John Calvin's view of Scripture
John Calvin believed that Scripture is necessary for human understanding of God's revelation, that it is the equivalent of direct revelation, and that it is both "majestic" and "simple." Calvin's general, explicit exposition of his view of Scripture is found mainly in his Institutes of the Christian Religion.
Necessity
Calvin viewed Scripture as necessary in two ways. First, he held that general revelation cannot in itself give humanity a saving knowledge of God. Although he can be known in some ways through creation he has "added the light of his Word in order that he might make himself known unto salvation." Calvin compares Scripture to being like a pair of spectacles, that enable us to properly interpret what we see in creation:
Second, Calvin held that inscripturation is necessary to avoid the errors inherent in oral transmission:
Authority
Calvin viewed Scripture as being equivalent to an utterance of God given from heaven:
According to Calvin, Word and Spirit must always go together. Scripture gives us a saving knowledge of God, but only when its certainty is "founded on the inward persuasion of the Holy Spirit." It is "foolish to attempt to prove to infidels that the Scripture is the Word of God," since this can only be known by faith. Nevertheless, he did see a place for evidences of Scripture's authority, as long it is recognised that they are secondary:
The "chief and highest proof" being, of course, the testimony of the Holy Spirit, though Calvin does not say that the inward testimony of the Holy Spirit is the source of this authority. John Murray has suggested that the distinction between the authority intrinsic to Scripture, and our persuasion that it is authoritative is not "as clearly formulated in Calvin as we might desire."
Character
Calvin viewed Scripture as being both majestic and simple. According to Ford Lewis Battles, Calvin had discovered that "sublimity of style and sublimity of thought were not coterminous."
Majesty
Calvin believed that Scripture possesses "a divine majesty which will subdue our presumptuous opposition, and force us to do it homage." It speaks with a unified voice, and its parts make up a perfect harmony:
Simplicity
Scripture, according to Calvin, also has an "unpolished simplicity". It is not particularly eloquent, for that would detract from its message:
