A Hero of Mine

Albert Vanhoye, S.J. is a Jesuit priest who was made a cardinal because of his outstanding work as a Biblical scholar. He takes the best of the modern scholarship, contributes extensively to it, and produces results that resonate with the heart and mind of the Church.

His main work is on the Epistle to the Hebrews, which is the book of the Bible that has most captured my imagination. His work is the scholarship on Hebrews that has most captured my imagination. He has used the historical critical methods responsibly, without bringing to bear false assumptions: materialism, naturalism, opposition to the Church's teaching authority or tradition. Instead, he operates from the perspective of faith informed by reason, and reason informed by faith, and rightly sees that there is no incompatibility between the two. So his work shows meaning in the Scriptures compatible with the mind of the ones who wrote them: God and His Church.