“You Have Been Brought Near ” by R. R. Reno

“You Have Been Brought Near ”

Reflections in the Aid of Theological Exegesis

by R. R. Reno

The challenge of theological exegesis is not altogether different from other situations of reading and listening. The difficulties of interpretation rest in the problem of hearing what is said. We are often very distant from what is spoken, and so it is difficult to hear. For example, my daughter is often in the basement reading a book, and she only vaguely hears me yell for her to go and clean her room. She hears, but does not hear. As parents know, one must be close to children in order to get them to pay attention.

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R. R. Reno teaches theology and ethics at Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska, and is author of In the Ruins of the Church: Sustaining Faith in an Age of Diminished Christianity (Brazos, 2002).

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