Jonathan Edwards on Extent of the atonement
Definite — for the elect, effectually
And all that Christ did in his state of humiliation, that had the nature of obedience, moral virtue or goodness, had the nature of merit, in it, and was part of the price with which he purchased happiness for the elect.
THE POSITION
Edwards never argues this question, and the tier records that. The chapter where it belongs — "Of Satisfaction for Sin" — is entirely about why justice requires an infinite satisfaction; it contains no sufficient-for-all/efficient-for-the-elect formula, no denial of one, and none of John 10:15, Ephesians 5:25 or 1 John 2:2. What he does everywhere is assume a particular company: the purchase is made for the elect, and in describing Gethsemane he writes of "the awful ideas of eternal death which his elect people deserved." The stance records that assumption; the tier records that it is an assumption and not an argument.
28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.”
7 OTHERS HOLD THIS
ABOUT THIS FIGURE
New England pastor, revival theologian and philosopher of the First Great Awakening, dismissed from his Northampton pulpit in 1750 over who may come to the Lord's Table. This entry rests on Freedom of the Will (1754), Original Sin (1758), Religious Affections (1746), An Humble Inquiry (1749), Distinguishing Marks (1741), Some Thoughts on the Revival (1742), An Humble Attempt (1747) and A History of the Work of Redemption, read in the Hickman edition.
Cite this page
"Jonathan Edwards on Extent of the atonement", Examined Doctrine, July 2026 edition, https://examineddoctrine.com/position/edwards/atonement-extent (archived at https://examineddoctrine.com/editions/2026-07/position/edwards/atonement-extent).