The Clarity of Scripture Can only Bible scholars understand the Bible rightly?

A. The Bible Frequently Affirms Its Own Clarity Deut 6:7: You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. (ESV) Ps 19:7: The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple; (ESV) Phil 1:1: Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, To all the saints in Christ Jesus...(ESV)

B. The Moral and Spiritual Qualities Needed for Right Understanding 1 Cor 2:14: The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. (ESV) 2 Cor 4:3-4: And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled only to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. (ESV)

C. Definition of the Clarity of Scripture The clarity of Scripture means that the Bible is written in such a way that its teachings are able to be understood by all who will read it seeking God’s help and being willing to follow it.

D. Why Do People Misunderstand Scripture? Sometimes because of a lack of faith or hardness of heart (Lk 24:25) Sometimes because of a poor hermeneutic (method of interpretation), or a lack of careful exegesis (process of interpretation)

E. Practical Encouragement From This Doctrine We may yet come to agreement on a long-standing area of doctrinal difference. We may have been seeking to make affirmations where Scripture is silent. We may have made mistakes in our interpretation of Scripture. We should all read our Bibles daily without assuming that only scholars can understand it rightly.

F. The Role of Scholars To teach clearly (Eph 4;11; 1 Cor 12:28) To explore new areas of understanding the teachings of Scripture To defend the Bible against attacks by other scholars To supplement the study of Scripture for the benefit of the church

The Clarity of Scripture The Clarity of Scripture in the Early Church – The clarity of Scripture was the assumption of the early church – Gnosticism Clement of Alexandria Origen – The deep parts of Scripture open to all believers Augustine Chrysostom Cyril of Alexandria Gregory the Great – “In its obvious sense, it [Scripture] has food to nourish little ones. In its secret meaning, it can command the admiration of the most learned minds. It is almost like a river, both shallow and deep, in which a lamb may walk and an elephant can swim.”

The Clarity of Scripture The Clarity of Scripture in the Middle Ages Emphasis on both the clarity and obscurity of Scripture continued The literate members were primarily priests, which led to a division between the clergy and laity concerning the interpretation of Scripture Waldensians Council of Toulouse (1229) “We prohibit… that the laity should be permitted to have the books of the Old or the New Testaments.” John Wycliffe

The Clarity of Scripture The Clarity of Scripture in the Reformation and Post- Reformation – A key issue in the break between Protestants and Catholics – Martin Luther – Huldrych Zwingli – John Calvin – The Council of Trent Decrees the Latin Vulgate as the official version of Scripture Decrees that the Church possesses the right to interpret Scripture – Post-Reformers limited scriptural clarity to things necessary to be believed or done in order for salvation Clarity does not do away with the attentive study of Scripture, the teaching ministry of the church, and the illumination of the Spirit

The Clarity of Scripture The Clarity of Scripture in the Modern Period – Protestant missionary endeavor Scripture made available in many languages – Two trends that served to undermine this doctrine: science of hermeneutics higher biblical criticism – The Chicago Statement on Biblical Hermeneutics – Kevin Vanhoozer – Gregg Allison

Special Terms clarity of Scripture exegesis hermeneutics perspicuity