Searching the Scriptures - Samuel Pipim

3. Scripture, Its Own Interpreter. In upholding the sole authority of Scripture, weacknowledge that it is both sufficient (i.e., it contains all that the church needs to knowfor guidance in the way of salvation and for the work of ministry) and clear (i.e., it can beunderstood from within itself, by comparing one passage of Scripture with another) (2Tim 3:16-17). This means that Scripture does not need to be supplemented by anyexternal source (e.g., human reason, experience, or tradition). Neither is it to beinterpreted in the light of some outside sources (e.g., ecclesiastical tradition, philosophy,science, extrabiblical religion, psychology, etc.), as though the authority of these sourceswere equal to or above that of Scripture. Rather, the sufficiency and clarity of Scriptureaffirm the Prtestant Reformation principle that Scripture must remain its own interpreter.Ellen White repeatedly emphasized, "Make the Bible its own expositor, bringing togetherall that is said concerning a given subject at different times and under variedcircumstances" ( Child Guidance , p. 511). "I saw that the Word of God, as a whole, is aperfect chain, one portion linking into and explaining another" ( Early Writings , p. 221).We must submit to "the Bible as the word of God, the only sufficient, infallible rule,"which "must be its own interpreter" ( The Great Controversy , p. 173). "Scriptureinterprets scripture, one passage being the key to other passages" ( Evangelism , p. 581)."The Bible is its own expositor. Scripture is to be compared with Scripture" ( Education ,p. 190). Whatever information is needed to understand a given passage of the Bible canbe found in the pages of Scripture itself.This historic principle that Scripture is its own interpreter discredits the popular beliefthat every person or theologian is his own interpreter. If, instead of Scripture, everyperson is his own interpreter, a lack of consensus among theologians on issues such aswomen's ordination can easily be misinterpreted as a lack of agreement among theinspired writers themselves, as though the authority of theologians were on a level withthe authority of the inspired Bible writers. On the other hand, upholding the principle thatScripture interprets itself suggests that when there is a lack of consensus among Biblestudents, they must prayerfully continue in their searching the Scriptures until God shedsfurther light on the issue.Both the sufficiency and clarity of Scripture imply that the Spirit, as the infallibleinterpreter, can enable every sincere seeker of truth to know God's will (John 7:17). Thisdoes not mean that no difficulties will be found in the Bible, but only that because theHoly Spirit attends the Word, the substance of the Bible's message can be understood byevery Christian--scholar and non-scholar--as Scripture is compared with Scripture.Page 39Harmonious Method of InterpretationScripture should not be viewed merely as a library of books written by different writersand dealing with many unrelated subjects. On the contrary, inspired Scripture is a singlebook with a single author--God (2 Tim 3:16; 2 Pet 1:21)--and a single theme (God's planof salvation through Christ [John 5:39; Luke 24:25-27]). Because of the Holy Spirit's