Let me begin by commending all of the commenters for their wrestling with a very complex aspect of Edwards' thought. The complexity of the content is increased by the fact that this miscellany was written early in Edwards' life and he communicates the substance of his thought more clearly in later writings. In my view, this miscellany has four key elements:

1. The notion of continuous creation, which many of the commenters expressed very well. Put simply, this is the idea that God creates the universe from nothing at every instant. As a number of the commenters noted, this understanding of creation explicitly opposes the 'watchmaker God' of the deists that was gaining currency in Europe and America in Edwards' day. 

2. Evidence for continuous creation is found in the independence of successive moments from each other, as demonstrated by the movement of bodies. Time, it seems, is nothing more than a description of the fact that things change, and if they change, then they are not identical from moment to moment. Further evidence for this is found in Edwards' hypothetical about the annihilation of the world. If the universe completely passed out of all existence (including all mental existence), then it would be impossible to create another world that bears any relation to the annihilated world. Thus, the connection we experience between reality from moment to moment is not to be found in any natural laws or inherent properties of bodies. (A number of commenters helpfully connected this notion to storyboard animation and movie frames. I expect that that analogy will show up in my classroom next semester!)

3. What then accounts for our experience of continuity? Edwards, as an idealist, locates the continuity in the mind. The key sentence is this: "Now past existence can't be continued so that respect should be had to it, otherwise than mentally." Most commenters that reflected on this sentence drew attention to our memories of previous moments. God recreates us each moment, but the "me" of five minutes from now is different than the present "me" because God re-creates the future me with the memory of the intervening five minutes. Now, this is absolutely true, and is an extension of Edwards' larger point. But when Edwards refers to the fact that the continuity exists "mentally" or in relation to the mind, he primarily has in view God's mind, not ours. For this is where the universe exists: in the mind of God. We are God's intentional thoughts. Or, as Paul puts it, "in him we live and move and have our being." Those commenters who connected this quotation to Edwards’ idealism are thus absolutely on the right track.

4. Finally, Edwards’ points to Revelation 4:11 as confirmation of his philosophical musings about time, creation, and continuity. Edwards loved philosophy, but he loved the triune God of Scripture more. Thus, he did all of his philosophical explorations with a view to confirming and shedding light on God’s revelation of himself in his word.

Thus, in evaluating the comments, I was looking for evidence of each of these components. Many of you had some combination of all of them, but only a few hit all four. Of those that hit all four, one stood out as expressing the sentiments clearly and concisely. With that in mind, congratulations to Andrew Cowan.

Andrew explains:

Sentence 1: Edwards suggests that continuous existence is not really continuous existence at all, but rather a continuous experience of being renewed in existence each moment. 

Sentences 2-4: As evidence, he points to what happens with physical bodies. There is never identical existence between our bodies at one point in time and the next; they exist in different physical locations and experience different sensations at every moment. It is true that the experience of the body is continual in the sense that what we experience must always be related to what was experienced previously. Thus, if I rise from my chair in a few minutes, this experience is necessarily related to the fact that I am presently sitting. But my existence as sitting in this chair at this moment is forever gone and no longer exists the moment I stand up. The only sense in which this experience of sitting continues to exist after I rise is in my memory (and God’s perfect memory) of it. 

Sentence 5: Suppose God destroyed the world for a time and created a new one. The present world would not exist in any sense that would constrain how God might make the new world. 

Sentences 6-7: Thus, we see that the continual existence of the present world is proof of a God who created the world for his pleasure. We see this because there is no reason he continually renews its existence outside of his desire that this world in particular continue to exist.

Joe Rigney is Instructor of Theology and Christian Worldview at Bethlehem College and Seminary, where he teaches courses on the life and thought of Jonathan Edwards.