In this post I am interviewing Rhys Bezzant about his new book, Edwards the Mentor (Oxford University Press). Bezzant has served as an ordained priest in the Anglican Diocese of Melbourne, and presently teaches church history at Ridley College, where he directs the Jonathan Edwards Center Australia. He is also a canon at St Paul’s Cathedral in Melbourne.
[TK] When we think of Jonathan Edwards, most of us probably think first of him as a Reformed theologian or evangelical preacher. Why did you decide to assess him as a mentor?
[RB] There are so many ways of understanding Edwards, aren’t there? So many different kinds of ministry he undertook. It is easy to approach him as a preacher given that we have so many of his sermons, but this might leave a wrong impression. He counseled people, organized church services, rode on horseback to other towns to convene meetings, worked with publishers, and of course mentored future leaders. And his mentoring was done so well. I want campus workers, pastors, and academics to see Edwards as more than a theological mouthpiece in order to see that ministry is more than explaining ideas. Ministry is at least that, but much more!
You quote Edwards describing his pedagogical practice in these words: “singly, particularly, and closely.” What did he mean by that?
One of the surprising phases of Edwards’s ministry was his decision to work as a missionary in Stockbridge after his dismissal from Northampton. He ran a small church as well as a school for Native American children. And he expected his teachers to instruct their pupils “singly, particularly, and closely.” Every kid in the school would have their own traumas, or linguistic challenges, or family dynamics to negotiate, so Edwards wanted these educational needs to be taken into account in their geography or math lessons. It would take more time and effort on the part of the teacher to imagine the world and individual experience of their students, but it would be worth it in the end. Our background doesn’t define our capacity for learning. If God values and cares for an apparently worthless sparrow, then of course older Christians should prize the unique capacities of younger ones whom they teach. To mentor someone is to nurture them “singly, particularly, and closely” as well.