Modern Resolutions
As the year comes to a close, many will take time to reflect on the past twelve months. This time of reflection is often one of disappointment; a feeling of falling short of that which could have been. In light of this feeling and a foresight of a new beginning, people endeavor to set for themselves resolutions they may stick to, in order that the new year may be better than the current. But what is the typical nature of these resolutions? Normally, it is some form of self-improvement, be it daily meditation, sticking with a workout routine, reading more, improving spending habits, or a host of other personal goals. While many Christians may set resolutions which involve a Bible reading plan or a better prayer rule, a majority of resolutions involve the self for the ultimate benefit of the self. This differs in nature historically from how resolutions were put together, especially among men of faith in 18th-century America. While similar in that an individual would make a resolution to which they bind themselves, the telos of this resolution did not culminate in the self but chiefly to the glory of God. Two helpful resolutions to look at which help illustrate this point are The Resolutions of Jonathan Edwards and Cotton Mather’s A Father’s Resolutions.
Jonathan Edwards’s Resolutions
At the age of nineteen, Jonathan Edwards penned about seventy resolutions, the first twenty-two of which were penned in one sitting (1). These resolutions can be put in various categories concerning his overall life mission, good works, time management, relationships, suffering, character, and the spiritual life (2). Among those who are Reformed, these are likely the most famous of all resolution lists and come from a figure whom many view as a spiritual giant in the faith. Of note is the age at which Edwards recorded these. He was not an aged man with experience in the ministry, counseling congregants through tragic loss or complicated situations involving a heavy degree of immorality. Rather, this was a young man who strived to enjoy God in all his glory and live a virtuous life. In his third resolution, Edwards states, “Resolved, if ever I shall fall and grow dull, so as to neglect to keep any part of these Resolutions, to repent of all I can remember when I come to myself again.” (3) The nature of Edwards’s resolutions is not just setting general goals for himself which he can discard at the drop of a hat, rather, he is seriously and thoughtfully penning down wisdom which he binds himself to before God and himself.
The end of these resolutions is not just self-improvement for the sake of self-improvement, but a striving toward virtue for the sake of participating in the glory of God. Edwards opens his first resolution stating, “Resolved, that I will do whatsoever I think to be most to God’s glory, and my own good, profit and pleasure, in the whole of my duration, without any consideration of the time, whether now or never so many myriads of ages hence. Resolved to do whatever I think to be my duty and most for the good and advantage of mankind in general. Resolved to do this, whatever difficulties I meet with, how many soever, and how great soever.” (4) Note the ends in mind which Edwards lays out: God’s glory and the good of mankind in general. In stating this Edwards has in mind what the Lord Jesus declares to be the greatest commandments, to love the Lord with all one’s heart, soul, and mind, and to love one’s neighbor as themself (Mk. 12:30-31). Edwards has in mind himself here as well, noting that he does these for his own good. This comes down, ultimately, to the nature of why we follow God and obey him. While many may think it selfish to serve God for one’s own good, this is one of many reasons we give to God that which is his due. God is in need of nothing and benefits from nothing, for he by his nature is entirely self-sufficient, and if he needed anything his very subsistence would rely on something outside of him. All that God commands of us is not for his benefit, but for ours. In setting forth these resolutions and having in mind first and foremost God and neighbor, Edwards himself does this for his own good (Dt. 28).
Cotton Mather’s Resolutions
Though born forty years prior to Edwards, Cotton Mather was a Puritan preacher who traveled to the American colonies and died there in Boston. He is another highly esteemed American figure within the Reformed tradition who penned a set of resolutions. Mather’s resolutions differed from Edwards in that these were not personal resolutions strictly for a virtuous life, but the resolutions of a father concerning the proper raising of children within a Christian family. Mather opens in his first resolution stating, “At the birth of my children, I will resolve to do all I can that they may be the Lord’s. I will now actually give them up by faith to God; entreating that each child may be a child of God the Father, a subject of God the Son, a temple of God the Spirit—and be rescued from the condition of a child of wrath, and be possessed and employed by the Lord as an everlasting instrument of His glory.” (5) Chief in mind to Mather is the end that his children belong not only to himself and his wife, but to God and that they ought to be treated as such. As the resolutions continue, Mather touches on various practical matters for parenting which involve properly loving the children and not losing his temper too quickly, but most importantly he sees the duty of fatherhood as a duty towards catechesis. He resolves to teach his children true religion, exhort them to virtue, encourage them towards scripture reading and memorization, and prayer.
Being a paedobaptist, Mather had a solid grasp of Reformed covenant theology and that his children were federally Christians by virtue of their membership in the covenant, yet this did not stop him from not only resolving himself to catechesis for the sake not only of their sanctification but for their conversion. Though a child may be born within the covenant and thereby be entitled to the benefits of the covenant (including the covenant sign), this does not mean they are inwardly converted. In his thirteenth resolution, Mather states, “When the children are of a fit age for it, I will sometimes closet them; have them with me alone; talk with them about the state of their souls; their experiences, their proficiencies, their temptations; obtain their declared consent unto every jot and tittle of the gospel; and then pray with them, and weep unto the Lord for His grace, to be bestowed upon them, and make them witnesses of the agony with which I am travailing to see the image of Christ formed in them. Certainly, they’ll never forget such actions!” (6) Mather seeks not just to lay before his children the content of the Gospel in hope that they accept it, but he labors for their salvation! This is much akin to the behavior of Augustine’s mother, Monica, who was in constant prayer for her son that he may be converted to the faith which she raised him in despite his rebellion. The end of these resolutions is the good of Mather’s children, chief of which involves true religion which changes the heart and draws one to the Lord of life.
The End of Godly Resolutions
Though dealing with different subjects, both Edwards and Mather had similar themes in their resolutions, both having the ends as the glory of God and the good of man. These resolutions intimately involved the authors who penned them, but their end was not personal self-improvement for the sake of one’s own personal glory. While there is nothing wrong with personal glory or self-improvement, the end in mind must be God’s glory for the good of oneself and one’s neighbor. (7) One can still strive for greatness and seek their own good, as personal glory rightly ordered itself is a participation in Glory himself. Prior to setting resolutions for the New Year, take the time to read through the resolutions of Edwards and Mather. In the midst of various resolutions aimed around your own self-improvement, consider crafting a few in the vein of Edwards and Mather. Our forefathers were learned men who were able to be balanced and properly order their loves, something we often struggle to do. In resolving to hold ourselves to the duties we set, let us always remember the ultimate end: God’s glory and the good of man.
Citations/Notes
(1) Jonathan Edwards, The Resolutions of Jonathan Edwards (Pensacola, FL: Chapel Library, 2008), 1.
(2) To see the resolutions arranged according to these categories, see Edwards, Jonathan. “The Resolutions of Jonathan Edwards.” Desiring God, October 6, 2023. https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/the-resolutions-of-jonathan-edwards.
(3) Edwards, The Resolutions of Jonathan Edwards, 1.
(4) Edwards, The Resolutions of Jonathan Edwards, 1.
(5) Cotton Mather, “A Father’s Resolution,” A Father’s Resolutions, accessed December 24, 2024, http://www.romans45.org/mather/resolvd.htm, Resolution 1.
(6) Mather, A Father’s Resolution, Resolution 13.
(7) Philip Melanchthon notes the good of one’s personal glory, stating “True glory, when sought justly, is the approval of one’s own conscience when it judges rightly and the approval of the consciences of others rightly judging… Because it is a commandment from God to seek approval of conscience of the one who rightly judges, and of some who judge rightly in the church, it is a virtue to seek this glory in a proper way.” Philip Melanchthon, Commentary on Proverbs, trans. Derek Cooper and Timothy J. Wengert (Grand Rapids, MI: CLP Academic, 2023), 57.
