Fourth, from the chief material and contents of Scripture.
Fourth, from the chief material and contents of Scripture.
§ 418. (IV) From the chief material and contents of Scripture. The summary of heavenly doctrine that is contained in the Ten Commandments, the Apostles’ Creed, the Lord’s Prayer, and the institution of the Sacraments has clear testimonies and foundations in Scripture. Therefore what one must know for his salvation is set forth in Scripture clearly. Bellarmine adds another conclusion: “Therefore all of Scripture is perspicuous.” He responds: “I deny both consequence and antecedent. I deny the consequence because, though all things can be reduced to them somehow, nevertheless they are very obscure in themselves, as we see from the prophecies of the prophets, from the Song of Songs, from the Epistle to the Romans, and from Revelation.” He says, “The antecedent surely is more definitely false, for if clear testimonies about those articles were to exist, all controversies would have been ended.”
We respond. (1) We do not deny that some passages of Holy Scripture are difficult and obscure; we add, however, that these are given light from other clear passages or an exact knowledge of them is not absolutely necessary for salvation. It is sufficient for us if it is conceded that those things that all people must know for their salvation are set forth clearly in the Scriptures.
(2) Bellarmine takes “all of Scripture” to mean either individual passages of Scripture or those things in which the summary of heavenly doctrine that everyone must know for his salvation is set forth. If he means the former, he attributes to us a false conclusion of our argument. If the latter is true, Bellarmine’s response is out of place.
(3) The summary of heavenly doctrine consists of the Law and the Gospel. The summary of the moral Law is set forth clearly in Exodus [20] and Deuteronomy 5, and it is repeated in many places in the New Testament. The summary of the Gospel is that those who believe in Christ receive the remission of sins freely. This is explained clearly in John 3, Romans 3, Galatians 2, and elsewhere.
(4) The fact that all controversies are not ended by the clear testimony and judgment of Scripture happens according to accident, as we shall show later in our solving of the arguments.