The precise relation sustained by the elder Edwards (1703-58) to this theological development has long been, and still remains, a subject of controversy. The advo- cates of the most a<lvaneed new views are anxious to* claim him as the real father of the whole movement, while the Olil-school writers, with equal zeal, endeavor to guard the good man's memory from so " slanderous" an allegation. The former appeal to the " Ten Im- provements in Theology," enumerated by the younger Edwards ( Ifo/ViS, i, 481) as having been "made by his father," and claim that such a list entitles their author to the very first rank among the iimovators upon New England orthodoxy. The latter find in this enumera- tion of the younger Edwards only an effort on the part of its author to magnify the number and character of his father's theological novelties, in order the better to prepare the way for the introduction of his own more radical and dangerous ones. One writer (in Princeton Rev. Oct. 1858) has attempted to show that president Edwards's only deviations from the current Calvinism of his age were confined to two points — viz., he held to mediate instead of immediate imputation ; and, secondly, advocated " an eccentric philosophical theory of virtue." The true state of the case would seem to be that Ed- wards, without intending to initiate, or even to occasion, such a grand revolution, reallv advanced principles and made statements which afterwards suggested, and al- most logically necessitated, the peculiar views and even phraseology of his successors (see Park, On the Rise of the Edivardean Theory of the Atonement).
To present a complete delineation of New England theology, it would be necessary to write a critical his- tory of New England speculation. Contributions and modifying influences have come from so many sources that even then it would be exceedingly difhcult to ap- portion to each of the original elaborators his precise due. This difficulty is greatly enhanced by the inti- macy of the relations which subsisted among them. So close were those relations that in some instances it is next to impossible to determine the real authorship of important modifications. F^dwards. Bellamy, and Hop- kins, the "great triumvirate of New Englantl theologi- ans," were not merely contemporaries, they were confi- dential friends, reciprocal teachers and learners, mutual givers and receivers, allied investigators of divine truth. Each had peculiarities of belief, each held fast to the substance of the old Calvinistic system; but there was substantial agreement in much that was new and revo- lutionary. For many years they enjoyed the most fa-
TIIEOLOGY, NEW ENGLAND 328 THEOLOGY, NEW ENGLAND
vorablc opportunities for the interchange of sentiments, niiuual .siinmlatiun, and intiiicncc. Their relations to the j^eneration succeeding were also intimate. The first was father of Dr. Edwards, the second his theologi- cal teacher, the third was his most valued counsellor, and was intimately associated with him in the exami- nation of his father's MSS. West was a contidential companion uf Bellamy ami Hopkins, intimate also with l>rs. Kdwards, Sinallev, and Kmmons. Through Dr. I'^dwards the spirit of the triumvirate was transmitted to his jjupils Dwight and Gritlin, to his friends IJackus and Smalley. bmalley was a pupil of Hellamy, the in- structor of Emmons, the friend of Hopkins antl West. To ascertain the exact contribution of any one of these to the actual development is evidently a task of the greatest dilHculty.
About the year 175G there were four or five clergy- men whose views had come to be jiopularly distinguish- ed as •• Edwardean." In ITTo the number had increased, according to Dr. Stiles, to about forty-live. During this vear Dr. Hopkins published his Iiiquiri/ into the Nature of True Huliness. elaborating the Edwardean theory more perfectly than Edwards had done ; and, in a volu- minous appendix, defending it against the objections which Mr. Hart and others had published against it. Thenceforth the Edwardeaiis were generally denomi- nated ''Hopkinsians.'" This new term, though first ap- jilied to the New Divinity with special reference to its iloctriue of the utter sinfulness of all acts preceding re- generation, was soon used to designate all Calvinistic divines who favored the doctrines of general atonement, natural ability, the active nature of all holiness and sin, and the justice of God in imputing to men none but their own personal transgressions. Their number in 179t), according to Dr. Hopkins, was upwards of a hun- dred. Dr. Stiles enumerates as among the champions of the new system in 1787 the two Edwardses, Bellamy, Hoiikins. Trumbull, Smalley, Judson, Spring, Kobinson (lather of Dr. Edward Robinson), Strong, Dwight, Em- mons. In 1799 Hopkins appended the names of West, Levi Hart, Backus, presidents Balch and Fitch. A later )ien has added the honored names of Dr. Catlin, presi- dent .\ppleion, and Dr. Austin. At the present time the pecidiarities of New-school New England theology liave very general prevalence in the orthodox Con- gregational churches of the New England and West- ern States, and are favored by many in other Calvinis- tic bodies. They are taught in the theological semi- naries of Andover, New Haven, Bangor, and Chicago. They are disseminated by quarterly and other organs of marked ability, among which the Bihl'wtheca Sacra and The New-Englunder hold the first rank. They have alTected the current theological teachings of the IJaptist churches not a little; and the great schism which divided the Presbyterian Church in 1837 was chiefly traceable to their influence in that communion. See