The approval of our adversaries.
The approval of our adversaries.
§ 423. The power of the truth has twisted the confession of some of our foes into an agreement with ours. Hieronymus ab Oleastro, on Deuteronomy 30: “We must give great glory to God, for He has made easy that which is necessary for salvation.”
Thomas, on 2 Cor. 4:3: “The reason why many do not understand the Gospel is not the fault of the Gospel; rather, it occurs because of the unbelief and wickedness of men.” [ST,] part 1, q. 1, art. 9, response to 2: “Those things that are said metaphorically in one passage of Scripture are stated more expressly in other passages.”
Genebrardus, on Psalm 18, testifies that some people “accept this about all of Scripture: that it ‘illumines the eyes.’”
Ambrosius Catharinus, commentary on 2 Timothy 3, says, “For the one who keeps faith, the Scriptures make themselves easy and familiar for a knowledge of them.”
Matthias Bredenbachius, Apolog., p. 93, recommends that “everyone arrange his life in accord with the rule of God’s commandments, which are neither obscure nor difficult.”
Andreas Fricius, De eccles., bk. 4, c. 7:
I am not saying that I deny that Scripture is quite obscure in many places, etc. However, when God declared His manifold will to the human race—first, through the prophets, then through His Son and the apostles—and wanted that will to be consigned to the record of their writings, I say that the will of God should be evident and shine out either in these very records or nowhere else. For it is absurd to think that God wanted to speak with us in such a way that we would not understand His words. Therefore we must seek His will in the words that He declared. If we find any obscurities or riddles, we must interpret them either with an explanation of the words or by a comparison with clear passages, for this is what Christ also did. And we should see that learned theologians have always done this. To them, Scripture was the teaching and testimony of God, the light enlightening their eyes, the lamp showing the right way to the truth.
Sixtus Senensis, Biblioth., bk. 4, 151: “One class of Scripture is clear and lucid, namely, that which includes the first and greatest principles of things we must believe and the chief precepts for living well, examples easy to recognize.”
The Jesuit Perpinianus, Orat., p. 262, Antwerp edition: “Christ has told us clearly and lucidly the entire matter without circumlocution or digression.”
Costerus, Enchirid., c. 1, p. 48: “We do not deny that those principal points of faith that all Christians must know for their salvation are contained in sufficient perspicuity in the writings of the apostles. Points of this sort are the mysteries of the Holy Trinity and of the incarnation of the Son of God, the account of the Lord’s Passion, the remission of sins, and the promise of eternal life.”
Gregorius de Valentia, Anal. fid., bk. 3, p. 100: “Those truths of the faith that all people absolutely and simply must know and believe are, in general, taught clearly in Scripture, as Augustine also noted.”