Necessary  to  be  known  for  salvation. — Perspicuity  is  affirmed
absolutely  in  regard  to  those  truths  that  constitute  the  Rule  of  Faith
— the  leading  doctrines  of  the  Gospel.  The  knowledge  of  these  being
indispensable  to  all  classes  of  men,  each  is  found  expressed  in  some
particular  part  of  Scripture  with  unmistakable  clearness.  The
Romish  Church  maintains  that  Scripture  is  not  in  itself  intelligible
to  the  people  in  matters  of  faith,  and  insists  that  only  the  church
tradition  can  give  the  true  interpretation.  What  Rome  thus  affirms
of  the  church  and  her  tradition.  Protestantism  attributes  to  the
individual  reader  of  the  Word  who  uses  the  ordained  means.
The  ordinary  means. — What  these  means  are  depends  on  our  idea
of  the  understanding  of  Scripture, — whether  we  regard  it  as  a  merely
literal  or  as  a  spiritual  understanding.  To  understand  the  letter  of
Scripture  we  must  know  the  language  in  which  we  read  it,  our  natural
powers  must  have  reached  some  degree  of  maturity,  and  our  minds
must  be  unbiassed  by  prejudices  and  erroneous  views.  To  under-
stand the  spirit  of  Scripture,  and  so  to  receive  spiritual  profit  from  our
reading,  we  must  have  spiritual  discernment  through  the  indwelling
of  the  Spirit,  and  even  by  the  spiritual  man  prayer  must  be  used  as  a
means  to  secure  enlightenment.
