Of course, we must listen to theologians of the past. To act as if we were the first insightful or unbiased readers of Scripture would be sheer arrogance. Even if past teachers erred or perceived only part of the truth, they had enormous wisdom and, at a minimum, interesting reasons for views we may reject. Unfortunately, by the time the wisdom of past teachers reaches the average Christian, it has often been tamed, systematized, and simplified. It may seem stale if it addresses the hot topics of a distant generation. Therefore, although we respect past scholars, nothing can substitute for
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