The stream of holy Scripture flows not from human research but from revelation by God. It springs from the Father of lights, from whom all fatherhood in heaven and on earth takes its name.
From him, through his Son Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit flows into us;
and through the Holy Spirit, giving, at will, different gifts to
different people, comes the gift of faith, and through faith Jesus
Christ has his dwelling in our hearts. This is the knowledge of Jesus
Christ which is the ultimate basis of the solidity and wisdom of the
whole of holy Scripture.
From all this it follows that it is impossible for
anyone to start to recognize Scripture for what it is if he does not
already have faith in Christ infused into him. Christ is the lamp that
illuminates the whole of Scripture: he is its gateway and its
foundation. For this faith is behind all the supernatural enlightenments
that we receive while we are still separated from the Lord and on our
pilgrimage. It makes our foundation firm, it directs the light of the
lamp, it leads us in through the gateway. It is the standard against
which the wisdom that God has given us should be measured, so that no-one
should exaggerate his real importance, but everyone must judge himself
soberly by the standard of the faith God has given him.
The substance and fruit of holy Scripture is very
specific: the fullness of eternal happiness. For this is what Scripture
is – its words are words of eternal life, and it is written not just so
that we should believe, but specially so that we should possess eternal
life in which we may see, and love, and have all our desires fulfilled.
When they are fulfilled, then we shall know the superabundant love that
comes from knowledge, and so we shall be filled with all the fullness of
God. God’s Scripture tries to lead us to this fullness, and to the
truth of the preaching of the apostles. It is to this end, with this
intention, that we should study holy Scripture, and teach it, and hear
it.
If we are to follow the direct path of Scripture and
come straight to the final destination, then right from the beginning –
when simple faith starts to draw us towards the light of the Father –
our hearts should kneel down and ask the Father to give us, through his
Son and the Holy Spirit, true knowledge of Jesus and of his love. Once
we know him and love him like this, we shall be made firm in faith and
deeply rooted in love, and we can know the breadth, length, depth and
height of holy Scripture. That news can then lead us to the full
knowledge and overwhelming love of the most holy Trinity. The desires of
the saints draw them towards the Trinity, in which all that is good and
true is and finds its completion.
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