I will never understand NASCAR. I just don’t get how that is an interesting “sport.” I have a dear friend who lives and breaths it, but I will never be able to understand how watching cars drive in circles for hours is fun. In fact, most of us consider anything that just goes in circles to be poor at the most basic level. We are especially critical of such circular motions when it comes to logical arguments. Arguments that are circular in nature are usually characterized as deficient. The truth is, however, that you can’t actually avoid circularity, and that’s okay. In fact when the Christian embraces this principle of circularity he finds the support for certainty he so desperately needs.
We have cited all the factors that go into making the clarity of Scripture difficult. We will now attempt to identify the factors that make clarity possible, but first we must establish that circularity is good. For ultimately the factors that prove the clarity of Scripture come from Scripture themselves. John Frame speaks of it this way:
No system can avoid circularity, because all systems (as we have seen)- non-Christian as well as Christian- are based on presuppositions that control their epistemologies, argumentation, and use of evidence. Thus a rationalist can prove the primacy of reason only by using a rational argument. An empiricist can prove the primacy of sense-experience only by some kind of appeal to a sense-experience. A Muslim can prove the primacy of the Koran only by appealing to the Koran. But if all systems are circular in that way, then such circularity can hardly be urged against Christianity. (Doctrine of the Knowledge of God, 130)
Circularity, you see, is not a problem. Now we will have to deal with competing circularities (which we won’t now do), but for the time being the point stands. So, what, then, does Scripture say about it’s own clarity? Answering this question will help shed some light on our ability to gain a level of certainty in our interpretation.
First, God’s controls His communication with man. When we speak of the issue of clarity we must take a look at it in light of what we already know of God. His existence and divine Lordship necessitate that he controls his own communication. Therefore what God purposes to do in his Word he can do. We are always so prone to consider the matter of interpretation purely from the human side of this affair and fail to realize that there is a divine side. The Scriptures themselves declare that the Spirit gives understanding of God’s Word (1 Corinthians 2:14; Colossians 1:9; Ephesians 1:17-18).
Second, God desires that we understand His communication. Psalm 19:7 teaches us that God’s Word makes “wise the simple.” Meaning His communication can be grasped by even those without PhDs. God communicates in order that we may understand Him. He issues commands and holds us accountable for them. His Word is even written in the common language of the Greek people that the simplest may hear and understand. That is God’s goal.
We must take these considerations into account as we do our interpretation. Yes we must do humble interpretation, and yes our ability to ascertain certainty with 100% accuracy is indeed impaired. Yet God rules over even our interpretive processes. Thus we can move in the direction of certainty when we consider this. But this also raises another dilemma. If God rules over even our interpretive process and if we can have some kind of certainty then why are there so many various interpretations? That is what we will seek to tackle next week.
Sparrow & Heart Soul Care 