Jonathan Edwards's A Devine and Supernatural Light focuses on the signs one should look for to tell if they are truly a saint of God and are touched by God's graceful light. Edwards hopes to reiterate that not all "lights" are those of the Holy Spirit, rather, at times men are just are being touched by their own conscious, or that the light of the Holy Spirt works with the more human conscious and nature to influence individuals that are not saints.
It is interesting to note that Edwards moves away from a more philosophical arguement that most ministers of his era would have used, but instead, he hopes to create a more concrete argument with strong evidence, almost in the same manner of a scientist. He forces his patrons to fully examine every aspect of their daily lives, and question whether or not those moments of guilt or a sense of enlightenment were signs from God, or just our conscious and laws of nature getting involved. According to Edwards, all thoughts, feelings, and ideas flow from God through nature and our consciousness, but only those truly blessed have a direct relationship and connection to the Creator.
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Heather,
You've done a good job of summarizing the difference between the supernatural light that comes directly from God and the natural effects of one's conscience. For your next post, focus on analyzing language of the text. Now that you've got a handle on the meaning, look closely at how Edwards conveys that meaning. Think about the differences between the scripture that Edwards quotes and his own explanations of the scripture. What does he emphasize? Is there anything that he leaves out or elides?
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