Biblical Interpretation In The Reformed Confessions
SCOTS CONFESSION, Ch. XVIII (3.18):
The interpretation of Scripture, we confess, does not belong to
any private or public person, not yet to any Kirk for pre-eminence
or precedence, personal or local, which it has above others, but
pertains to the Spirit of God by whom the Scriptures were written. When
controversy arises about the right understanding of any
passage or sentence of Scripture, or for the reformation of any
abuse within the Kirk of God, we ought not so much to ask
what men have said or done before us, as what the Holy Ghost uniformly
speaks within the body of the Scriptures and what Christ Jesus
himself did and commanded . . . So if the interpretation or opinion
of any theologian, Kirk or council is contrary to the plain Word
of God written in any other passage of the Scripture, it is most
certain that this is not the true understanding and meaning of
the Holy Ghost. . . . We dare not receive or admit any interpretation
which is contrary to any principal point of our faith, or to any
other plain text of Scripture, or to the rule of love.
SECOND HELVETIC CONFESSION, Ch.
II:
5.010: But we hold that interpretation of the Scripture to be
orthodox and genuine which is gleaned from the Scriptures themselves
(from the nature of the language in which they were written, likewise
according to the circumstances in which they were set down, and
expounded in the light of like and unlike passages and of many
and clearer passages) and which agrees with the rule of faith
and life, and contributes much to the glory of God and man's salvation.
5.011. Wherefore we do not despise the interpretations of the holy Greek and Latin fathers, nor reject their disputations and treatises concerning sacred matters as far as they agree with the Scriptures; but we modestly dissent from them when they are found to set down things differing from, or altogether contrary to, the Scriptures. Neither do we think that we do them any wrong in this matter; seeing that they all, with one consent, will not have their writings equated with the canonical Scriptures, but command us to prove how far they agree or disagree with them, and to accept what is in agreement and to reject what is in disagreement.
WESTMINSTER CONFESSION, Ch. I, paragraphs 4,6,7, 9, and
10:
6.004. The authority of the Holy Scripture, for which it ought
to be believed and obeyed, dependeth not upon the testimony of
any man or church, but wholly upon God (who is truth itself),
the author thereof; and therefore it is to be received, because
it is the Word of God.
6.006. The whole counsel of God, concerning all things necessary
for his own glory, man's salvation, faith, and life, is either
expressly set down in Scripture, or by good and necessary consequence
may be deduced from Scripture: unto which nothing at any time
is to be added, whether by new revelations of the Spirit, or traditions
of men. Nevertheless we acknowledge the inward illumination of
the Spirit of God to be necessary for the saving understanding
of such things as are revealed in the Word; and that there are
some circumstances concerning the worship of God, and government
of the Church, common to human actions and societies, which are
to be ordered by the light of nature and Christian prudence, according
to the general rules of the Word, which are always to be observed.
6.007. All things in Scripture are not alike plain in themselves,
nor alike clear unto all; yet those things which are necessary
to be known, believed, and observed, for salvation, are so clearly
propounded and opened in some place of Scripture or other, that
not only the learned, but the unlearned, in a due use of the ordinary
means, may attain unto a sufficient understanding of them.
6.009. The infallible rule of interpretation of Scripture is the
Scripture itself; and therefore, when there is a question about
the true and full sense of any scripture (which is not manifold,
but one), it may be searched and known by other places that speak
more clearly.
6.010. The Supreme Judge, by which all controversies of religion
are to be determined, and all decrees of councils, opinions of
ancient writers, doctrines of men, and private spirits, are to
be examined, and in whose sentence we are to rest, can be no other
but the Holy Spirit speaking in the Scripture.
SHORTER CATECHISM, 7.090:
Q. 90: How is the Word to be read and heard, that it may become
effectual to salvation?
A: That the Word may become effectual to salvation, we must attend
thereunto with diligence, preparation, and prayer; receive it
with faith and love; lay it up in our hearts; and practice it
in our lives.
DECLARATION OF BARMEN, 8.11:
Jesus Christ as he is attested for us in Holy Scripture is the
one Word of God we have to hear and which we have to trust and
obey in life and in death.