Since the late patristic period with its regula fidei (“rule of faith”), the church has wrestled with the “perspicuity (Webster: “plainness” or “clarity”) of Scripture,” that is, whether or not it is actually open or plain to one’s understanding. It is not without reason that the biblical scholar is often charged with removing the Scriptures from the average person. After a text has been dissected and subjected to the myriad theories of academia, the layperson