📖 Biblical Definition
Analogia Scripturae ("analogy of Scripture") is the Reformation principle that Scripture is its own best interpreter — clearer passages illuminate obscure ones; the whole Bible interprets each part. Closely related to analogia fidei ("analogy of faith") — the rule that no interpretation of any passage may contradict the settled, clear doctrine of Scripture as a whole. Both principles flow from the doctrine of Scripture’s unity (one Author, one mind, one consistent message) and Scripture’s perspicuity (the central things are clear). The Westminster Confession 1.9: "the infallible rule of interpretation of Scripture is the Scripture itself: and therefore, when there is a question about the true and full sense of any Scripture... it must be searched and known by other places that speak more clearly."
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
(Latin: analogy of Scripture.) Reformation principle that Scripture interprets Scripture.
expand to see more
Reformation rejection of magisterial interpretive authority paired with affirmation of Scripture's self-interpretation. Luther: Scripture is its own interpreter; Calvin extended; the Reformed confessions codified.
Operates at multiple levels: parallel passages clarify (e.g., Synoptic accounts of the same event); cross-references connect themes; doctrinally-clear passages illuminate doctrinally-obscure ones.
📖 Key Scripture
2 Peter 1:20 — "No prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation."
1 Corinthians 2:13 — "Comparing spiritual things with spiritual."
Acts 17:11 — "Searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so."
Luke 24:27 — "Beginning at Moses and all the prophets."
⚠️ Modern Corruption
Modern proof-texting often violates the principle by isolating verses from their context and from the rest of Scripture; analogia scripturae is the discipline of reading each passage in conversation with the whole canon.
expand to see more
1 Corinthians 2:13's comparing spiritual things with spiritual is one possible biblical warrant. The saint reads each passage in light of others; the texts speak to each other; the whole illuminates the parts.
The household's practical application: cross-references in study Bibles are not decorative; they are the canonical conversation made visible. Following them is part of how Scripture interprets Scripture.
🔗 Greek & Hebrew Roots
Latin analogia scripturae.
expand to see more
Latin analogia — proportion, agreement.
Latin scriptura — writing, Scripture.
Usage
"Scripture is its own interpreter."
"Cross-references are the canonical conversation made visible."
"Each passage in conversation with the whole canon."