The Perspicuity of Scripture

One of the more curious novelties of the Protestants is the notion of the “The Perspicuity of Scripture”.  One definition of this idea is found here:

The doctrine of the clarity of Scripture (often called the “perspicuity of Scripture”) teaches that “the meanings of the text can be clear to the ordinary reader, that God uses the text of the Bible to communicate His person and will.” 

“The witness of the Church throughout the ages is that ordinary people, who approach it in faith and humility, will be able to understand what the Bible is getting at, even if they meet with particular points of difficulty here and there.” Clarity of Scripture

The challenge in maintaining this notion is found in the various descriptions of the Perspicuity of Scripture.

This idea flies in the face of a great many Scriptures

One of many passages which denies this idea is:

1 Corinthians 2:14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

Without the guidance of the Spirit of God, a man cannot understand the Scriptures.

Another passage is:

2 Timothy 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

If Scripture is so plain that an average person can understand it, why would a person need to study, work, and divide the Word of Truth?

The Apostle Peter describes the words of the Apostle Paul as “hard to understand”.

2 Peter 3:15-16 And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you; As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.

This passage illustrates what happens when unlearned and unstable people try to understand the words of the Apostle Paul.

We All Bring Presuppositions to the Text

All of us sit within some interpretive paradigm when approaching Scripture – most of all the people who don’t have any clue that they are operating in a paradigm. They hear something from a preacher on TV, they read something in a book or webpage. The put the pieces together to form their own interpretive lens for Scripture. The result is an incoherent hodgepodge of theology.

The idea that we are a blank slate where we can understand the words of God by reading the Scripture is just fanciful.

Varieties of Interpretations Within Protestant Traditions

I gave an example of a short passage consisting of two verses in my previous BLOG post. Two Protestant writers had two different contradictory views of what the passage means. If something is so obvious that all someone needs to do is read the passage, this case fails that test. There are such examples for nearly every passage in the Bible.

The difficulty of perspicuity is found in this paper:

Westminster Protestants, for instance, admitted the reality of both Scripture’s obscurity and clarity, primarily in the distinction between matters necessary for salvation and other matters. In both the Irish Articles of Religion (1615) and the Westminster Confession of Faith (1647) the defense of Scripture’s clarity was solely concerned with the accessibility of the evangelical message. Others had argued similarly concerning the difficult things in Scripture: “If we never understand we shall be never the worse for the attaining of everlasting salvation.”

laritas Scripturae: The Role of Perspicuity in Protestant Hermeneutics James Patrick Callahan

Orthodox Approach to Understanding Faith and Scripture

All of this leads to the obvious question of which teacher is correct, and which is wrong?

The first part of the Orthodox approach to interpreting Scripture is to recognize that God put Apostles and Teachers in the Church. It is reasonable to conclude that looking at people who are smarter than I am and closer to the time of the writing of Scripture are much more likely to read the Scriptures more consistently with the Apostles than Benny Hinn on TBN is, or John Calvin was in the mid 1500’s for that matter.

The Orthodox Church has an unbroken continuity through Apostolic Succession of Bishops back to the time of the Apostles. The bishop is charged with guarding the faith. He has a responsibility before God to feed the Flock.

An important element of transmitting truth is continuity with past truth. This same standard was even present in the Old Testament where someone coming along with a new word from God was tested against that was already revealed.

Isaiah 8:19-20 And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? for the living to the dead? To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.

When there have been disagreements about important matters of how to understand the faith, the church met together in Church Councils. The first of these councils is found in the Book of the Acts of the Apostles, Chapter 15. There the Church gathered and discussed the matter of how Gentiles should be received into the Church. Should Gentiles be required to follow the Hebrew Laws from the Books of Moses? Or was God doing something different in the Church? Thre preface to the conclusion of the council was:

Acts 15:22 Then pleased it the apostles and elders, with the whole church, to send chosen men of their own company to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas; namely, Judas surnamed Barsabas, and Silas, chief men among the brethren:

This set the pattern for the church over the next centuries where they gathered all the Bishops and scholars together to settle matters and the church body gave agreement.