Of the Holy Scripture, I: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.

In this paragraph the Confession takes up the clarity of Scripture, formally called the doctrine of perspicuity. A superficial understanding of this doctrine has led some to make the charge that it cannot be true. There are obviously some passages of Scripture that make hard reading. Even Peter wrestled with this. In his second epistle he wrote, "Just as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you, as also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction" (2 Peter 3:15-16). But the Confession acknowledges this difficulty up front. If some attention is given to the matter, it actually makes sense. God's thoughts are much higher than our thoughts. It is only natural, then, that some matters treated by Scripture are more difficult to grasp than others. I'm never going to be able to wrap my mind completely around the dual nature of Jesus Christ, for example. How can anyone be fully God and fully man at the same time? Yet this is the teaching of Scripture.

The Confession is at pains to insist, however, that the main things--those touching on salvation--are the plain things. It is actually fairly easy for an unbeliever to read the Bible and state its basic teaching. Rudolf Bultmann, the existential theologian of the last century, once acknowledged that the Bible taught the gospel; he just rejected it and called the Bible wrong.

It doesn't even require a huge intellect to make sense of Scripture. All that is necessary is due diligence and a willingness to put forth the effort. Read the Bible as you would read any other book. See if a hard idea communicated in one part is explained elsewhere. Make use of the helps included, such as indices and concordances and cross-references. Look up terms and concepts that confuse you. Ask an expert if otherwise stumped.

Two good resources: Knowing Scripture by R. C. Sproul and How to Read the Bible for All It's Worth by Gordon Fee.

Tomorrow: Translation, please.