Pope Benedict XVI Quotes

Among the children of God, it was they who were most able to rightly divide the word of truth.

More people are troubled by what is plain in Scripture than by what is obscure.

I actually do propose open-mindedness, but open-mindedness to the Word of God.

I seek the Will of the Spirit of God through, or in connection with, the Word of God. The Spirit and the Word must be combined. If I look to the Spirit alone without the Word, I lay myself open to great delusions also.

I do not concern myself much with reading long commentary volumes designed to enlarge at length upon that which is found in the scriptures. Rather, I prefer to dwell with the source, tasting of the unadulterated waters of the fountain of truth - the word of God as he gave it and as it has been recorded in the books we accept as scripture.

To substitute Scripture for the self-revealing Spirit is to put the dead letter in the place of the living Word.

I can't change what the word of God says.

We ought not to criticize, explain, or judge the Scriptures by our mere reason, but diligently, with prayer, meditate thereon, and seek their meaning.

If you read the Qur'an with your head, you find repetition. If you read it with your heart, you find depth.

A prayerful study and experience are essential for a correct interpretation of the scriptures.

In working with people across the country and around the world, I've come to know that most of us go through times that re-route our prayer life.

I have not placed reading before praying because I regard it more important, but because, in order to pray aright, we must understand what we are praying for.

The Lord knows that I could not open scripture; he must by his prophetical office open it unto me. So after that being unsatisfied in the thing, the Lord was pleased to bring this scripture out of the Hebrews.

Therefore, the church is not absolutely necessary as an object of faith, not even for us today, for then Abraham and the other prophets would not have given assent to those things which were revealed to them from God without any intervening help of the church.

The uninitiated have real questions and valid concerns over how the things of God appear to them.

You can learn more about human nature by reading the Bible than by living in New York.

The inspiration of the Bible depends upon the ignorance of the gentleman who reads it.

The word of God is a Christian's instructions for life. God speaks to us through His word, so we cannot constantly be running on empty.

The Bible interprets life from its particular perspective; it does not record in a factual way the human journey through history.

The Church's teaching isn't an official statement, but the cumulative understanding of all the people who have loved and experienced Jesus through time.

I think there's some pretty amazing language in the Bible.

Jesus Christ is our supreme commander, but He operates only through His word, which is unquestionably a training manual. However, He has many interpreters, and few people see the Bible as a true training manual.

If I cannot add to my own low level of understanding, I could ill afford to try to raise that of others, seeing that it belongs to our Creator and Lord to give much or little.

We treasure the word of God not only by reading the words of the scriptures, but by studying them. We may be nourished more by pondering a few words, allowing the Holy Ghost to make them treasures to us, than to pass quickly and superficially over whole chapters of scripture.

God is a talking God, and thus you must come to wrestle with him. You must wrestle with what he said.