[A.J.Armitage]

Mr. Edward's rant

Do you even know what the word "rant" means?

Having taken notice of those things which may be necessary to be observed, concerning the meaning of the principal terms and phrases made use of in controversies concerning human liberty, and particularly observed what Liberty is according to the common language and general apprehension of mankind, and what it is as understood and maintained by Arminians; I proceed to consider the Arminian notion of the Freedom of the Will, and the supposed necessity of it in order to moral agency, or in order to any one's being capable of virtue or vice, and properly the subject of command or counsel, praise or blame, promises or threatenings, rewards or punishments; or whether that which has been described, as the thing meant by Liberty in common speech, be not sufficient, and the only Liberty, which make, or can make any one a moral agent, and so properly the subject of these things.

The paraphrase: "I saw the important things to observe about the main terms and phrases used in the free will debate, especially what the ordinary usage of them is and what the Arminian usage is; then I considered the Arminian conception of free will and the supposed necessity of it for moral responsibility to exist, or whether the ordinary usage of "free will" is a better, or the only, justification for moral responsibility."

Now, I will explicate, as best I can, the main argument (which I must admit I never thought of before, but like all good arguments it's obvious once you know it), and the rest you can figure out yourselves. It builds character.

[xzins]

Any way I could get you to explain your rant that explained Edwards' rant? :>)

[CCWoody]

"Having taken notice of those things which may be necessary to be observed, concerning the meaning of the principal terms and phrases made use of in controversies concerning human liberty, and particularly observed what Liberty is according to the common language and general apprehension of mankind, and what it is as understood and maintained by Arminians; I proceed to consider the Arminian notion of the Freedom of the Will, and the supposed necessity of it in order to moral agency, or in order to any one's being capable of virtue or vice, and properly the subject of command or counsel, praise or blame, promises or threatenings, rewards or punishments; or whether that which has been described, as the thing meant by Liberty in common speech, be not sufficient, and the only Liberty, which make, or can make any one a moral agent, and so properly the subject of these things." ~ Jonathan Edwards

Here is the core portion of the sentence: "I proceed to consider the Arminian notion of the Freedom of the Will."

Woody.

[P-Marlowe]

I saw the important things to observe about the main terms and phrases used in the free will debate, especially what the ordinary usage of them is and what the Arminian usage is; then I considered the Arminian conception of free will and the supposed necessity of it for moral responsibility to exist, or whether the ordinary usage of "free will" is a better, or the only, justification for moral responsibility

Nice try AJ, but your translation needs another editing. The more I read of Mr. Edward's rant against Arminianism the more likely I am to conclude that it makes no sense because there's no sense there to make.

His sermons in which he sounds like an Arminian are much more clear and in need of no translation or paraphrasing. In the above essay I believe the he really had no idea what he was saying, and your paraphrase does nothing to clarify the matter.

But it was a nice try. Do you want to try in in English this next time?