Chapter B16, “Holy Scripture and Exegesis”
Pieper bases his understanding of exegesis on the fact that Christian doctrine is laid out in passages which are entirely clear in meaning. Yet there is an important place for the trained exegete, someone who is a specialist in biblical interpretation. The exegete has a primary task of leading people back to Scripture. This is what Luther said his work was. In every generation we need people who can know and do four things.
1) trust Scripture as God’s Word
2) know that Scripture is clear
3) urge people to turn to the Bible
4) uncover wrong interpretation
Pieper speaks in detail of the practices of modern exegetes who go about their work unwisely. For instance, he talks about attempts to explain clear passages by using unclear ones, or to let theological preconceptions override the clear meaning of passages from the Bible. The responsible exegete starts with the clear passages and uses them to explore those which are less clear.
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