Words of Life (Part 6) Clarity: Can We Understand the Bible? A. Introduction 1 B. Definition The clarity of Scripture is one of those doctrines that you don t really miss until it s gone. It s constantly being undermined by well-meaning (and sometimes not so well-meaning) Christians who think it s the better part of piety to question the intelligibility of verbal revelation. The challenges to the clarity of Scripture start out small. They sound humble and practical at first. But in the end, if we lose this attribute of Scripture so plainly taught, if not simply assumed, in the pages of the Bible we lose some of the most precious and hard-fought truths the church must have if it is to grow and flourish. 2 Objections The mystical objection: Clarity fails to take into account God s transcendent nature and mystery. The pluralism objection: Clarity has been disproven in practice by the diversity of interpretations. The Catholic objection: We need someone to give an authoritative interpretation of what Scripture means. 1. Westminster Confession of Faith 1.7: 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. 1 http://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/1993/02/11, accessed on 2/8/2015. 2 Kevin DeYoung, Taking God at His Word (Wheaton: Crossway, 2014), 65. 1
2. Mark Thompson: The clarity of Scripture is that quality of the biblical text that, as God s communicative act, ensures its meaning is accessible to all who come to it in faith. 3 3. Kevin DeYoung: The perspicuity of Scripture upholds the notion that ordinary people using ordinary means can accurately understand enough of what must be known, believed, and observed for them to be faithful Christians. 4 (emphasis added) 4. Two kinds of clarity External clarity everything there is in the Scriptures has been brought out by the Word into the most definite light, and published to all the world 5 Internal clarity no man perceives one iota of what is in Scripture unless he has the Spirit of God 6 C. Biblical teaching on clarity [Clarity] is a claim that does not cut God out of the picture, but rather looks for his authoritative declaration of the meaning of his word to take place through the written word itself. 7 1. God s Word is accessible Deuteronomy 30:11-14 God s commandments are not too difficult for you To say that God s Word is clear is to say that we have no excuse for misunderstanding or disobeying it Scripture is always clear enough for us to carry out our present responsibilities before God. It is clear enough for a sixyear-old to understand what God expects of him. It is also clear enough for a mature theologian to understand what God expects of him. 8 2. God s Word is light Psalm 119:105 Your word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path A lamp hath light in itself, whether men look upon that light or not: so also the Scripture is clear and perspicuous, whether men be illuminated by it, or receive no light from it whatever. 9 3 Mark D. Thompson, A Clear and Present Word: The Clarity of Scripture (Leicester: Apollos; Downers Grove: IVP, 2006), 169. 4 DeYoung, 59. 5 Martin Luther cited by Thompson, 149. 6 Martin Luther cited by Thompson, 149. 7 Timothy Ward, Words of Life: Scripture as the Living and Active Word of God (Downers Grove, Ill.: IVP, 2009), 115. 8 John Frame, The Doctrine of the Word of God (Phillipsburg, NJ: Presbyterian and Reformed, 2010), 206-207. 9 William Whitaker, A Disputation on Holy Scripture against the Papists (Cambridge: Parker Society, 1849), 384. 2
3. God s Word is understandable in distant contexts Nehemiah 8:7-8 They read from the book, from the law of God, translating to give the sense so that they understood the reading Clarity does not deny the need for teachers: Psalm 119:130 The unfolding of your words gives light; It gives understanding to the simple. Exposition can proceed only on the assumption that the text is clear, that its meaning can be grasped and its significance for the lives of the hearers can be appreciated, since all expositions are to be tested by reference to the text itself. 10 4. God s Word is effective Isaiah 55:10-11 For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it. 5. God s Word is the final court of appeal Jesus and the apostles confidently quote Scripture with the assumption that it s understandable and settles the issue Passages that acknowledge difficulty Mark 4:10-12 Clarity does not guarantee that all who read or hear the word will grasp its meaning Acts 8 Clarity does not deny the need for teachers 2 Peter 3:16 The obscurity of Scripture cannot be inferred from the ignorance and blindness of man no more than the sun is obscure because it cannot be seen by a blind man 11 Why does God allow difficulties in Scripture? Besides bread and sustenance, [Scripture] has her luxuries, gems and gold deep under the surface 12 Reasons for difficult parts: 13 o Encourages prayerful dependence upon God 10 Thompson, 100. 11 Francis Turretin, Institutes of Elenctic Theology (Phillipsburg, NJ: Presbyterian & Reformed, 1992), 1:145. 12 Turretin, 1:144. 13 Summarized from Whitaker, 365-366. 3
o Forces us to study and meditate upon the Word and keeps us from growing lazy and complacent o Maintains our interest so we don t grow tired of simple things o Encourages gratitude because we have greater appreciation for things that are difficult to obtain o Keeps us humble o Transfers our focus from daily mundane matters to the study of Scripture o Encourages us to approach Scripture with a pure and holy mind o Teaches us to love one another through the God-ordained means of teaching and discipleship "Those who do not want to start in faith will never arrive at knowledge...those who do not want to eat before they understand the entire process by which food arrives at their table will starve to death. And those who do not want to believe the Word of God before they see all problems resolved will die of spiritual starvation" 14 D. Clarity is ensured by the fact that God is the one communicating to us This doctrine says something about God. Scripture should not be considered in isolation, as if it exists somehow independently of God. What we say about the Bible has important implications for our understanding of God and his purposes, and these lines of connection run in both directions. 15 1. God has a purpose 2. God has spoken to us in human words Human language should be viewed as a gift of God rather than as a human achievement 16 Just because God cannot be known exhaustively, that does not mean that he cannot be known at all. 17 Human language is not an intrinsically inadequate medium for communicating, for conveying meaning. Certainly our language, as we have seen, can confuse, veil, and distort. But this, we must remember, is directly attributable to our sin, to our varied misuse and deliberate abuse of language, not to any functional defect in our language itself. 18 14 Herman Bavinck, Reformed Dogmatics (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2003), 1:442. 15 Thompson, 54. 16 Thompson, 66. 17 DeYoung, 66. 18 Richard Gaffin cited by Thompson, 69. 4
If inspiration is true, then it is no transgression of his majesty to take him at his word. 19 3. Clarity is ensured because God is the one speaking E. Implications If Scripture is obscure or ambiguous, what point is there in God giving it to us? Are we not obscure and ambiguous enough without having our [own] obscurity, ambiguity, and darkness augmented for us from heaven? 20 1. Read it! Even the difficult parts! 2. It should change the way we read it: o Don't be intimidated by it o Approach Scripture with true humility o Have confidence in the Word 3. Rejoice! The clarity of Scripture has certainly been abused throughout history, but: On balance, however, the disadvantages do not outweigh the advantages. For the denial of the perspicuity of Scripture carries with it the subjection of the layperson to the priest, of a person s conscience to the church. The freedom of religion and the human conscience, of the church and theology, stands and falls with the perspicuity of Scripture. 21 Open my eyes, that I may behold wonderful things from your law (Psalm 119:18) 19 Thompson, 79. 20 Martin Luther cited by Thompson, 147. 21 Bavinck, 1:479. 5