Fifth, from an accidental outcome.
Fifth, from an accidental outcome.
§ 419. (V) From an accidental outcome. That which is obscure and veiled merely by accident is perspicuous of itself. Scripture is obscure and veiled merely by accident. Therefore of itself it is perspicuous. We prove the minor premise from 2 Cor. 4:3-4: “If our Gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of unbelievers to keep the light of the glory of Christ from shining on them.” Observe here that: (1) He takes the word “Gospel” to mean the entire teaching that the apostle sets forth, for he is speaking about his own ministry (v. 1). (2) In the preceding verses the apostle spoke about himself and his co-workers, that “by the open statement of the truth” they were commending themselves “to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.” That is, by the public preaching of the Gospel, they are revealing heavenly truth and are not hiding anything (Acts 20:20). With this as his occasion, he begins to discuss the perspicuity of the Gospel, in which heavenly truth is revealed. (3) The apostle says explicitly that the Gospel is “veiled only to those who are perishing.” What is veiled only to some is not veiled in itself. (4) He is not attributing the reason for this situation to the Gospel itself but to the devil, who blinds people. (5) To the Gospel he is attributing its essential and proper effect: illumination. And this effect, he says, is being hindered accidentally in the case of those who are perishing. We bring in also the passage John 3:19: “And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than the light.” John 1:5: “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not comprehended it.” Here he is explaining the reason why not all are illumined by the Son of God (who is the Light essentially) through the Word (which is the Light instrumentally). Certainly, we must seek the reason not in the Son of God nor in the preached or written Word, but in the object, that is, in humans themselves.
Bellarmine makes the exception: “The apostle is speaking not about the understanding of the Scriptures but about knowledge and faith in Christ. That was what the apostles were preaching, and this is said to be perspicuous with regard to the shadows of the Old Testament.” We respond. (1) The same things the apostles first preached, they later wrote (1 John 1:2-3). Just as this knowledge and faith were being drawn from the preaching of the apostles while they were still alive in the flesh and were preaching the Gospel orally, so today we draw that from their writings. In Luke 16:29 they are ordered to hear “Moses and the prophets” as being still present in their writings. Let us make the same judgment concerning the apostles. (2) Accordingly, the understanding of the Scriptures and faith in Christ should not be opposed to each other, for they are subordinates.70 John 20:31: “These things are written that you may believe.” (3) The apostle is speaking about the entire doctrine of the Gospel that, he testifies, he has set forth in such a way that the manifestation of the truth could have taken place in people’s minds if the blinding of the devil had not hindered that salutary effect. (See Ambrose, Chrysostom, Oecumenius, and Theophylact on this passage.) (4) Knowledge of Christ and faith in Him are sufficient for our salvation (John 17:3; 20:31). But now, the knowledge of Christ and faith in Him are taught clearly in Scripture. Therefore those things that one must know for his salvation are set forth in Scripture clearly.