_This column is based on questions and answers excerpted from
the "Bible Answer Man," CRI's live call-in radio broadcast. In this
issue of the *Newsletter,* Ken Samples addresses the question, "If
the Bible is so clear, why are there so many denominations?"_
When the Protestant Reformers spoke of the "perspicuity" of
Scripture, they meant that the Bible was clear and understandable
when it came to its central message.
Contrary to the medieval Roman Catholic idea that the Bible was
a difficult and obscure book, the founders of Protestantism
asserted that _any_ literate person could comprehend the gospel
through the pages of Scripture. The Reformers were not saying that
all of Scripture was _equally_ clear, nor that scholarly study was
not necessary. But they _were_ asserting the essential clarity of
the Word of God. In addition, this doctrine of perspicuity undercut
the Catholic idea that only the magisterium (teaching office of the
church) could rightly interpret Scripture.
Responsible interpretation of the Bible by private individuals
was thus encouraged by the Reformers. However, they insisted that
sound hermeneutics (interpretive principles) were essential in
order to avoid a destructive subjectivism.
But again, if the Bible is so clear, why are there so many
denominations? The great Reformed theologian J. I. Packer has
asserted a forceful threefold answer.
* First, the real and substantial division within the Christian
ranks is not caused by those who accept the Protestant principle of
_sola scriptura,_ which recognizes Scripture alone as the supreme
authority (perspicuity being an underlying principle), but by
those, Catholic or Protestant, _who do not._
* Second, the splitting into denominations has frequently been
caused by sin rather than biblical interpretation in and of itself.
* And third, the issues which divide Protestants are
_secondary_ issues and can actually be reduced to six areas. These
important but secondary issues are: (1) God's sovereignty and man's
freedom, (2) the Lord's Supper, (3) ecclesiology (church order),
(4) church/state issues, (5) baptism, and (6) eschatology (the
study of last things). One explanation for the differences on
secondary issues is that different groups use slightly different
hermeneutical approaches. As well, no one has all the spiritual and
scholarly gifts and abilities to rightly interpret every detail of
Scripture. It should also be pointed out that Catholicism,
regardless of the teaching magisterium, has as much diversity as
Protestantism....
Source File: crn0061a.txt
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