Introduction

Welcome! You have found the home of Visual Edwards.

What is Visual Edwards?

The idea behind the Visual Edwards project is to visualize the writings and thought of Jonathan Edwards in a creative way which facilitates exploration, study, and presentation. The sophisticated, image-rich theology of Edwards resonates with today’s visual and tech-driven culture. Initially an effort to visualize Edwards’ natural typology, the Visual Edwards project has now extended to the rest of the printed corpus contained within Yale’s 26 volumes of The Works of Jonathan Edwards.

As a digital humanities project1 in the field of Jonathan Edwards studies, Visual Edwards brings a new view to America’s theologian. It has been described as “straddling the poles of theology, technology, and art.” Development on the project continues apace with recent advances, including the ability to combine separate and even disparate network visualizations to create larger views of Jonathan Edwards’s thought, generate live reference links to The Works of Jonathan Edwards Online, vols. 1–26 (the Yale print volumes) which track current and cumulative references, as well as new style options and the ability to print tiled posters.

Compatible with modern web browsers, Visual Edwards interactive apps approach America’s Theologian via 3D and 2D network visualizations with adjustable layout and integrated auto-highlighting of the WJEO text. The Visual Edwards project leverages a computational methodology to explore Edwards’s writings in a new way.

Endorsements

Rob Boss’ work on visualizing Edwards’ thought through dimensional traceries is a case in point. This “mapping” or imaging of the mind of Edwards is unique, and uniquely illumines the study of the man and presents new possibilities. “Sight” had both a physiological and a spiritual dimension for Edwards, who studied Newton as well as Milton, but he could hardly have anticipated the realms that visualization has taken on in the postmodern era.” —Kenneth P. Minkema, Executive Director of the Jonathan Edwards Center, Yale University (from the Foreword to The Jonathan Edwards Miscellanies Companion, Volume 2)

The tools of digital humanities allow researchers to identify or represent patterns in literature in ways that would have been prohibitively time-consuming or impossible with tools based in print technologies. Because of the structure of the “Miscellanies” of Jonathan Edwards and the breadth of his corpus, an exhaustive analysis of a theme is difficult. Topical mapping allows researchers to clarify Edwards through his own writings…This project exemplifies what can be done to enrich theological research with data gathered from projects similar to The Works of Jonathan Edwards Online. —Jonathan McCormick, Director of Library Services, Gateway Seminary (endorsement of The Jonathan Edwards Miscellanies Companion, Volume 2)

Boss succeeds in translating words and thoughts into images, uncovering many aspects of Edwards’s thoughts that would otherwise remain hidden. This innovative approach initiates a whole noew area of research in Jonathan Edwards studies and adds to the recent contributions of Digital Humanities to the study of American letters as such. —Michal Choinski, Assistant Professor in the Institute of English Studies, Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland (endorsement of The Jonathan Edwards Miscellanies Companion, Volume 1)



How can it be used?

There are a number of ways that Visual Edwards can be used by those studying America’s theologian.

  • A single term (or array of terms) can be mapped out across his works
  • Keywords of select text (like Miscellanies) can be mapped across Edwards’ corpus to assist in discovery of similar themes
  • Perform creative analyses, such as searching for animals or other illustrations along with the terms like “type,” “figure,” and “shadow” in order to discover the extent of specific typological references
  • Export and print large wall posters of beautiful visualizations and use them as a whiteboard to collect passages, annotate, brainstorm, etc. The interactive visualizations on the computer work in tandem with the posters

Why is it relevant?

Wilson Kimnach’s diagram illustrates the complex interdependency of Edwards’ notebooks and sermons, reflecting the formidable intellectual and spiritual effort famously exerted in his study for up to 13 hours a day. Visual Edwards helps unlock the beautiful complexity within his writings.

Who can benefit from it?

Researchers, students as well as seasoned scholars, can enhance their study of Edwards with visualizations which are both aesthetic and accurate. Visual Edwards creates a distant or meta-reading of Edwards which displays shapes, contours, and conjunctions within his writings—yet with immediate reference to his text and exact page locations in volumes 1–26 of the Yale edition of his works.

How can you get started?

Below are links to a some articles that give a bit of background on the project. You can also sign up for a Free or Paid subscription to my weekly Substack which gives readers a visual tour of topics in Edwards writings, complete with linked references to pages in The Works of Jonathan Edwards Online.

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  1. A Google search of “digital humanities” will return a plethora of interesting hits. A helpful site is https://programminghistorian.org. ↩