Free Republic
Browse · Search
Religion
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

The Clarity of Scripture (Protestant/Evangelical Caucus and Devotional)
Ligonier.Org ^ | 2/14/2017

Posted on 02/14/2017 6:34:21 AM PST by Gamecock

“These words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 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” (vv. 6–7). - Deuteronomy 6:6–9

Commentators on Scripture during the medieval era developed a complex means of interpreting the Bible known as the quadriga. According to the medieval quadriga, every biblical passage had a fourfold meaning—a literal sense, a moral sense, an allegorical sense, and an anagogical sense. To know the literal or most obvious meaning of a passage was a good thing, but to know the higher moral, allegorical, and anagogical meanings was even better. Precious few, however, could attain to these other, more hidden meanings of Scripture. This tended to obscure the meaning and significance of the Bible for the uneducated, and it led to all sorts of fanciful interpretations among those who had more learning. Only the most “advanced” thinkers, for example, could see that the census recorded in Numbers was not really about the number of Israelite soldiers but rather the several steps it takes for the soul to ascend to God.

Of course, there is nothing in Scripture itself that justifies such a view of biblical interpretation. In fact, if the Bible teaches anything about itself, it is that its basic message is clear enough for anyone—even a child—to understand. This idea is known as the clarity of Scripture, which is also called the perspicuity of Scripture. It was a doctrine that the Protestant Reformers embraced, and they endeavored to return the church to the clearest, literal meaning of the Bible.

That the Bible is clear enough for even a child to understand is assumed in passages such as Deuteronomy 6:6–9. Moses instructs the people of Israel to teach the divinely revealed commandments of God to their children. This implies that the children are capable of understanding and applying the Word of God as their parents teach it to them. But note that it also implies that ordinary mothers and fathers are able to have a grasp of Scripture sufficient enough to teach it to their children. This is particularly notable, given that most of the people to whom Moses originally spoke these words would not have had much in the way of education, and many of them would have been unable to read at all. Neither of these factors, however, was a barrier to understanding enough about the Scriptures to be able to understand them and teach them to others.

The clarity of Scripture does not deny that some passages of Scripture are difficult to understand (2 Peter 3:15–16). It does mean that anyone who studies the Word of God can discern the basic message of salvation and what it means to please the Lord.

Coram Deo

Many people treat the Bible like a puzzle or a secret code that is full of hidden meanings accessible only to a select few. Nothing could be further from the truth, however. Scripture can be understood by anyone who puts in the basic effort to read it in its context. We can read and hear the Scripture with profit, knowing that God’s message to us is clear.

Passages for Further Study

Psalm 119:130 The unfolding of your words gives light; it imparts understanding to the simple.

Proverbs 1:8 Hear, my son, your father’s instruction, and forsake not your mother’s teaching, 9 for they are a graceful garland for your head and pendants for your neck.

Mark 12:35 And as Jesus taught in the temple, he said, “How can the scribes say that the Christ is the son of David? 36 David himself, in the Holy Spirit, declared, j“ ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies under your feet.” ’ 37 David himself calls him Lord. So how is he his son?” And the great throng heard him gladly.

2 Timothy 3:14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it 15 and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.


TOPICS: General Discusssion; Theology; Worship
KEYWORDS:

1 posted on 02/14/2017 6:34:21 AM PST by Gamecock
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: Alex Murphy; bkaycee; blue-duncan; boatbums; caww; CynicalBear; daniel1212; Dutchboy88; ealgeone; ..
Ping.

The clarity of Scripture does not deny that some passages of Scripture are difficult to understand (2 Peter 3:15–16). It does mean that anyone who studies the Word of God can discern the basic message of salvation and what it means to please the Lord.

2 posted on 02/14/2017 6:35:38 AM PST by Gamecock
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Gamecock

Then why do so many Christians mess up Romans 6:23?

“The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life...”

What you believe depends on how you define the word, “death”. And most of the Christians in my neck of the woods define it as eternal conscious torment, though I think it means, well, death - especially since it is juxtaposed against eternal life.

What a hot mess.


3 posted on 02/14/2017 6:38:53 AM PST by Mr. Douglas (Best. Election. EVER!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Gamecock

Many people treat the Bible like a puzzle or a secret code that is full of hidden meanings accessible only to a select few.


Why is that?


4 posted on 02/14/2017 6:40:19 AM PST by PeterPrinciple (Thinking Caps are no longer being issued but there must be a warehouse full of them somewhere.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: Mr. Douglas

though I think it means, well, death


What does the Lord Say...................


5 posted on 02/14/2017 6:41:53 AM PST by PeterPrinciple (Thinking Caps are no longer being issued but there must be a warehouse full of them somewhere.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: Gamecock

Deu 29:29, The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.

I have trouble enough with the things I think I understand without worrying about the things God hasn’t revealed because of my immaturity or obstinacy.


6 posted on 02/14/2017 6:46:42 AM PST by blue-duncan
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: blue-duncan

Preach it!


7 posted on 02/14/2017 6:54:23 AM PST by Gamecock
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: Gamecock
If we ask God to help us understand His Word He will answer. He's given us the Holy Spirit to help us understand.

Plus, consider all of the resources available today for the reader of the Bible.

His Word is there to study and learn...if we just open the Word and start.

8 posted on 02/14/2017 7:06:39 AM PST by ealgeone
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: PeterPrinciple

What does the Lord Say...................


Exactly! Jesus mentioned, many times, a place called Gehenna as the fate of the lost. It’s a place discussed in Jeremiah, where babies were sacrificed through being consumed by fire.

And he mentioned being consumed in an eternal fire (key word, consumed) and to drive the point home that the lost are gone and nothing is left of them he quotes Isaiah 66:24, regarding the fate of the lost. He even further goes on to point out that the righteous go on to eternal life, while the lost do not. They go on to death, to never be resurrected (AKA eternal punishment - not eternal “punishing”).

Jesus was incredibly clear about the whole thing, staying true to the warning in Genesis 3. The wages of sin is DEATH. But still people dogmatically cling to the ECT message and refuse to even discuss any real arguments against it. Hence my use of the word, “dogmatically”.


9 posted on 02/14/2017 7:13:01 AM PST by Mr. Douglas (Best. Election. EVER!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: Gamecock

Wow. I was just thinking of that. Not the specific verse, but the idea, and was about to search for some scripture to support it.


10 posted on 02/14/2017 7:32:00 AM PST by Bryanw92 (If we had some ham, we could have ham and eggs, if we had some eggs.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: Gamecock
Scripture is written from the Trinitarian God's point of view, not the human ego's.

That is why the Bible often seems so confusing and difficult to understand, and that is also why we require the Holy Spirit to 'splain it to us.

11 posted on 02/14/2017 10:42:49 AM PST by GBA (Here in the matrix, merrily, merrily, life is but a dream.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: blue-duncan
I have trouble enough with the things I think I understand without worrying about the things God hasn’t revealed because of my immaturity or obstinacy.

I'm right there with you.

12 posted on 02/14/2017 12:16:58 PM PST by metmom (...fixing our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: Mr. Douglas

(key word, consumed)
_______________
How about key word ETERNAL. Eternal consumption.

There are many other verses you chose to ignore. You know what they are, include them in your presentation.

The problem is accepting a just, righteous, Holy God and what that means.


13 posted on 02/15/2017 11:02:35 AM PST by PeterPrinciple (Thinking Caps are no longer being issued but there must be a warehouse full of them somewhere.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
Religion
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson