IS THE BIBLE CLEAR ENOUGH?

Why is it that so many people are intimidated by the Bible?  Some see it as a big scary, judgment-filled ancient (outdated) book that almost no one has ever finished reading.  It contains wild and unbelievable stories, talking animals and scary apocalyptic scenarios, with many people ending up in everlasting punishment for committing minor sins, simply because God doesn’t want you to have fun.  Some people say that it depicts a monster God, who loves punishing innocent people, a God who claims to be loving, all-powerful and all-knowing, yet He has allowed horrible things to happen to people throughout the centuries, when He could have stopped all the death, suffering and carnage.  So, apparently, if He does exist at all, He doesn’t even care what happens to you.

Is this your view of the Bible?  Those of you who think this way have a clear distrust of God, either because of ignorance of Him, or simply because you believe what others (unbelievers) have been telling you about Him.  You think this way because of a lack of studying the Bible for yourself, and you fail to make an honest assessment of its teachings. 

But, according to Catholicism, even if you did read it, who knows if you could understand it, anyway?  Ignorance abounds, but the Bible is not that hard to understand.

Catholics and Protestants have been debating the concept of the clarity of Scripture for a long time, and because of that, there are many highly developed (and highly nuanced) arguments on both sides. 

Fortunately, both Catholics and Protestants believe that knowing what the Bible says is extremely important to all of us.  At least we agree on that.  We both recognize it as the Word of God. 

Let me emphasize, from the beginning, I think that it is evident to all of us that most  parts of Scripture are clear enough to understand, while some parts are not as clear.  That’s just the way it is.  I don’t think that anyone is saying that it is completely obscure, and I don’t think that anyone is saying that everything in it is easily understood, but the truth lies somewhere in between.

But one great concern to Protestants is that the Catholic Church would insist that we need an “infallible” interpreter of Scripture so that we can have certainty about what it says.  And according to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, that infallible interpreter is the Magisterium (the leaders) of the Catholic Church (CCC #85).

“Problems” with Perspicuity

The term that is commonly used to describe Scripture’s clarity is “perspicuity.”  Catholics often seem to take offense with this teaching.  But why?

Many Catholics feel that the doctrine of perspicuity elevates the individual over the Church, thereby robbing the Church of its authority to interpret Scripture for the people (CCC #100).  They also feel that perspicuity “marginalizes” the role of tradition.  Strangely, it almost seems like they don’t want the Scriptures to be clear and understandable to the average person, and that they don’t mind Tradition or Scripture being shrouded in a fog (so that only the Church can interpret it for us).

Some Catholics feel that the people who hold to the doctrine of perspicuity assume that those who disagree with them have some kind of defect(s)?  They feel that those who believe in the doctrine of perspicuity are automatically assuming the worst about others and only the best about themselves.

And what if there are disagreements between two Protestants who both hold to the concept of perspicuity?  Wouldn’t that refute this concept, since there would be no means of resolving arguments between debaters, causing countless divisions? 

According to Catholics, perspicuity makes the individual the ultimate authority.  It makes you your own pope, they say.

Furthermore, some Catholics will ask, “If the Bible is so clear, then why do some Protestants make so much money teaching the Bible week after week, and year after year?”  Seems like a good question to ask.  We’ll come back to this question a little later.

The Catholic Church would point out that it took several church councils sometimes years to decide on certain doctrines, so what makes Protestants think that they can understand the Bible outright?  Are you perspicuity guys so arrogant that you would claim that your understanding is better than the Church’s?  

The Westminster Confession

So, what is the official teaching within Protestantism concerning perspicuity?  As for as I know, there is no “official” definition on the topic which all denominations agree on, but I think that the Westminster Confession of Faith gives us a pretty good idea of the concept of perspicuity:

“All things in Scripture are not alike plain in themselves, nor alike clear unto all. Yet, those things that are necessary to be known, believed, and observed for salvation are so clearly propounded, and opened in some place of Scripture or another, that not only the learned, but the unlearned, in a due use of the ordinary means, may attain unto a sufficient understanding of them.”

There may be an even better definition somewhere out there, but I think this one is sufficient to demonstrate the idea.

First of all, note the phrase, “nor alike clear unto all.”  This is an admission that not every person is on the same level of understanding.  Some catch on quicker, some not as quick.  Yet, the Bible is sufficient to enlighten the “learned” and the “unlearned,” alike.

Note also that the Westminster Confession also implies that observing the context of Scripture is of great importance.  The phrase “opened in some place of Scripture or another” speaks of the whole of Scripture.  Why is that important?  This is because Scripture interprets Scripture.  If Scripture is indeed from God (and it certainly is), then God will use the plainer parts and those principles involved, to help us understand the harder parts.  God is consistent, and therefore, His Word is consistent.

Let me also note here that Catholics like to question the idea of “those things that are necessary to be known,” or the “essentials” of the faith.  They’ll say, “What are those essentials and who determines what the ‘essentials’ are?”  Well, the answer is right there in the Westminster Confession: the things concerning salvation.  

But Catholics will say, “But Protestants don’t agree with each other, even on the details of salvation.  Some believe that baptism saves and some don’t.  Some believe that babies should be baptized and some don’t.  Some believe that speaking in tongues must be a part of salvation while others do not.  Are good works involved in your salvation at all?  Protestants disagree on this, so even these ‘essentials’ are not clear.”

It’s funny, but good Catholics will also disagree among themselves, even on major topics.  In fact, they sometimes even disagree on the supposed infallible interpretations!  Concerning disagreements in the church, it is interesting that when Catholics argue amongst themselves, they’ll call it “freedom to interpret.”  But when they find disagreements in Protestantism, they’ll call it divisions.

But we Protestants don’t claim this as proof that their doctrine is wrong.  When it comes to divisions, we are all in the same boat.  So, unity does not guarantee correct doctrine – Scripture is the standard by which doctrine is measured (2 Timothy 3:16-17).  But the key to proper interpretation, I am convinced, is to carefully study context and to let Scripture interpret Scripture, while maintaining a prayerful and humble attitude (Isaiah 66:2; Luke 8:15).  Continual study of the Word of God will also go a long way in helping you “rightly divide” (interpret) Scripture.    

All men can have a sufficient understanding of that which pertains to the salvation of the soul, else God would be unfair.  Everyone who stands at the foot of the cross is on level ground.  The gospel of Jesus Christ does not give special recognition to male or female, Jew or Gentile (Galatians 3:28), and it does not favor the wise, the scribe, or the philosopher (1 Corinthians 1:20).  It is the very simple message of the gospel of Jesus Christ which saves us:

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.” (Romans 1:16)

Analogies

When it comes to interpreting Scripture, I’d like to suggest an analogy and say that the Bible is very similar to a math textbook.  No one who is just beginning to learn math starts off with calculus or trigonometry.  You start with the easiest and most basic things (e.g., simple addition and subtraction), and once you grasp those, the other (harder) things are explained in light of the easier, well established principles.  It is a progressive type of learning – and so is biblical interpretation.  Math is a very deep subject, and just like a math textbook, the Bible can also get pretty deep.  There is an old saying:

“The message of the Bible is simple enough that a child can understand it, yet deep enough for a theologian to drown in it.”

I would say that this is true.

Likewise, when a child starts to learn the language of his parents, he must start out with baby talk.  Then slowly, he learns more and more words, and then he learns to put sentences together, until one day, he reaches a sufficient level of communication to be effective on his own.  He may even go much deeper and get proficient enough to teach the language to others on a professional level.

In other words, this too is a progressive endeavor, where you learn more and more over time.  It is very similar with learning to interpret Scripture.  The more you spend time with the Bible, the more you understand its Author.  The Bible is like a goldmine – you can never completely mine all the treasure therein – at least, not in this life.  It is a continuous learning experience (Hebrews 5:12).

What Kind of Father is That?

But this whole denial of the doctrine of the perspicuity of Scripture assumes that God purposely made it hard for us (His children) to interpret Scripture.  But is that indeed His will?  What kind of parent do you think God is?  God is able and willing to communicate His message – just as any good parent does.  Jesus Himself said:

“If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?” (Matthew 7:11).

When it comes to giving instructions to His children, would He want them to be in the dark?  Wouldn’t it be an insult to God to say that His Word is garbled to those genuinely seeking Him, to His very own children?  This goes against His nature.

Deuteronomy 6:6-7 and 2 Timothy 3:14-15 tell us to teach these things (the Law of God) to our children.  Why would it tell us to teach our children the Scriptures if they couldn’t understand?  Divine promises are irrelevant unless they are intelligible.

Psalm 19:7 and 119:130 tell us that God’s Word makes the simple wise.  God is able both to hide simple things from the wise, and also able to cause even the simple to understand His Word (Matthew 11:25).  If God is able to feed physically hungry people, He is certainly able (and willing) to feed the spiritually hungry through His Word.

Examples in Scripture

Scripture, itself, implies that it is perspicuous/clear enough for the commoner to understand. Those following Jesus were mostly the simple and uneducated.  It is no surprise that God expects His children to hear, read, study and understand the Scriptures.  There are many examples of the common people being expected to understand Jesus’ words.  Here are some of them:

People in general (Luke 20:17); people in the synagogue (Luke 4:21; Acts 17:2, 11); the general public (John 7:38); the multitude (Matthew 15:10; Mark 7:14, 16; John 7:42); the five lost brothers of the rich man (Luke 16:27-29); the reader of Scripture (Matthew 24:15; John 19:24, 28, 36, 37; Revelation 1:3); the local Christian churches who received letters/epistles from the apostle Paul (e.g., the Romans, Corinthians, Galatians, Philippians, Colossians, etc.); “whosoever” and “he that has ears to hear” –  used many times in the gospels and Revelation (e.g., Matthew 7:24; Luke 6:47; Mark 4:9; Luke 14:35; John 5:24; Revelation 2:7, 11, 17, 29; 3:6, 13, 22).  When Jesus said, “Whosoever…”, He never, ever meant “Only the leaders.”

Obscurers Since Long Ago

The question was asked earlier: 

If the Bible is so clear, so perspicuous, then why do Protestants have to teach and expound on what it says, week after week and year after year, not to mention the fact that some are making a great deal of money doing it?

Fair question, but the reason Protestants go to church week after week is not because they know nothing about the Bible - they go to church to grow and build on the knowledge they already have.  It’s called “getting to know God better and better.”  The apostle Peter called it “grow[ing] in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18).  

And by the way, they don’t just better their relationship with God by going to church every week – they also tend to get in the Word daily.  If they don’t, they should.

But Protestants, in general, are simply trying to help their members to become dependent on God in Bible reading, unlike the Catholic Church, who is trying their best to cause its members to be dependent on the Church for everything. 

But it was never about the individual’s “authority to interpret,” but rather the individual’s ultimate accountability to God.

The Catholic Church seems to be fond of obscurity, since it gives the Church more power and leverage.  Furthermore, it is highly interesting (and suspicious) that the Catholic Church, though they are reluctant to admit it, is historically guilty of keeping the Scriptures away from the common people for a long time.  See this link:

https://answeringcatholicclaims.blogspot.com/2013/12/has-catholic-church-been-friend-of-bible.html#comment-form

Funny how this freedom to read and understand Scripture seems to be somewhat of a threat to the Catholic Church.

Furthermore, if you want to see a great example of obscurity, look to their “definition” of Tradition!  See these links:

https://answeringcatholicclaims.blogspot.com/2022/07/the-lonely-pilgrim-and-sacred-tradition.html

https://answeringcatholicclaims.blogspot.com/2010/05/what-about-tradition.html

Conclusion

We don’t mind the Catholic Church saying that some things in the Bible are hard to understand, but we do have an issue with them saying that that they are the only ones who can “authentically” interpret Scripture (CCC #85).  Saying that is simply begging the question.  They cannot (and will not ever be able to) biblically prove such an argument.

What better tactic can Satan use to separate man from God, as He did with Eve?  There, in the Garden of Eden, the serpent said, “Yea, hath God said…?” (Genesis 3:1) In essence, he was saying, “Let me tell you what God really said,” causing man’s destruction.  And today, in the Catholic Church, this same serpent is saying, “You can’t really know what God is saying in the Bible, the Church has to tell you!”

This is the same exact tactic! 

But you Catholics can’t go around telling everybody that Scripture is obscure, while pretending your Church has all the “authentic” interpretations – when your Church has decided to “infallibly interpret” so few passages of the Bible.  So where is that “certainty” that the Catholic Church brags about?

The bottom line is that the Bible is clear enough to help you to get right with God and to live for God, without a particular church or organization having to interpret that for you.  Perhaps asking, “Is the Bible clear?” is not quite the right question.  We should be asking, “Is the Bible clear enough and is it sufficient for God’s purposes, especially salvation?”  And the answer is yes, indeed!

“BY WHAT AUTHORITY...?”

…and they spoke, saying to Him, “Tell us by what authority You are doing these things, or who is the one who gave You this authority?” (Luke 20:2)

After observing the many miraculous signs that Jesus had done in public, the chief priests, scribes, and elders of Jerusalem approached Him while He was teaching in the temple.  They then asked Him by what authority He was doing all these things.  But Jesus detected their trickery, and He masterfully thwarted their question and asked one of His own.  The end result is that they could not answer His question (without either causing a riot or humiliating themselves), so they backed off (Luke 20:1-8). 
 
You see, these people were working closely with the Pharisees, and Nicodemus, the Pharisee, had previously revealed their dirty little secret – that they already knew that Jesus was from God (John 3:1-2), and therefore, had God’s authority.  But their purpose here was to trick Him and to turn the crowd against Him.  But of course, they failed to do so.

A Loaded Question

But we want to point out in this article that Catholics often use this same phrase, “By what authority…”, when confronting Protestants.  Taking their cue from the enemies of Jesus, they use this same question on us concerning Bible interpretation, thinking that this is an effective argument. 
 
Aside from the fact that the priests, scribes and elders were questioning the very authority of God, the Son, and aside from the fact that they were corrupt in their hearts and only wanted to start trouble… at least they applied the question (“By what authority…”) to a more proper object, i.e., Jesus’ miracles and His great wisdom.  But Catholics wrongly apply this same question to Bible interpretation.  That is to say, they are wrong to ask, “By what authority do you Protestants interpret Scripture?”

You see, this is a loaded question.  It’s sort of like asking, “Have you stopped beating your wife yet?”  With this question, whether you answer “yes” or “no,” you are implying guilt even if you are not guilty.  This is because of the way the question is phrased.  It forces you to buy into the false assumption built into it.  So it cannot be answered directly without incriminating yourself.  Asking “by what authority do you interpret…” is similar in that way. 

This is because Catholics start off with a false premise, a wrong assumption, and that assumption is that one needs some kind of “special authority” to be able to interpret Scripture.  But that’s not true at all.
  
No one in the Old or New Testament was ever rebuked for (or discouraged from) attempting to interpret Scripture.  While it is certainly possible for someone to misinterpret a particular passage, no one in the Bible is ever told that they should not interpret – even when they got it wrong (John 5:39-40)!  While Jesus and the apostles often pointed the people to the Scriptures, they never tried to ban anyone from interpreting them because of possible abuse, misunderstanding, or “lack of authority.”  They never said, “No, you need the church’s authority to interpret this!”  This seems to be a Catholic concept, and it is a false one.

Only the Leaders?

So, being able to interpret Scripture has nothing to do with AUTHORITY on our part.  It’s simply something that God expects us to do.  He tells us to interpret (rightly divide) His Word in 2 Timothy 2:15:

“Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” 

But someone may try to argue that in 2 Timothy 2:15, the apostle Paul’s command to “rightly divide” was not to the “laity,” but only to Timothy, who was a pastor / bishop.  But notice that in this same chapter from which we first quoted under the title of this article (Luke 20), Jesus tells a parable to “the people” (Luke 20:9), that is, “the laity,” and He expects them, if their hearts are right, to understand (rightly divide) what He is saying.  And it is absolutely clear that this group of people is separate and distinct from the leaders, i.e., the elders, scribes and priests (v. 1, 6, 19).  So, yes, God does expect the common man, who comes to Him humbly and trusting, to be able to interpret the Scriptures.  So, no special “gift” or “authority” is required for that.  And there are many other passages that confirm this truth.  See a few of them here:

http://answeringcatholicclaims.blogspot.com/2013/07/quick-notes-on-sola-scriptura-part-6.html

Caught in Their Own Trap

Many Catholics believe that any interpretation apart from the Catholic Church’s Magisterium is “private interpretation,” and that this is somehow a bad thing.  But they misunderstand the meaning of the term.  We all have to use our private judgment to interpret and understand Scripture.  NO ONE can avoid private interpretation.  See this link:

http://answeringcatholicclaims.blogspot.com/2014/07/private-interpretation.html

Catholics are setting a trap for themselves that they can’t escape.  At no point in this process do we stop using private interpretation.  Either, everyone must interpret any and all communication that we encounter, or we can’t make any determinations or conclusions about anything.  Are we devolving into solipsism (the belief that we can’t really know anything except that our minds exist)?  But if that’s the case, then no one at all can use Scripture!  

It seems that the problem stems from an unhealthy Catholic concept that says that unless you have a sufficient authority, you cannot be sure what you really believe.  But here is what it all boils down to:  Catholics want “infallible certainty” concerning Scripture reading and interpretation, but that is an impossible request for the post-apostolic church.  See this link:

http://answeringcatholicclaims.blogspot.com/2009/12/dialogue-on-bible-interpretation.html

Conclusion

Although we deny that we can have infallible certainty in our interpretations, this is not an excuse for anyone to interpret the Bible sloppily or carelessly.  Interpretation of Scripture should be done prayerfully, and with reverence and humility toward God (James 1:21).  We all have to start with the right attitude, and use basic hermeneutics (principles of Bible interpretation), context, etc., but the question is this:  Is the resulting interpretation a reasonable and consistent one?  Note that God has not abandoned common sense.

The “by what authority” argument is simply a diversion.  And unfortunately, many times unsuspecting Protestants have unnecessarily fallen victim to this, not knowing how to answer.  But rest assured, we need not be shaken by this false argument.  Trust God’s Word and incline your heart to understand it, and God will not let you down (Psalms 111:10; 119:99-100, 130).