Doctrine of Perspicuity

The Westminster Confession of Faith explains what Protestants believe about the perspicuity of Scripture: “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” (1.7).

The doctrine of the perspicuity of Scripture was a main belief of the Reformers. Martin Luther taught against the Roman Catholic claim that the Bible is imperspicuous, that is, too obscure and difficult for the common people to understand. The Bible, the priests and bishops taught, was unclear, and the people should not be trusted to interpret or even read it for themselves. On the contrary, the Reformers encouraged lay Christians to study and interpret God’s Word on their own. The Reformers believed that the Bible proclaimed itself to be inherently clear and that God is able to communicate His message to all men, even the unlettered. A main tenet of the Reformation is that Scripture is clear enough for the simplest person to live by. Because of their belief in the perspicuity of Scripture, men like John Wycliffe, William Tyndale, Martin Luther, Myles Coverdale, Thomas Matthew, and Pierre Olivétan went to great lengths to translate the Bible into the vernacular.

The Bible itself proclaims its own perspicuity. Deuteronomy 6:6–7 exhorts parents to teach the Scriptures to their children, indicating that they can be understood by children. The New Testament confirms this when the apostle Paul encourages Timothy to continue in the things he has known of the Holy Scriptures from childhood (2 Timothy 3:14–15a). Psalm 19:7 declares that the “testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple” (ESV). Surely, the simple cannot be made wise by something they are unable to understand. Psalm 119:130 further explains that God’s Word “gives understanding to the simple,” meaning that it is not necessary to be highly educated to comprehend its truths. The Bible’s meaning is clear to all.