode serves as your essential roadmap to understanding the scope, context, and enduring spiritual legacy of Edwards' primary writings.

Welcome back to the podcast. Today, we step into 17th-century England to explore the turbulent life and enduring legacy of John Flavel—an outlawed Puritan pastor who was forced to preach under cover of night, yet whose written works became a beacon of profound comfort and piercing spiritual clarity. From his rich practical allegories like Husbandry Spiritualized to his deeply searching classic The Touchstone of Sincerity—a work so spiritually acute that Jonathan Edwards relied on it heavily when shaping his own Treatise Concerning Religious Affections—Flavel spent a lifetime shepherding souls through the furnace of affliction. Whether holding up the crucible of Scripture to help us test the authenticity of our faith or pointing us to the steady compass of Divine Providence, Flavel's voice cuts through the noise of modern life to call our hearts back to what is genuine, quiet, and eternally secure in Christ.

This past June, Catholic Archbishop Edward Weisenburger of Detroit attended the grand opening of a mosque and the new headquarters of the Islamic Institute of America. Not only did he praise the building, but he also said that Muslims and Catholics worship the same God. He said he felt a "divine presence" as soon as he arrived at the mosque. He also offered a prayer that this Islamic Center will bring all of humanity "into a deeper communion with our one god." He said "We are members of the same human family. All churches, all mosques, all synagogues, all places where God reaches out and touches with his finger are sacred." Also this past June in Milan, Italy, a Catholic parish set aside space for young Muslims to engage in Islamic prayers during their summer program. One priest defended this by saying that Christians and Muslims "pray to the same God. A priest there said, "I imagine the prayer could conclude with the Islamic formula Bismillah, which invokes the name of God, the compassionate and merciful." He said, "It is always better to help young people to pray: we pray to the same God, certainly within different religious traditions. And recognizing the other's identity is in the spirit of the Gospel." It's been reported that a Muslim prayer room has been set up in the heart of the Vatican City's 500-year-old library. Islamic scholars visiting the Vatican Apostolic Library had requested a room with "a carpet to pray on" and staff heeded their request. Join us as we discuss the question, "Will Islam & Catholicism Unite Toward a Global Religion?" Our guest is Mike Gendron of ProclaimingtheGospel.org.

In contemporary evangelistic practice, the pastoral response to an awakened sinner often seeks immediate emotional relief, offering swift assurances of safety and a bare presentation of gospel facts. In stark contrast, historic Reformed soul-care—exemplified by John Bunyan's Evangelist, Jonathan Edwards's revival treatises, Thomas Scott's annotations, and the lived experience of David Brainerd—operates on the conviction that true saving faith requires a deep, experimental realization of human inability under the Law before gospel comfort can be rightly embraced. Rather than offering premature assurance to those alarmed about their souls, these historic voices advocate holding forth "more light" to dismantle all self-reliant "twigs" of moral reform, enforcing the urgent command to "flee from the wrath to come." By examining Evangelist's seemingly paradoxical counsel alongside Edwards's theology of religious affections and Brainerd's self-examining piety, this study demonstrates that stripping away false security is not ministerial cruelty, but the highest act of spiritual mercy—forcing the sinner out of self-righteousness and driving him toward true, enduring refuge in the cross of Christ.

What it will be like to see there the One we have loved here.