Even The Demons Part 2

       Discovering new ideas in the Scriptures always excites a reader. The Christian occasionally receives an epiphany and sees texts as if he has never read them before.[1] However, such readings can also be dangerous, leading one into an erroneous interpretation. Sometimes one “never saw it before” because it was never there before.
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        To prevent dangerously novel readings, one must apply a hermeneutical rule called the analogia Scripturae, or the analogy of Scripture. This simply means that Scripture interprets Scripture. Scripture is not self-contradictory. Thus, when the reader encounters two texts that appear contradictory, rather than affirming a contradiction, one text becomes a lens through which to see the other.[2] Which lens ought one to choose? The church has articulated the principle that the clear text interprets the unclear one.[3] As the Second London Confession says, “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 are not many, but one), it must be searched by other places that speak more clearly.”[4] For example, differing conclusions on limited/particular atonement depend on how one weighs certain texts. For the Calvinist, “I lay down my life for my sheep” (John 10:15) provides a clear text that becomes a hermeneutical grid when reading, “. . . who gave himself as a ransom for all. . .” (1 Tim 2:6). The Calvinist knows he needs to explain “all” differently because he does not see a way to explain John 10:15 any differently than as referring to a particular atonement.

Even the Demons (Part 2) — Baptist Dogmatics