Synod: Ambivalence about modern Bible scholarship continues to swirl
By JOHN L. ALLEN JR.
Rome
Ambivalence about modern Biblical scholarship, which uses the same historical and literary tools to study scripture that one might apply to any other ancient text, continues to course through the Oct. 5-26 Synod of Bishops, devoted to ?The Word of God in the Life and Mission of the Church.?
On the one hand, speakers have praised the contributions of Biblical scholars and called their work ?essential? for a proper understanding of scripture. Yet several have also warned about a gap between exegetes and the rest of the church, especially the bishops, and the need for scientific study to be understood as no more than an appetizer, so to speak, before the main course of deep spiritual meditation.