The great William Tyndale gave us most of our English Bible. He is credited with a quote about desiring to make the Bible such that the common plowboy could understand it. The quote (as many such) may be a bit off. Wikipedia reports it this way: “John Foxe describes an argument with a ‘learned’ but ‘blasphemous’ clergyman, who had asserted to Tyndale that, ‘We had better be without God’s laws than the Pope’s.’ Tyndale responded: ‘I defy the Pope, and all his laws; and if God spares my life, ere many years, I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know more of the Scriptures than thou dost!’”
Regardless of the accuracy of the quote and Tyndale’s intended meaning, there is a common perception among Christians that they should be safe in personal Bible study by means of their reliance on the Holy Spirit to guide their understanding. To some extent, this is true. The simplest Christian, reading his Bible with the eyes of faith, guided by the indwelling Spirit is often able to discern more truth than learned scholars who study the Bible without faith or the Holy Spirit.
In spite of this, the individual who relies only on his own faith in Christ, God, the Spirit and the Bible will inevitably fall into misunderstanding and error if he pursues truth thus entirely on his own. There are several reasons for this.
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