Latest / Reformed Thinking / The Scripture is the Word of God (2 Timothy 3:16) | Jonathan Edwards

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The Scripture is the Word of God (2 Timothy 3:16) | Jonathan Edwards · Reformed Thinking

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Welcome and thank you so much for joining us for this deep
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dive on Reformed thinking. We are really thrilled to have
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you here with us today. Our mission for this
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conversation is to open up a, well, a really fascinating set
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of original sermon notes. These are from November of 1753.
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Yeah, that's right. And these nerds were written by
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the appeared and theologian Jonathan Edwards.
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They're based on the biblical text of Second Timothy 3.16.
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The manuscript is titled quite directly.
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The Scripture is the Word of God.
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So OK, let's unpack this. We're going to walk step by step
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through the rigorous, logical progression that Edwards lays
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out in these pages. Because he doesn't.
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He doesn't begin by simply demanding that his audience
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accept his premise without question.
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Instead, he starts by proving that a creator must necessarily
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speak to his creation. Right, which is quite a
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philosophical starting point. Exactly, I mean from there he
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systematic eliminates all other candidates for that divine
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voice, leaving only the Bible. And after establishing that
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Edwards provides 8 specific, highly detailed historical and
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subjective proofs for the Bible's divine origin, finally,
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he concludes with a severe, urgent application directed
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straight at you, the listener. It is a brilliant piece of
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historical reasoning and we are going to examine every single
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piece of it today. It truly is a remarkable
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manuscript, as Reformed thinkers holding to the Westminster
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Confession Edwards, this highly systematic approach to the
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doctrine of soli scriptura resonates clearly throughout
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this entire analysis. It's Soli Scriptura is, you
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know, the belief that the Bible is the sole infallible rule of
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faith and practice. And you can see Edwards building
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the architecture for that belief right from the ground up.
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What's fascinating here is how Edwards completely avoids asking
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his audience to start with blind faith.
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That is a massive misconception people often have about
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historical theology. They assume it is all just
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emotional appeals or unsubstantiated claims from men
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standing behind pulpits shouting at people.
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But Edwards starts strictly with reason.
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He looks at the observable state of the world, the logical nature
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of the Creator, and human capability long before he moves
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into the specific claims of Scripture.
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He's building a philosophical baseline.
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First, he wants to make sure his audience agrees on the nature of
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reality before he introduces the biblical text as the only
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logical answer to that reality. I mean, that is precisely where
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Edwards begins his entire argument.
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He starts section one with a very blunt premise.
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He says there must be some word of God immediately points out
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that it is entirely unreasonable to think that God would always
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keep silence and never say anything to mankind.
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He builds this argument by detailing the logic of creation.
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He notes that God made mankind as the chief of all creatures.
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God gave human beings reason and understanding.
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Which sets us apart from everything else.
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Right, Yeah. Edwards then makes a very sharp
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creator and creature distinction here.
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He argues that other creatures were made for man, but man was
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made specifically for God. And the logical conclusion he
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draws is pretty stark. He says if man was not made for
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God, then he was made for nothing.
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But God would not make a creature with such high
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capacities for reason and understanding for absolutely
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nothing. Therefore, mankind exists to
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know and worship the Creator. He looks at the human mind, our
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capacity for abstract thought, our ability to wonder about our
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own existence, and says, well, there is reason we are wired
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this way. That aligns so perfectly with
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the opening of the Westminster Shorter Catechism.
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The Catechism states that man's chief end is to glorify God and
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enjoy him forever. Edwards is arguing that you
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cannot fulfill that chief end if the Creator remains silent.
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To illustrate this, he uses 2 highly relatable analogies.
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He pictures God as a king over nations, and then God as a
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father over a family. The deduction he draws from
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these analogies is just airtight.
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Oh, absolutely. He says it is completely
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unreasonable to suppose that a king would establish a Kingdom,
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have subjects, and never issue commands to them so they know
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how to obey. Similarly, it defies all logic
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that a father would gather a family and remain dumb and
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silent toward his own children. Imagine a father calling his
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entire family to the dinner table, sitting down at the head
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of the table, and then just staring at his children in
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absolute dead silence for an hour.
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It is absurd. It goes against the very
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definition of a parent child relationship.
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That is the absurdity Edwards is highlighting here.
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Yeah, that imagery really drives it home.
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Furthermore, Edwards points out that God gave humanity the gift
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of speech so we could communicate our minds to one
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another. Since the Creator designed us
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with the capacity to communicate, the Creator surely
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intends to to communicate his own mind to us.
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We need teaching just as much as a young child needs a father's
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instruction. A silent God, in Edward's view,
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is a logical absurdity. I love that dinner table analogy
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because it really grounds the philosophy and something we can
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all visualize. And you know, the idea of a
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silent God becomes even more terrifying when we move into the
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next phase of his argument. This brings us to the void of
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human reason and the darkness of the world.
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Edward's list. These massive, overwhelming
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questions that human reason simply cannot answer on its own.
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He starts with the practical questions of worship.
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Which are so crucial, yeah. How do we even know how to
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worship God if we do not have a word from God to tell us?
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Do we pray to Him? Do we sing?
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Do we keep the Sabbath? Are we supposed to be baptized?
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If we rely solely on our own intellect?
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We are just guessing. We would have no idea what
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actually pleases him. Then Edwards moves to the
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massive existential questions. If we only have human reason,
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how can we possibly know how the world began?
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How did God make man at first? Furthermore, we look around and
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see that men in this world are very wicked.
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The world is full of wickedness everywhere.
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That is undeniable. But since God is good, He
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clearly did not create man in this miserable, corrupted state.
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So how did mankind become so wicked?
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How do we explain the current state of reality without a voice
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from the outside explaining the history of our own ruin?
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This is where Edwards leans heavily into the Reformed
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doctrine of total depravity. For those who might be newer to
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that specific term, total depravity does not mean that
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human beings are as evil as they could possibly be at all times.
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Rather, it means that sin has corrupted every single part of
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human nature, including our intellect and our reasoning
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capabilities. Because our reasoning is
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compromised, we cannot think our way up to heaven.
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That is a critical distinction to bake.
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Right. And when Edwards looks at the
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world, he sees pervasive wickedness.
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He sees a world full of death, full of war, and full of all
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manner of misery. Reason alone cannot explain how
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misery and death entered a world created by a good God.
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Reason also cannot tell us how to find a Savior who will stand
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for us. Reason cannot tell us what
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happens in the next World or if a holy God will ever forgive
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great sins. To prove how useless reason is
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on its own, Edwards points his audience to look at countries
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without the Bible. He observes that they sit in
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complete darkness and blindness regarding divine things.
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They know a God exists, creation itself tells them that, but they
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do not know what he is. Because of this dark void, they
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multiply false gods. They worship graven images, they
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worship stones, they worship the devil.
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They even sacrifice their own children, hoping to obtain
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forgiveness for their sins. This horrific observable reality
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proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that humanity desperately
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needs a divine word. Reason left to itself leads to
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idolatry and tragedy. That terrifying picture of human
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blindness leads perfectly into Edward's next logical step.
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If they're absolutely must be a word of God, where is it?
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If reason alone just leads to worshipping stones or
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sacrificing children, we need an external communication.
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He looks at the heathen nations and concludes that they clearly
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do not possess it. Therefore, by the sheer process
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of elimination, the Bible must be that word.
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There are no other viable candidates that answer the
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massive questions he just laid out.
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It is a brilliant process of deduction.
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It really is. Edwards then details what the
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Bible exclusively provides to humanity.
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It gives right notions concerning God.
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It provides the true history of creation.
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It explains the specific origin of human wickedness.
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It lays out all the holy rules for duty and provides A strict
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prohibition against all sin. Most critically, it outlines the
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specific way of salvation and the method for the forgiveness
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of sin. It fills the void completely.
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It answers the questions that Reason fails to resolve.
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He frames the Bible as the comprehensive answer key to the
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massive void of human darkness we just discussed.
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It does not just offer abstract philosophy.
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It gives us the grand narrative of reality.
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It tells us the great things God did for His people through all
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ages. It explains what the Savior did
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and what he suffered. It details how Christ ascended
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into heaven, how the world will eventually come to an end, and
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how God will judge all of humanity.
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The entire scope of history. Exactly.
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Without the Bible, we are stranded in a narrative with no
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beginning, a corrupted middle, and an unknown end.
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The Scripture provides the cohesive storyline that makes
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sense of the misery we observe and offers the only logical path
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to redemption. It is the sole candidate that
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meets the criteria for a divine communication.
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He is challenging his audience to look around the world and
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find another text that diagnosis the human condition so
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accurately and provides a solution so consistent with the
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character of a holy Creator. Here's where it gets really
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interesting. Once Edwards establishes that
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the Bible is the only logical candidate for the Word of God,
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he refuses to stop there. He does not just say was the
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only option, so we have to go with it.
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He then provides 8 specific proofs to validate the Bible's
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divine origin. He divides these into objective
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historical proofs and subjective internal proofs.
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Let's outline the first 3 objective historical proofs.
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OK, let's hear them. Proof number one is miracles.
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Edwards notes that Moses, the prophets, Jesus, and the
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apostles were all given the sheer ability to work great
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miracles. The purpose of these miracles
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was to authenticate their writings as God's actual work.
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He makes a fascinating historical point here.
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He notes that even the historical enemies of Christ
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admitted that he worked miracles.
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None of his historical detractors denied that the
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miracles happened. They just tried to attribute
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them to other sources like sorcery.
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Proof number 2 is prophecy. The Old Testament, given to the
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Jews long before Christ was born, specifically foretold His
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coming, and all of those ancient prophecies were completely
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fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ.
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The argument from prophecy is incredibly robust.
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Edwards continues analyzing this proof by looking at the New
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Testament as well. He points out that the New
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Testament foretold future events that actually came to pass.
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He cites the fact that the Jews would remain A distinct nation
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throughout history which defied all historical odds for
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scattered people. He also mentions the rise of the
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Pope. Now we should note that this
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specific example heavily reflects Edwards 18th century
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Protestant context and his eschatological views.
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In his era, pointing to the papacy as a fulfillment of
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certain biblical prophecies was a standard line of reformed
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reasoning. We are just reporting what he
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wrote here, but the broader point remains that the text
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accurately predicted historical realities centuries before they
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occurred. Then we come to proof #3 which
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is preservation. I find this argument utterly
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brilliant. He uses what we would call today
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a decentralization argument. He points out that the text of
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the scripture was scattered about a great many nations all
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over the entire world. It was kept by groups of people
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who held violently opposing opinions.
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Because it was so decentralized, if one group tried to alter the
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text to fit their narrative, the opposing group would immediately
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expose the cheat. He specifically notes that the
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Jews kept the Old Testament in their own language all over the
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world, making any centralized, coordinated alteration of the
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text mathematically and historically impossible.
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Think of it like a massive ancient blockchain.
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Oh, that is a great analogy. Yeah, the Ledger is distributed
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across thousands of adversarial nodes.
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If one node tries to falsify a record, the rest of the network
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instantly rejects it because their copies do not match.
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The world could not be cheated because the text was too widely
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distributed among enemies. That decentralization argument
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is brilliant. It makes a grand conspiracy
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virtually impossible, and using the concept of a decentralized
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network to explain it makes total sense.
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Let's walk through Edwards the remaining proofs, moving from
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the purely historical into the subjective and societal impacts
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of the text. Proof #4 is enlightenment.
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Edwards argues that the Bible has been the primary means of
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bringing light to great nations that were formerly in complete
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barbaric darkness. It's civilized the world in many
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ways. Absolutely.
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Coof #5 is survival. The Bible has prevailed against
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massive opposition. When it first came abroad,
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King's entire armies, cruel deaths, and the devil himself
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set themselves against it. Yet it prevailed and overcame
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the strongest nations. Proof number six involves the
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messengers. Edwards points out that the text
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was initially preached by poor men.
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He describes them as foolish and little in the eyes of the world,
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yet these uneducated fishermen and laborers successfully
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convinced great and wise men across multiple nations to
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believe it. He argues that this kind of
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worldwide persuasion could never have happened if these poor men
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had just made it up. This brings us to proof #7 which
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is the authorship dilemma. I love the crisp logic Edwards
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uses here. He says that the Bible must have
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been made by either wicked man or good men.
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But wicked men would never write a book that so thoroughly and
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relentlessly condemns all sin. It goes entirely against their
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nature and their interests. On the other hand, good men
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could not possibly write it if it were a fabrication, because
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lying and claiming it was the word of God would make them
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wicked. I love that logic, it's so clean
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it. Really is.
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Therefore, the only logical conclusion is that it was
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written by good men who were actually inspired by God.
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And then we reach proof #8 the impact on the heart.
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This point heavily aligns with the Reformed view of the
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internal testimony of the Holy Spirit.
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Edwards argues that no other word so awakens the human
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conscience. No other book has the sheer
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capacity to change the human heart, turning very wicked men
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into entirely new men. He points out the highly
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polarizing nature of the text. Better men love it the more they
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read it, while wicked men inherently set themselves
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against it. The text acts as a mirror,
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exposing the true nature of the person reading it.
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That polarizing effect is something we still see so
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clearly today. Having laid out this massive
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philosophical and historical case, Edwards then transitions
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into the application section of his notes.
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He does not want this to just be a theological lecture.
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He wants it to hit the listener right between the eyes.
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He states the primary application very clearly.
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Because this book is God's actual Word, and because God
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cannot lie, everything the Bible says is absolutely, undeniably
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true. From there, he listens the
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stark, terrifying realities that his audience must face because
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the text is true. It means God is very angry
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regarding sin. It means Goodman will eventually
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die. It means hell is a literal
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furnace of fire where there is no rest.
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He. Really does not hold back on the
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severity of the text. I know he hasn't.
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Edwards directly addresses the psychological defense mechanism
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of his audience, noting that many people are ready to think
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and try to convince themselves that hell might not exist, but
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because the Scripture is true, that furnace of fire is a
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guaranteed reality for the wicked.
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It is a severe warning, but Edwards is careful to balance
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that severity with the incredible hope that the true
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Word of God presents. Because the text is true, it
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also means heaven is real. The day of judgement is coming,
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but so is the resurrection from the dead.
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And most importantly, the way of salvation is real.
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He focuses heavily on Christology here.
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He affirms that Christ is the Son of God, that there is
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absolutely no other Savior, and that Christ will definitively
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save all who come to Him. That is the good news right
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there. Yes, but Edwards hinges all of
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this on the necessity of the mystery of being born again.
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He addresses the listener directly, challenging those who
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say in their hearts that there is no such thing as being born
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again. He asks them to deeply consider
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his warning. Those who are not born again are
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not actually seeking their salvation at all.
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If the Bible is true, then the new birth is a non negotiable
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requirement for entering heaven and ignoring it is fatal.
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You cannot hear these truths and remain neutral.
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The stakes literally could not be higher in Edward's mind, and
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because the stakes are eternal, he brings up some fascinating
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historical and practical instructions at the very end of
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his manuscript. He urges his audience to take a
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great deal of pains to learn to read.
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And we need to highlight the specific context here, which is
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fascinating. Edwards tells his audience that
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they must learn the English tongue specifically so they
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could read the Bible for themselves.
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He actually says to them, if you had the Bible in your own
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language, I should not say so much.
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He is standing in front of a group of people whose native
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language is not English, and he is urging the parents in the
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room to ensure their children learn English for the sole
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reason of being able to read the Scriptures.
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Think about the massive intellectual labor he is
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demanding of them. If we connect this to the bigger
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picture, we see exactly why Edwards insists on this
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incredible effort. He tells them that if you relied
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only on what others tell you about the Bible, you see nothing
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with your own eyes. In the Reformed tradition,
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having direct access to the Scriptures is paramount.
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You cannot outsource your spiritual understanding to
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someone else. By telling a marginalized group
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of people to do the grueling intellectual labor required to
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read the text for themselves, he is advocating for a radical
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decentralization of authority. That is a brilliant way to frame
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it. He is taking the authority away
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from the elite clergy and handing it directly to the
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common person. He is demanding a high level of
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devotion. He tells them they must not only
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read and hear the word, it must actually sink down into their
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hearts. The listener must believe it, be
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affected by it, love it, and most critically, do do the
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things written in it. He warns them that if they just
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hear it and do not do it, it will actually be worse for them
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in the end. To illustrate the value of the
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Bible, Edwards compares it to the light of the sun.
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Just as the physical sun gives light, makes things pleasant to
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see, provides comfort, and gives life to the physical world, the
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Scripture does all of those exact things for the human soul.
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If we neglect it, we walk in absolute darkness.
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We really should value this book more than the light of the Sun
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itself. To summarize the core
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realization of this entire manuscript, Edwards logically
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builds an ironclad case that the Creator of the universe has not
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left us wandering in the dark. The Bible is the authenticated,
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historically preserved, and life giving voice of God.
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It offers the only true, logical path to salvation through Jesus
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Christ. So what does this all mean for
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you, the listener? It means you have to reflect on
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Edward's exhortation. If this text is the very voice
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of the Creator who made you, are you valuing it more than the
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sun? Are you letting it sink into
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your heart and dictate your actions?
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I want to leave you with one final provocative thought to
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consider. Think about the historical
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reality of what Jonathan Edwards was doing in November of 1753.
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He was preaching to an audience that he literally had to beg to
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learn a completely foreign language, the English tongue,
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just so they could have the ability to read the Bible for
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themselves with their own eyes. He was asking them to take a
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great deal of pains to do incredibly hard intellectual
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labor just to access the text. Today we have the text readily
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available in our native tongues. We have it on our phones, in our
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pockets. We have multiple physical copies
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sitting on our bookshelves in our homes.
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Does our daily urgency to read the Word of God match the sheer
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effort and desperation Edwards was asking of his audience?
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It is a heavy question, but one we all need to answer.
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Thank you for joining us for this deep dive into the source
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material. We appreciate your time and your
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desire to learn with us today.