Chapter 3 considers how Edwards's doctrine of God as a simple pure act can make sense of divine freedom. In dialogue with several recent treatments of these matters, the chapter argues that Edwards's position is coherent. God is free, according to Edwards. But he is also determined to act as he does by his own nature. In this way, and unlike many of the Reformed before him, Edwards embraces what we might think of as a consistent theological compatibilism. Not only are creatures determined to act as they do, yet free. God also is determined to act as he does (by his nature), and yet free in...

Chapter 3 considers how Edwards's doctrine of God as a simple pure act can make sense of divine freedom. In dialogue with several recent treatments of these matters, the chapter argues that Edwards's position is coherent. God is free, according to Edwards. But he is also determined to act as he does by his own nature. In this way, and unlike many of the Reformed before him, Edwards embraces what we might think of as a consistent theological compatibilism. Not only are creatures determined to act as they do, yet free. God also is determined to act as he does (by his nature), and yet free in those actions.