29 September 2013

Perspicuity of the Scripture

The perspicuity or clarity of Scripture is an important doctrine. ``Let miserable men, therefore, stop imputing with blasphemous perversity the darkness and obscurity of their own hearts to the wholly clear Scriptures of God.'' (LW 33:27) Amen. Scripture is clear. My understanding of it is not. I am the problem; not the Scripture. I am dull and do not see clearly, rather I see through an occluded lens. So I need to be taught first of all the grammar of the Scripture and then the norms of interpretation according to the tradition I have been taught. In these there is a presupposition, an over-arching rule (paradigm) or guiding formal principle which is never to be broken no matter what the actual text of the Scripture says. The rule for me is the following: I have a loving, forgiving and barmherzigkeit Gott. So when the perfect, accurate Word of God spoken by the apostle St. James says to show me your works my guiding formal principle immediately forces me to modify what would be the normally accepted exegesis of this passage with the similarly accurate Word of God by St. Paul saying it is not by works which we have done. Because of my dullness and inability I am not able to come up with a way to bring these two perfect passages into union. So as a Lutheran I allow St. Paul the trump St. James. I am not at liberty like some have done in the past and even Luther might have suggested to rip St. James out of the cannon. Romanists, Reformed, and Lutherans within each branch of Christianity bring to bear upon the Scripture their formal guiding principle. Rome is governed by “all must obey the Pope”. Reformed is guided by “God is the Almighty Supreme Being”. Lutherans by “clinging always to a gracious and merciful God”. So as a Lutheran I bridle myself to the guiding principle of the Lutheran church, never questioning the perspicuity of Scripture and always acknowledging the totally corrupt nature of mankind after the fall. Therefore I must let the Confessions guide me as I exegete the Holy Scriptures. In other words I interpret the Scriptures according to the confessions of the Book of Concord of 1580.

No comments: