The Bible’s Perspicuity
All
things in Scripture are not alike plain in themselves, nor alike clear unto
all; yet those things which are necessary to be known, believed, and observed,
for salvation, are so clearly propounded and opened in some place of Scripture
or other, that not only the learned, but the unlearned, in a due use of the
ordinary means, may attain unto a sufficient understanding of them. (WCF,
I/vii)
As a logical corollary to the Bible’s
representation of its revelatory and inspired nature, the purpose of this
entire activity on God’s part was to reveal his ways and works in a
comprehensible manner to those to whom his revelation originally came. He
“spoke and wrote” in order to be understood. And the prophets, apostles, and
indeed Jesus himself, addressed their messages to all the people, and never
treated them as intellectual pygmies who were incapable of understanding anything
of what they said.
While the Confession acknowledges that “all things
in Scripture are not alike plain in themselves, nor clear unto all” (it is this
fact, among others, that requires diligent application of both the
grammatical-historical method of exegesis and the analogia Scripturae principle), the Confession affirms, again
against Rome, that “those things which are necessary to be known, believed, and
observed, for salvation, are so clearly propounded and opened in some place of
Scripture or other, that not only the learned, but the unlearned [even the
unlearned unbeliever!—author] in a due use of the ordinary means, may attain
unto a sufficient understanding of them.” As the Psalmist states, God’s Word is
a lamp to our feet and a light for our pathway (119:105). Note that the
Confession declares that “unlearned” men through the utilization of “ordinary
means” may come to a knowledge of the truth of Scripture. What are these
“ordinary means”? Simply the reading, hearing, and study of the Word. For example,
one does not need to be “learned,” when reading the Gospels or hearing them
read or proclaimed, to discover that they intend to teach that Jesus was born
of a virgin, lived a sinless life, performed mighty miracles, died on the cross
“as a ransom for many,” and rose from the dead on the third day after death.
These things are plain, lying on the very face of the Gospels. One does not
need to be instructed by a preacher to learn that he must believe on Jesus in
order to be saved from the penalty his sins deserve. (This includes the
unbeliever, who is certainly capable of following an argument.) All one needs
to do in order to discover these things, to put it plainly, is to sit down in a
fairly comfortable chair, open the Gospels, and with a good reading lamp, read
the Gospels like he would read any other book. Of course, if one believes these things to be true,
leading to the saving of his soul (that is, believes that the Gospels’
affirmations correspond to what God himself believes), another factor has intruded
itself into the situation—what the Confession has already described both as the
“inward work of the Holy Spirit, bearing witness by and with the word in our
hearts” and as the “inward illumination of the Spirit of God.” (Robert L. Reymond, A
New Systematic Theology of the Christian Faith [2d ed.; Nashville: Thomas
Nelson Publishers, 1998], 87-88)
Further Reading
Not By Scripture Alone: A Latter-day Saint Refutation of Sola Scriptura
