Jonathan Edwards on Authority of Scripture
Scripture alone is the final, only infallible authority
We have but one rule to go by, and that is his holy word; and when we join any thing else with it, as having the force of a rule, we are guilty of that which is strictly forbidden.
THE POSITION
Scripture is the one rule, and Edwards states it flatly while correcting the Awakening's own friends rather than Rome. He treats claimed immediate revelations — including impressions that arrive carrying a text of Scripture — as new revelation to all intents and purposes, and argues that the written word is surer than a voice from heaven. Anything joined to Scripture as having the force of a rule is, in his word, forbidden.
2 You must not add to or subtract from what I command you, so that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God that I am giving you.
18 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 Authority of Scripture", Examined Doctrine, July 2026 edition, https://examineddoctrine.com/position/edwards/scripture-authority (archived at https://examineddoctrine.com/editions/2026-07/position/edwards/scripture-authority).