Monday, March 20, 2023

John Chrysostom and Epiphanius of Salamis on the Perspicuity of Scripture

  

St. John Chrysostom

 

Another Church Father frequently cited as an advocate of perspicuity is St. John Chrysostom (ca. 347-407), the great preacher and Bishop of Constantinople. For example, Chrysostom wrote: “All things are clear and open that are in the divine Scriptures; the necessary things are all plain.” (“Homilies on Thessalonians”) That certainly sounds like something Luther or Calvin might declare!

 

Yet elsewhere in the same set of homilies Chrysostom emphasized the authority of Church traditions as essential to scriptural interpretation. Citing St. Paul’s Second Letter to the Thessalonians, he wrote:

 

So then, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye were taught, whether by word, or by Epistle of ours. Hence it is manifest that they did not deliver all things by Epistle, but many things also unwritten, and in like manner both the one and the other are worthy of credit. Therefore let us think the tradition of the Church also worthy of credit. It is a tradition, seek no farther. (The Homilies, On 2 Thessalonians, 4:2)

 

Thus even if the “necessary of things” in Scripture are in some sense “plain,” the individual Christian might ensure his or her interpretation is in conformity with the “Tradition of the Church.” Bellarmine, writing on Chrysostom’s language here, explained: “Chrysostom used those exaggerations to shake off the torpor from the many who could if they wished read the Scriptures with great fruit. For elsewhere, he affirms in the same places that the Scriptures are difficult.” (On the Word, bk. 3, chap. 2)

 

We should also consider Chrysostom’s other beliefs on various soteriological doctrines. In other homilies, Chrysostom claimed the Apostles handed down unwritten traditions to be followed, and that this apostolic Tradition includes prayers for the dead, which of course is contrary to Protestant teaching on salvation. (Homily 3 on 2 Timothy; Homily 3 on Philippians) Chrysostom also had a high view of the clergy and their ability to represent divine truth. In his treatise on The Priesthood we read: “Whatever priests do here on earth, God will confirm in heaven, just as the master ratifies the decisions of the servants. Did he not give them all the powers of heaven?” (The Priesthood, 3.5.183) It is reasonable to infer from this that Chrysostom’s ecclesiology identifies priests and bishops as having a higher order of authority that the laity, and that his includes interpretive authority. (Casey J. Chalk, The Obscurity of Scripture: Disputing Sola Scriptura and the Protestant Notion of Biblical Perspicuity [Steubenville, Ohio: Emmaus Road Publishing, 2023], 205-7)

 

Epiphanius of Salamis

 

Early English Reformer William Whitaker cites St. Epiphanius of Salamis (ca. 310-403) and his Against All Heresies as also affirming perspicuity. For example, Epiphanius there wrote: “All things are clear and full of light in the divine scripture.” He also declared: “All things are clear in the divine scriptures to those who will approach with pious reasoning to the divine word.” (Disputation on Holy Scripture, 399)

 

However, like other Church Fathers, Epiphanius’s statements must be read within the fulness of this theology, which includes high view of episcopal authority and Tradition. For example, Epiphanius wrote that all bishops derive their authority from the Apostles themselves, including the Bishop of Rome, who can trace his authority to Peter and Paul, and that one’s faith must be apostolic and confirmed by “our fathers and bishops.” (Against All Heresies, 27.6 and 73.34) He further noted in the same text: “It is needful also to make use of Tradition; for not everything can be gotten from Sacred Scripture. The holy Apostles handed down some things in the Scriptures, other things in Tradition.” (Against All Heresies, 61.6) Finally, Epiphanius also taught, contra how many Protestants interpret sola fide, that the Sacrament of baptism is salvific and that grave sins require a “secondary remedy,” namely, the Sacrament of Confession. (Against All Heresies, 59.2) (Casey J. Chalk, The Obscurity of Scripture: Disputing Sola Scriptura and the Protestant Notion of Biblical Perspicuity [Steubenville, Ohio: Emmaus Road Publishing, 2023], 207)

 

Further Reading:

 

Not By Scripture Alone: A Latter-day Saint Refutation of Sola Scriptura