Theological Term of the Week: Perspicuity of Scripture

perspicuity of scripture

The teaching that the ordinary reader can understand from scripture what God requires of them for salvation as long as they are willing to seek God’s help to understand and obey it; the truth that “the knowledge necessary unto salvation, though not equally clear on every page of Scripture, is yet conveyed to man throughout the Bible in such a simple and comprehensible form that on who is earnestly seeking salvation can, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, by reading and studying the Bible, easily obtain for himself the necessary knowledge.”1 Perspicuity does not mean that the scripture contains no passages that may be difficult to understand or that all passages are equally clear. This doctrine is also—and prehaps more commonly—referred to as the clarity of scripture.

• From scripture:

… from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. [16] All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness … . (2 Timothy 3:15-16 ESV)

For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope (Romans 15:4 ESV).

• From The Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter 1, Section 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.

• From Systematic Theology by Robert Letham, page 206-207:

A number of crucial distinctions must be made. There are varying degrees of clarity in the Bible. First, this is intrinsic to Scripture itself, since “all things in Scripture are not alike plain in themselves” (WCF 1.7)… .

Second, the relative clarity of Scripture also depends on the capacity of the reader: “all things in Scripture are … not alike clear unto all” (WCF 1.7). Some readers are less able to understand than others, whether by lack of knowledge or education, lack of Christian experience, or a decifit of intelligence… .

However, the Protestant doctrine of the perspicuity, or clarity, of Scripture acknowledges these difficulties but nevertheless asserts that the saving message is clear.

Learn more:

1. Simply Put: The Perspicuity of Scripture
2. Got Questions: What is the doctrine of the perspicuity of Scripture?
3. Emma Saying: How to pronounce perspicuity
4. Burk Parsons: The Perspicuity of Scripture
5. Mark D. Thompson: The Clarity of Scripture
6. Kevin DeYoung: The Clarity of Scripture

Related terms:

• analogy of faith
• authority of scripture
• exegesis
• illumination
• sola scriptura

Filed under Scripture

1 From Introductory Volume to Systematic Theology by Louis Berkhof, page 167.

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Clicking on the Theological Terms button above the header will take you to an alphabetical list of all the theological terms.

Sunday Hymn: His Mercy Is More

What love could remember no wrongs we have done?
Omniscient, all knowing, He counts not their sum.
Thrown into a sea without bottom or shore,
Our sins they are many, His mercy is more!

What patience would wait as we constantly roam?
What Father, so tender, is calling us home?
He welcomes the weakest, the vilest, the poor,
Our sins they are many, His mercy is more!

Chorus
Praise the Lord! His mercy is more!
Stronger than darkness, new every morn,
Our sins they are many, His mercy is more!

What riches of kindness Christ lavished on us,
His blood was the payment, His life was the cost!
We stood ‘neath a debt we could never afford,
Our sins they are many, His mercy is more!

Chorus
Praise the Lord! His mercy is more!
Stronger than darkness, new every morn,
Our sins they are many, His mercy is more!

Chorus
Praise the Lord! His mercy is more!
Stronger than darkness, new every morn,
Our sins they are many, His mercy is more!

—Matt Boswell and Matt Papa, © 2016 Getty Music and Songs (ASCAP) / Love Your Enemies Publishing (ASCAP) / Getty Music Publishing (BMI) / Messenger Hymns (BMI) 

Theological Term of the Week: Canon of Scripture

canon of scripture

The “collection of scriptural books that God has given his corporate people”;1 “the collection of apostolic writings that is regarded as Scripture by the corporate church.”2

• From The Belgic Confession, Articles 4 and 5:

We believe that the Holy Scriptures consist of two parts, namely, the Old and the New Testament, which are canonical, against which nothing can be alleged. These books are listed in the church of God as follows.

The books of the Old Testament: the five books of Moses, namely, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy; Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, 1 and 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther; Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, the Song of Songs; Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi.

The books of the New Testament: the four gospels, namely, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John; the Acts of the Apostles; the thirteen letters of the apostle Paul, namely, Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 and 2 Thessalonians, 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon; the letter to the Hebrews; the seven other letters, namely, James, 1 and 2 Peter, 1, 2 and 3 John, Jude; and the Revelation to the apostle John.

We receive all these books, and these only, as holy and canonical, for the regulation, foundation, and confirmation of our faith. We believe without any doubt all things contained in them, not so much because the church receives and approves them as such, but especially because the Holy Spirit witnesses in our hearts that they are from God, and also because they contain the evidence thereof in themselves; for, even the blind are able to perceive that the things foretold in them are being fulfilled.

• From Systematic Theology by Robert Letham, page 189:

Ultimately, the canon imposed itself on the church. The church recognized it, although it took longer for some books to receive acceptance than others. Behind this is the principle that only God can adequately attest the works of God, and so the canon, notwithstanding the many external evidences in support, is self-attesting.

Learn more:

1. Got Questions: What is the canon of Scripture?
2. Simply Put: The Canon of Scripture
3. ESV Study Bible: The Canon of Scripture
4. Michael Kruger: How did the New Testament canon develop? (video)
5. Stephen Nichols & Steven Lawson: How and when was the canon of Scripture established, and by whom?
6. Michael J. Kruger: The Biblical Canon
7. Michael J. Kruger: My Sheep Hear My Voice: Canon as Self-Authenticating

 Related terms:

• authority of scripture
• inerrancy of scripture
• infallibility of scripture
• inspiration of scripture
• New Testament apocrypha
• Old Testament apocrypha

Filed under Scripture

1 From The Biblical Canon by Michael J. Kruger.

2 From Canon Revisited by Michael J. Kruger, page 120.

Do you have a a theological term you’d like to see featured as a Theological Term of the Week? Email your suggestion using the contact button in the navigation bar above. 

Clicking on the Theological Terms button above the header will take you to an alphabetical list of all the theological terms.