Quotes about Exegesis

That we affix no sense unto any obscure or difficult passage of Scripture but what is materially true and consonant unto other express and plain testimonies.

Biblical exegesis without controls is apt to run away into total subjectivity.

Because I am committed to the truth of Scripture, I must try to understand what Scripture says, even if it transcends my own experience.

In this sense, the methodological form that comes into play here is ultimately quite simple: Scripture is interpreted by Scripture. Scripture interprets itself. Attentive listening to Scripture's own internal self-interpretation is very characteristic of Redemptoris Mater.

The Church and her exegesis of revelation progress through the ever-changing periods of world history. New aspects emerge, while others wane; efforts are made to compensate for one-sided emphases, but not rarely they are simply replaced with the opposite extremes. Today too, then, it is a duty to restate the principles in a new and timely way—while being as measured as possible—and in so doing to retrieve what is of permanent value.

As One and Unique, and yet as one who is to be understood only in the context of mankind's entire history and in the context of the whole created cosmos, Jesus it the Word, the Image, the Expression and the Exegesis of God.

We also give up on the quest for truth when we marshal all forces—in exegesis and history as well as in philosophical, moral, and practical theology—to "discover" and corroborate predetermined dogmatic stances.

Tobacco, banjo playing, and dominoes do not figure in the Decalogue as recorded in the Book of Exodus. But particularly in nineteenth- and twentieth-century America, Christians have been adept, and remarkably inventive, at interpreting God's commandments to cover just about anything they don't approve of. The effect, of course, is to make the surpassingly large God of the scriptures into a petty Cosmic Patrolman.

One of the most important principles of handling the Word properly and studying the Bible inductively is to interpret Scripture in the light of its context. Why? Because context always rules in interpretation.

Aion" may mean "age" in the New Testament and it may mean "world.

Dear friends, whenever you want to understand a text of Scripture, try to read the original

He died in 1952, and his last words were, "The Scriptures explain themselves.