The words of the Bible, and the Bible alone, should be heard from

In a time when many voices clamored for authority, when doctrines were weighed by the tongues of men rather than by the breath of God, Ellen G. White uttered a call both ancient and eternal: “The words of the Bible, and the Bible alone, should be heard from the pulpit.” These were not idle words—they were a summons to purity, a cry for truth unmingled with human pride. For she saw that even holy places can become dim when men speak their own wisdom in place of divine revelation. Her voice, like a clear trumpet, sounded through the noise of the age: Return to the Source. Drink not from the muddy streams of opinion, but from the living waters of Scripture.

In those words lies a reformation of the heart, as once was seen in the days of Martin Luther, who stood before princes and prelates declaring, “My conscience is captive to the Word of God.” Luther, too, faced the temptation to bend truth to the will of power, to mix human reasoning with divine light. But he chose to stand alone with the Scriptures—sola Scriptura, the Bible alone. Ellen White’s call was born from that same spirit of faith. In an age of growing intellect and restless questioning, she urged the people of God to anchor themselves in what cannot change—the Word eternal, spoken once by God and echoing still through every generation.

For the Bible is not a relic nor a rulebook—it is a living voice, the breath of the Almighty captured in human speech. When it is read with humility and preached with fire, it pierces through the fog of confusion and awakens the soul. But when men replace it with their philosophies, their speculations, their self-made righteousness, the pulpit ceases to be a beacon and becomes a shadow. The authority of truth must rest not on the brilliance of the preacher, but on the light of Scripture itself. The pulpit must thunder not with the vanity of men, but with the echoes of eternity.

Let us recall the story of John Wycliffe, called the Morning Star of the Reformation. In the 14th century, he defied the powers of the church and translated the Bible into the tongue of common folk, that they might hear God’s word for themselves. He believed, as Ellen White would centuries later, that no human should stand between the soul and the Scriptures. His enemies silenced his voice in death, but the fire he kindled burned through the ages. Every generation that returns to the Bible as its sole authority walks in the path of those who loved truth more than comfort, and light more than life itself.

There is also a moral warning in Ellen White’s words. For the human heart, intoxicated with its own wisdom, is ever tempted to rewrite God’s truth in its own image. Preachers may turn sermons into performances, scholars into skeptics, believers into followers of personality rather than of Christ. The pulpit, which should be a fountain of life, can become a mirror of human vanity. But when the Bible alone is proclaimed, when the words of God thunder from the sacred desk, pride bows, sin trembles, and the hearer meets not a man, but the voice of Heaven.

From her vision, one sees that the preacher’s first duty is not to entertain nor to display eloquence—it is to bear the Word faithfully, as a messenger bearing the king’s decree. The heart must be steeped in Scripture, the lips purified by truth. The preacher must become transparent, so that through him, the light of the Bible may shine without distortion. For the pulpit is holy ground, and only the words of the Holy One are worthy to fill it.

The lesson, then, is both simple and profound: Return to the Word. Let every teaching, every belief, every conviction be tested by Scripture. Do not be content with the echoes of human thought when the voice of God is available to you. Read it in the dawn’s quiet, speak it in your homes, and demand that your pulpits thunder with its truth. For if the Bible alone is your compass, you will not lose your way, even in the storm.

And to those who would carry the torch of truth in dark times, let this be your creed: “The words of the Bible, and the Bible alone.” For when the world grows loud with opinion and confusion, it is only the eternal Word that remains steadfast. Let your heart be its pulpit, and your life its sermon. Then shall you speak not as one of earth, but as one whose words are touched by the flame of the divine.