A Word above every Word

I was in a class with Dr. John Goldingay at Fuller Seminary when he said, "Scripture is a word above every word written or spoken."

These words resonated with my thought rather than the dubious concepts of inerrancy and infallibility. The canonical writings provide us with a treasure of language, culture, history, and revelation that is to be valued above any other resource that might enlighten our way. Those who value scripture engage in rigorous study of the entire corpus from Genesis to Revelation.

Of course, scripture is only as good as the person reading it; we bring our self to the text. A pure heart and a studious mind are essential for interpreting scripture. This being said, there is value in learning comparative literature, biblical languages, philosophy of language, history, anthropology, psychology, literary design etc. However, within the text of the book we call the Bible, the skilled interpreter can learn more about God and humanity than from any other resource.