IS SCRIPTURE CLEAR?
IF IT IS, WHY DO PORTIONS OF IT SEEM SO OBSCURE?
IF IT ISN'T, WHY HAVE THEOLOGIANS SPENT SO MUCH TIME
DEFENDING THE NOTION OF ITS CLARITY? AND MORE IMPORTANT, ARE
CHRISTIANS ENGAGED IN A FUTILE EFFORT IN TRYING TO READ AND
UNDERSTAND IT?
JAMES CALLAHAN OFFERS VALUABLE INSIGHT INTO THE COMPLEX NOTION
of biblical perspicuity. He sets the issues within the history of the church and traces how the Bible's clarity has been understood practically and theologically over time. With precision and care he clarifies the role of historical context, authorial intent and reader response in a constructive articulation of how we come to understand Scripture's meaning. Contemporary literary studies inform his discussion and suggest the importance of intertextuality and intratextuality in the reading of Scripture. Ultimately, Callahan argues, Scripture must be viewed as a privileged text within a privileged community. Nevertheless, it must be read, not arrogantly, but with humility under the searching glance of the God who caused it to be written.

James Callahan is a formerly active Catholic priest and the former executive vice president of the American Society of Addiction Medicine and the American Board of Addiction Medicine. He lives in Topsfield, Massachusetts.