The doctrine of the perspicuity of
Holy Scripture has frequently been misunderstood and misrepresented, both by
Protestants and Catholics. It does not mean that the matters and subjects with
which Scripture deals are not mysteries that far exceed the reach of the human
intellect. Nor does it assert that Scripture is clear in all its parts, so that
no scientific exegesis of needed, or that, also its doctrine of salvation,
Scripture is plain and clear to every person without distinction. It means only
that the truth, the knowledge of which is necessary to everyone for salvation,
though not spelled out with equal clarity on every page of Scripture, is
nevertheless presented throughout all of Scripture in such a simple and
intelligible form that a person concerned about the salvation of his or her
soul can easily, by personal reading and study, learn to know that truth from Scriptures
without the assistance and guidance of the church and the priest. The way of
salvation, not as it concerns the matter itself but as it concerns the mode of
transmission, has been clearly set down there for the reader desirous for salvation.
While that reader may not understand the “how” (πως) of it, the “that” (οτι)
is clear. (Herman Bavinck, Reformed Dogmatics, 4 vols. [Grand Rapids,
Mich.: Baker Academic, 2003], 1:477)
