ABSTRACT
The exercise of theological reason is an office in the Church. It is properly that to which the theologian is appointed and that for which the theologian is equipped; and, so appointed and equipped, the holder of the office of theologian is obliged to perform a specific task. At the centre of the articulation of the Gospel as the norm of the sanctorum communio are two fundamental tasks, namely exegesis and dogmatics. Of these tasks, exegesis is of supreme and supremely critical importance, because the instrument through which the risen Christ announces his Gospel is Holy Scripture. Dogmatics is about the business of setting forth 'commonplaces', a series of loosely organized proposals about the essential content of the witness of Holy Scripture, which serve to inform, guide and correct the Church's reading. Like preaching dogmatics is an attempt at reading, one whose goal is not 'interpretation' but simply hearing afresh the scriptural Gospel.
