This word signifies a building up. Hence we call a building an edifice. Applied to spiritual things, it signifies the improving, adorning, and comforting the mind; and a Christian may be said to be edified when he is encouraged and animated in the ways and works, of the Lord. The means to promote our own edification are, prayer, self-examination, reading the Scriptures, hearing the Gospel, meditation, attendance on all appointed ordinances. To edify others there should be love, spiritual conversation, forbearance, faithfulness, benevolent exertions, and uniformity of conduct.
Despite a stated reliance on the plain meaning of the Bible and the dictates of common sense, Buck's Theological Dictionary, first published in London in 1802, seeks to provide a textual basis for the evangelical community. By combining brief essays on orthodox belief and practice with historical entries on various denominations, Buck provided an interpretive lens that allowed antebellum Protestants to see Christianity's almost two millennia as their own history.Wikipedia
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