A CLEAR AND PRESENT WORD
The clarity of Scripture
By Mark D. Thompson. Apollos/IVP. 196 pages. £12.99
ISBN 1 84474 140 3
Christian believers are able to understand the message of the Bible clearly, without the need for authoritative interpretation handed down to them by the church (or any other institution). Of course, preaching is helpful, indeed essential, for improving our understanding of Scripture and particularly for applying it to our hearts, minds and lives. But nevertheless, the Christian believer can be confident that he can come to the Word for himself and understand what it has to say to him.
This principle lies at the foundation of the Reformation. Evangelicals have held to it ever since. However, in recent years it has come under strong attack. We are told that the Bible is, in fact, a very difficult book to understand. It was written a very long time ago, in a very different culture from our own. What hope, then, can we have of understanding its true meaning, and how can we be sure that it has anything relevant to say to us anyway? If we believe it to be, in some sense, inspired by God, how can we be sure that the human author has correctly conveyed the meaning that God intended? And, in any case, language is such a slippery thing. How can we have any confidence that our particular understanding of a passage in any way coincides with the message that the author had in mind? It is best, then (so runs the conclusion), to leave these things to experts — biblical scholars schooled in dealing with these difficulties — who can, tentatively (and generally without unanimity), convey to us what they think a particular passage might possibly be saying.
