Yesterday, October 5, 2003 marked the 300th anniversary of the birthday of one of the most significant Bible scholars in church history, Jonathan Edwards. His impact on American life, culture and theology was simply staggering. Recently, I was asked to write some comments for the new release of the classic biography: Marriage to a Difficult Man: The Uncommon Union of Jonathan and Sarah Edwards, by Elisabeth D. Dodds, foreword by John and Noël Piper. My remarks are below:

When one lives in a cynical world that has forgotten the beauty and power of a truly purposeful Christian marriage, it is crucial to step back in time and walk with generations of Christians for whom such a truth was not merely an ideal to be pursued, but a living reality. From page one to the end, Marriage to a Difficult Man grips the reader and refreshes the soul by allowing him to intimately peer into one of the greatest recorded unions of a man and woman. After reading Marriage to a Difficult Man, I walked away not only rejoicing in the marriage of Jonathan and Sarah, but loving my own wife all the more.

Perhaps no other couple in American history has produced so many generations of illustrious leaders as did Jonathan and Sarah Edwards. Their direct descendants included thirteen college presidents, sixty-five professors, one-hundred lawyers, a law school dean, a medical school dean, thirty judges, sixty-six physicians, eighty holders of public office, three United States senators, three state governors, a vice-president of the United States, and scores of ministers and missionaries.

One is impressed by the blessings of multi-generational faithfulness the Lord showered upon the Edwards family, but it is the spiritual oneness of the marriage of this extraordinary couple which leaves the reader numb with the happy realization that God has placed within even the most fallible and simple of couples the potential for genuine marital bliss. The re-release of this classic volume on the three-hundredth anniversary of Jonathan Edwards’ birth includes a brilliantly insightful essay by John and Noël Piper, an important biographical introduction by John Hannah, numerous appendices of important Edwardsian manuscripts, and an epilogue by Dwight Edwards (one of Edwards’ living descendants). This is our pick for best biography of the year.