but visiting the iniquity of the parents upon the children and the children’s
children, to the third and the fourth generation” (Ex. 34:7). 52 Or think
about Paul’s radical re-reading of the story of Moses’ vision of God. In
Exodus, we read only that Moses veiled his face, apparently because “the
people were afraid to come near him” (Ex. 34:29–35). But Paul insists
that he and his ministry team are “ not like Moses , who veiled himself to
keep the people from seeing the end of the glory that was fading away”
(2 Cor. 3:12–13). Instead of protecting the people, Moses is protecting
himself and his image. He does not want them to see that the glory fades
from his face. Or think of Paul’s use of Ps. 44:22 in Romans 8: “Because
of you we are being killed all day long, and accounted as sheep for the
slaughter.” In the context of the Psalm, these are words of accusation
against God, but Paul “twists” them into a confession of hope in God, if
not outright praise of God. What is happening in these exchanges? How
does God’s Word come to us through them? What are we to do with them
and let them do with us? Most of all, we must not choose one text over
another, but let the texts’ conversation continually enfold us, drawing us
up into an ascending spiral of curious puzzlement, astonishing realization,
and curious wonder. 53
D IVINING READERS OF THE DIVINE MORE
At the heart of Origen’s vision of scripture and scriptural hermeneutics is
the confi dence that there is always more to a biblical text than has yet been
or ever could be discovered or understood. We can have confi dence that
the scriptures are excessively meaningful because we know the eccentric,
excessive character of the God revealed in Jesus. As Katherine Sonderegger
avows, “To believe in Almighty God ... is to trust that there is more ...
For we serve a God who is More, and the life within and before Him is
always more. Richer, fuller, more gracious, luminous, courageous, and
joyful: that is the feast that is life in God. That Excess is Divine Being
itself.” 54 We trust the scriptures because we trust God. We love God’s
Word because we love the God whose Word it is. 55
This is why ancient and medieval Christians were right to speak of
scripture as having multiple senses. 56 As Peter Leithart recognizes, some-
thing like the quadriga is necessary if we hope to preach and teach the
scriptures faithfully. 57 We also need to rediscover an appreciation for the
change of Christian maturation. Nikitas Stithatos observes, “The read-
ing of the Scripture means one thing for those who have but recently
112 C.E.W. GREEN