Whether one loves or hates this man, one must respect the brilliance of the penetrating intellect of Jonathan Edwards. There cannot be a fair historical discussion of the issue of free will without reference to Edwards’ work, “The Freedom of the Will”, which he wrote in 1754. Edwards himself expresses the importance of a right understanding of the nature of human will:

“Of all kinds of knowledge that we can ever obtain, the knowledge of God, and the knowledge of ourselves are the most important. But the knowledge of ourselves consists chiefly in right apprehensions concerning those two chief faculties of our nature, the understanding and will. And the grand question about the freedom of the will, is the main point that belongs to the science of the will. Therefore I say, the importance of this subject greatly demands the attention of Christians…”