The same kind of thing can happen with the biblical proverbs. It can even happen with some of the wisdom sayings of Jesus. Jesus says, “He who is not with Me is against Me” (Mt 12:30). But Jesus also said, “He who is not against you is for you” (Lk 9:50). How can both be true? We all know that in some circumstances silence means consent, and in

We need not regret that the books of many fathers and councils have, by God’s grace, disappeared. If they had all remained in existence, no room would be left for anything but books; and yet all of them together would not have improved on what one finds in the Holy Scriptures.

Luther was aware of the dangers of such a move but was convinced of the clarity of Scripture. Though the dangers of distortion were great, he thought that the benefit of exposing multitudes to the basically clear message of the gospel apart from the pope, church councils and church fathers would bring far more to ultimate salvation than to ultimate

The Bible as Revelation

At all costs I should want to keep them from using their minds in a disciplined way to get the measure of its message.

That the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work (v. 17).

objective understanding of Scripture,

Subjectivism and subjectivity are not the same things. To say that truth has a subjective element is one thing; to say that it is utterly subjective is quite another.

sensus literalis.