This article explains four attributes of Scripture: the indispensability of Scripture, clarity of Scripture, sufficiency of Scripture and authority of Scripture.

When the Reformers observed the clarity of scripture, they had in mind that Scripture is clear when it is preached, and that the believer must read it in its simplicity. The perspicuity of scripture gives the freedom to believers to read the Bible, and the foundation for the church to formulate doctrines.

This essay evaluates how the claims for the clarity of Scripture have been presented in Protestant hermeneutics. The author is interested in the various characterizations of perspicuity by Protestants and the means employed in its defence, and the value of an affirmation of claritas Scripturae.