(Excerpts from Francis Turretin)
Question:
Must
all doctrines of faith and practice be proved only by the express
(exactly
stated) words of Scripture? Or may they also be rightly proved by
necessary
conclusions
drawn
from Scripture?
Answer
(with Turretin):
We
affirm the latter.
Francis Turretin teaches that the truth of Christian doctrine does not depend only on verses that state things plainly in exact words. Doctrines may also be truly and lawfully proved by clear and necessary consequences drawn from Scripture.
Scripture teaches truth in two ways:
Directly, by clear statements.
Indirectly, by truths that follow necessarily from what Scripture teaches.
If a doctrine is a certain and unavoidable conclusion from the teaching of Scripture, then it has the same authority as if it were stated word for word.
Many important Christian doctrines are not written in one single verse using exact terms. For example:
The word Trinity is not found in Scripture, yet the doctrine is clearly taught when Scripture is rightly compared with Scripture.
The full doctrine of Christ’s two natures is known by carefully joining many biblical truths together.
If we rejected all conclusions drawn from Scripture, we would be forced to deny many core Christian teachings.
Turretin is careful to say:
Not every human inference is valid.
Only conclusions that necessarily follow from Scripture are binding.
These conclusions must be drawn by sound reasoning and faithful interpretation, not imagination or speculation.
God’s Word is sufficient and authoritative not only in what it says plainly, but also in what it clearly implies. Therefore, doctrines of faith and practice may be rightly proved both by the express words of Scripture and by necessary consequences drawn from Scripture.
This preserves the authority of Scripture while allowing the church to confess the whole truth that Scripture teaches.