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"Saintly" hermeneutics

"The Saints are the true interpreters of Holy Scripture. The meaning of a given passage of the Bible becomes most intelligible in those human beings who have been totally transfixed by it and have lived it out. Interpretation of Scripture can never be a purely academic affair, and it cannot be relegated to the purely historical." ~ Pope Benedict XVI

Posted on Tuesday, November 18, 2008 by Registered Commenterfr'nklin | Comments3 Comments

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Reader Comments (3)

Of course, I suspect he means something different by "saints" that the Reformers would, but this is in line with what one of my seminary professors would always say: "I'd trust the interpretation of an 80-year-old, godly, praying, sanctified woman over a trained biblical scholar any day." OK, that's a loose paraphrase, but you get the idea.
November 18, 2008 | Unregistered CommenterFergus
Which is EXACTLY what I was thinking as I wrote the quote. I remember an elderly lady in my church who embodied humility and was thus a better interpreter of Philippians 2 than some of my NT profs at Duke who could dissect the passage but didn't seem to be able to find Christ.
November 18, 2008 | Unregistered Commenterfranklin
It's true in all of life: An ivory tower interpretation is always going to fall short of how things are in real life. We need to study Scripture in order to know Christ, not just know about him. Too many churches simply give information about God or use Scripture to back up what they are against.
November 18, 2008 | Unregistered CommenterFred

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