Illumination of the Scripture
The illumination
of Scripture is a theological phrase that is used to describe how the Holy
Spirit helps someone reading the Bible.
This theological usage of the terminology is not always common to the
average Christian in the pew. Clark H.
Pinnock says theological works usually mention the phrase but do not give an
extensive development of the theology.[1] This paper will attempt to develop the
concepts of the doctrine by discussing various views of the illumination of
Scripture, followed by exegesis of a key Scripture passage, 1 Cor 2:14. Then three specific theologians' views on
illumination will be examined: Augustine of Hippo, John Calvin and John Owen. The position taken in this paper is that the
illumination of Scripture is the Holy Spirit empowering the church to embrace
and apply the Bible.
Communication
theory says that there are four parts to communication: the sender, the
receiver, the message and the medium. There are relationships between each of the
four part. The doctrine of inspiration
says that God (sender) revealed the gospel (message) to the prophets and
apostles who wrote it down in the Bible (medium). Illumination can be understood by some to be
a second sending of the message of Scripture via the Holy Spirit as esoteric
knowledge.[2] The view that the Holy Spirit is sending
special knowledge regarding the Bible is sometimes called noetic illumination. The noetic view of illumination says that the
meaning of Scripture is understood by those who have been regenerated. Richard Muller says that the Brandenburg
Confessions take the view that Scripture cannot be understood without the help
of the Holy Spirit.[3] Martin Luther's view of illumination is that
his opponents could not understand Scripture due to the effects of sin. While he affirmed the clarity of Scripture,
he also asserted that sin in mankind made the message of Scripture unclear.[4] If the Holy Spirit is bringing knowledge, how
is this different than the doctrine of inspiration? The idea that the Holy Spirit is helping the
Christian to understand the text can imply that knowledge contained in
Scripture is incomplete but becomes complete by noetic illumination. Inspiration is a finished work in the
classical Protestant view which holds that the Canon of Scripture is closed and
complete.[5] If noetic illumination means new information
is available, then there is at least a small sense of continued revelation because
God would be sending his message via the direct action of the Holy Spirit. Rather than saying that illumination is new
knowledge imparted, it is better to understand that illumination is God's work
in the receiver of the divine message.
One reason
that the noetic view of illumination is assumed is that modern ideas of
knowledge are founded on the thoughts of empiricists such as Immanuel Kant. The
thought undergirded by the ideas of Kant would propose that factual information
is certain. Factual information is
knowing. Value judgments that come from
the heart are opinions and affections.
According to Charles MacKenzie, the valuing of head over heart as
advocated by Kant has produced a challenge to true biblical theology since the
Bible sees knowledge as wisdom. True
knowledge biblically is integration of heart and head to produce wisdom.[6] Applied knowledge embraced by the heart is
wisdom. Walking on the path of wisdom is
knowing. While modernity would push one
to know by knowing factually, pragmatism would at least recognize a difference
between factual knowledge and experiential knowledge. There is a difference between knowing the
rules, teams and players in baseball and being one of the players of the game
who has experiential knowledge. The
applied knowledge of a baseball player is qualitatively different from the knowledge
of a spectator. The one who biblically walks
the path of wisdom has a qualitatively different type of knowledge from the one
who reads the Bible to derive factual data.
Some would
advocate that making the interpretation of the Scripture Christocentric will
keep it from being just a factual interpretation of the text. Michael Horton advocates that illumination is
being united to Christ himself, the central message of the Scripture.[7]
This means that illumination is
experiential knowledge rather than in the area of facts. It is true that we are united to Christ by
faith, but it is not entirely clear how our union with Christ affects our understanding
of Scripture. The Holy Spirit indwelling
the believer is union with Christ. (Rom 8:9-11) It is not clear that union with
Christ brings any specific knowledge of the Bible. Luther has a similar view that the
illumination of the Holy Spirit means one will view the text Christocentriclly. The Christocentric view of the text is the
true spiritual meaning of the text.[8] Certainly the Christian must use the
hermeneutic of seeing all of Scripture as pointing to Christ, it is not clear
how this would be illumination and not simply a solid tool of hermeneutics.
A better
view of illumination is that the Holy Spirit acts upon the receivers of
Scripture to embrace and apply the message to their context. This maintains that the Scripture is complete
and clear but that those who receive the message are empowered by the Holy
Spirit to apply it to their lives. There
is no need for continuance of revelation nor a need for an open Canon of
Scripture. Also as Thomas A. Thomas
mentions, there is no need to count the non-Christian as somehow intellectually
deficient or that the Christians are somehow intellectually superior.[9]
This clarifies inspiration as addressing issues of the sender, message and
medium and delimits illumination as addressing the receiver.
If the Holy
Spirit is guiding the Christian to embrace and apply Scripture, what is the
means of doing that? Certainly some
could still seek a mystical knowledge that is devoid of true connection with
the content of the Bible. James M. Boice
points out that illumination takes place in the midst of diligent study.[10]
The word illumination may imply to some not only heightened understanding but
also heightened emotional state, but embracing of a biblical truth may bring
sorrow as well as joy. Douglas Kennard
also points out that the meaning of the Scriptures may be discerned by applying
sound hermeneutical tools but the profundity of the text is known through
illumination. Some of those
hermeneutical tools are knowledge of grammar, language vocabulary, language
usage, historical contexts, archeological data,
literary genre, and semantic analysis.
This included viewing all Scripture from a Christocentric point of
view. Saint and sinner alike have the
intellectual tools available to them for discerning the meaning of the words at
least in a factual sense.[11] William W. Klein, Craig L. Blomberg, and
Robert L. Hubbard, Jr. point out that we do not use a secret or hidden language
to understand the meaning of Scripture. While
people use codes and many ways to obscure communications, the language of
Scripture is publically available for everyone.
Therefore the meaning of Scripture is public also.[12] Muller points out that King Agrippa
understood the facts of Paul's message without embracing them.[13]
(Acts 26:1-32) He accurately understood
the Gospel message. Pinnock describes
this process of accurately understanding the meaning of the text as the first
horizon in interpretation. The first
horizon of interpretation is concerned with discerning how the text of
Scripture was meant to be understood by the original receiver by the original
sender. The first horizon is discerned
through the hermeneutical tools and is corrected by scholarly dialog on the
text. The second horizon of
interpretation of the Scripture involves applying the text to the present
context of those interpreting the text, but the Spirit leads the church in
embracing and applying the Scripture.[14]
This second horizon of interpretation is the Holy Spirit's work in illuminating
the Scripture. Agrippa lacked this
second horizon of embracing and applying the gospel message to himself.
Our
post-modern context assumes that we have a printed copy of the Bible in our
homes to read. The printing press moved the Scriptures from a
community owned book read and exposited from the pulpit to each individual dedicated
Christian reading it at home as a part of a devotional life. Community dialog is a part of the process for
both first horizon engagement of the text and second horizon living out the
text. However, the Reformers originally
taught the doctrine of illumination as a response to Roman Catholic teaching
that only the church can rightly interpret the Scripture. Horton says that John Calvin thought that the
authority of the text rested on God alone and not on the Roman Catholic church. Calvin taught that the common Christian could
understand the Scripture, but also that the Holy Spirit brings
understanding. Calvin's position was
meant to solidify the teaching of sola
scriptura. Horton sees that Liberal
Protestantism has returned to errors of the Roman Catholic church by saying
that the authority of Scripture rests in the community.[15] This return to the error of misplaced
recognition of authority for Liberal Protestantism is based on a deficient view
of the inspiration of Scripture. Liberal
scholar Schleiermacher, Neo-Orthodox scholar Karl Barth, and Roman Catholic
theologians collapse the categories of inspiration and illumination.[16] Community consensus or lack thereof does not
constitute the illuminating work of the Spirit, but illumination works in
community as well as in individuals.
Illumination of Scripture takes place during theological dialog. (Acts 15:1-21) Illumination also takes place
during authoritative declaration of the Word of God as preaching. (Acts
2:14-40) Though modern predisposition of
individualism may lead the heirs of the enlightenment to regard illumination as
being received by the individual, Scripture shows a corporate embracing and
applying of the Bible also. Kevin Vanhoozer
says that the church is the best place to hear the Word because it is the place
that the Spirit cultivates righteousness and a willingness to hear the Word.[17]
Illumination
as the Holy Spirit empowering the believer to embrace and apply is coherent, but
does it fit with key Scripture passages?
A key passage for discussing illumination is 1 Cor 2:14.[18]
Time does not permit a full examination
of all passages, but 1 Cor 2:14 is
certainly one of the most important to understand illumination.
The natural person does not accept the things of the
Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them
because they are spiritually discerned. (1Co 2:14 ESV)
This is among the key passages used on illumination of
Scripture but the passage actually does not discuss how one reads the Bible but
rather how those who are mature receive the teaching of Paul. This is not a
disconnect with the Bible since Paul's teaching is Biblical in its
content. Richard Gaffin notes that the
message of Paul is imparting the wisdom of God as opposed to the wisdom of the
world. Gaffin proposes that the wisdom
of God is not cognitive "though a body of doctrinal knowledge is certainly
integral to that wisdom." Gaffin
says the difference between the wisdom of God and the world's wisdom is eschatological. It is not that the rulers of this world are
not able to comprehend the words, but rather the worldview that accounts for
the eschatological triumph of Christ on the Cross lays a different foundation
that is not earthly.[19] Gaffin specifically says that 1 Cor 2:14
points us to the fact that the natural man has no aptitude for spiritual
things.[20] David K. Lowery refines this point by saying
it is not the intellectual abilities to receive the message that prevents the
natural man from accepting, but the lack of the Spirit.[21] The first verb in the verse is accept (δέχεται) which BDAG says
means "to indicate approval or conviction by accepting, be receptive of,
be open to, approve, accept, of things."[22] This points the reader to see that the
acceptance of the truth is key, not the cognitive understanding of the
words. Adam Clarke says that the reason
for the natural man not accepting the gospel message is that he is living for
this world.[23]
The phrase that says "they are folly" supports the idea that there is
a rubric through which the gospel is evaluated by the world. Robert H. Stein points out that God counts
the world's wisdom also as folly. (1 Cor
3:19) God understands the meaning of the world's wisdom but evaluates it as
folly.[24]
While the word understand (γνῶναι) is used, BDAG
says this is "to grasp the significance or meaning of something,
understand, comprehend," when in the context of 1 Cor 2:14.[25] This is further clarified as experiential
knowledge by the phrase, "they are spiritually discerned." A cursory exegesis of 1 Cor 2:14 supports the
idea that illumination should be best understood as the help of the Holy Spirit
to embrace and apply Scripture.
Three theologians who have discussed
illumination are Augustine of Hippo, John Calvin, and John Owen. Each of these have had an influence on how
the church understood and understands the doctrine of illumination.
The 4th century pastor of North Africa, Augustine, is said to be the first one to
write an autobiography as we would expect in modern
times. Erickson summarizes Augustine's
view of knowledge that it has
its source in the object known,
the knower and the ideal
of the thing known. God brings to the
knower the knowledge of the ideal of the thing known. Erickson points
out that there are two problems with Augustine's view. 1.)
All human beings are sinful. 2.)
The Bible teaches that there are special operations of the Holy
Spirit. Augustine does not account for
the fact that knowledge comes any differently for the believer
than for the non-believer.[26] In Augustine's
book Confessions
he records in detail his own intellectual and personal struggles during his
education and conversion to Christianity. Often Confessions appears to be written to God, who is imminent in the human growth and
development process.[27] Augustine's view of human growth
and development lines up with words of Proverbs: "For the LORD gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge
and understanding; " (Pro
2:6 ESV) Augustine's ideas probably fit better with views of common grace in normal human
growth and development. This growth and
development has its source in God as common grace but does not fit with sufficient clarity
in the doctrine of illumination.
John
Calvin was a 16th century
pastor who wrote extensively commentaries, sermons and a theological treatise. Erickson explains
John Calvin's view that the total depravity of man affects his mind. The Holy Spirit's illumination is necessary
in order to understand the Scripture. Calvin uses the analogy that the "spectacles of
faith" allow one to more clearly see the truth of the Scripture.
This gift of faith
is not a onetime event, but God
continues to work with the believer in sanctification to continue to grow in
knowledge.[28] It is not clear that Erickson has
done justice to Calvin's doctrine of illumination of
Scripture though his summary does accurately describe illumination in terms of Calvin's soteriology. In Calvin's Institutes he explains that one's trust in Scripture is not based on
the testimony of the church or men, but the testimony of the Holy Spirit. He says that if one's trust is based upon
what the church says then the foundation of Scripture is the church. Calvin takes that when Eph 2:20 say that the
church is built upon the foundation of the prophets and apostles, that foundation is the Scriptures that they wrote. Since according to
Calvin's interpretation of Eph 2:20 shows Scripture is the
foundation of the church then it can be the other way
around. For Calvin, there must be another source for one's embracing and
believing of Scripture. Calvin points to
the Holy Spirit as testifying of the truth of Scripture.[29] While Calvin
certainly has soteriology based upon the depravity of
man who cannot receive the gospel, his doctrine of the illumination of
Scripture is better viewed as in line with the idea that the Holy Spirit empowers one to embrace and apply
the Bible.
John Owen
was a 17th century theologian and academic.
In his work on the Holy Spirit he proposes that there are those who are
illuminated by the Holy Spirit to understand the gospel message however they
are not regenerated. Owen appeals to
Hebrews 6: 4-6 as his evidence.
For it is impossible, in the case of those who have
once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in
the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers
of the age to come, and then have fallen away, to restore them again to
repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own
harm and holding him up to contempt. (Heb 6:4-6 ESV)
Owen also points to the parable of
the seed and the sower where Jesus explains there is a type of person who
receives the Word of God with joy and yet when persecution comes he abandons
the faith. (Mt 13:21) The unregenerate
person clearly hears the gospel message but remains in his sin.[30] The passages that Owen interprets are correct
as they apply to those who appear to make a profession of faith but lack the
transformation of the heart. These individuals
are not regenerated, though they have heard the outward call of the gospel and
have understood it. Hebrew 6:4 even uses
the word "enlightened" which Owen associates with illumination. This points to the idea that the outward call
of the gospel is not merely human words.
This challenge to the thesis that illumination is the Holy Spirit
empowering the believer to embrace and apply Scripture actually shows the range
of spiritual experience of both those who are regenerated and those who are
not. This is in agreement with Horton's
position that illuminations are both inward and outward.[31] The inward illumination is the Holy Spirit empowering
one to embrace and apply Scripture but the outward illumination is the Holy
Spirit bringing a clear call of the gospel to one who is unregenerate and
sometimes also unresponsive. The
unbeliever may experience the outward illumination but not the inward
illumination.
Understanding more fully the
doctrine of illumination of Scripture may help the church focus not only on the
first horizon (engagement with the text) but also the second horizon (living
out the text in modern context).
Illumination is God's work on the receiver of the message in the communication. Evangelicals have at times been cautious that
teaching about illumination may encourage esoteric interpretations, but the
Holy Spirit does His work of illumination through normal means. Pastors who preach the Bible must not only
declare correct doctrine but also show how the particular congregation in their
particular context should carryout living according to the Word. A fuller understanding of illumination can
help the church to more fully embrace and apply the Word.
[6]
Charles MacKenzie, Lecture "The Old Liberalisms" Special Seminar on
Karl Barth at Reformed Theological Seminary on iTunesU, Cited 6 December
2013. Charles MacKenzie, Lecture
"The Trinity and Scripture" Special Seminar on Karl Barth at Reformed
Theological Seminary on iTunesU, Cited 6 December 2013.
[8]
Kevin Vanhoozer, Is There a Meaning in
This Text? (Grand Rapids: Zondervan: 1998) Kindle edition with no page
numbers.
[9]
Thomas A. Thomas, The Doctrine of The
Word of God (Phillipsburg, NJ: Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Co.,
1972) 1.
[10]
James M. Boice, Foundations of the
Christian Faith (Downers Grove, IL: Inter-Varsity: 1986) 96.
[11]
Douglas Welker Kennard, "Evangelical Views On Illumination Of Scripture
And Critique." Journal Of The Evangelical Theological Society 49.4 (2006):
797-806. ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials. Web. 14 Oct. 2013.
[12]
William W. Klein, Craig L. Blomberg, and Robert L. Hubbard, Jr., Introduction to Biblical Interpretation
(Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2004) 4.
[18]
Kennard, "Evangelical Views,"
799. Kennard cites John 14:26; 16:12-15;
1 Cor 2:6-16; and 1 John 2:27 as key passages.
The two passages from the Gospel of John he says only applies to the
Apostles.
[19]
Gaffin, Richard B. "Some Epistemological Reflections On 1 Cor
2:6-16." WTJ 57.1 (1995): 109-111.
[21]
David K. Lowery, "1 Corinthians" The
Bible Knowledge Commentary (ed. John F. Walvoord & Roy B. Zuck; 2vols.;
Cook: Colorado Springs, CO, 1983) 2:510.
[29] John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion (Trans. Henry Beveridge;
Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 2008) 30-34.
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