John J. Collins, What Are Biblical Values? What the Bible Says on Key Ethical Issues (Yale University Press, 2019), 212-213.
Strictly speaking, the Bible does not mean anything until it is interpreted. Appeal to textual agency (“but the Bible says”) is far too simple an evasion of the reader’s responsibility. The more important question, however, is whether it is possible to interpret the Bible with a degree of objectivity so that people who approach it with different prejudices and faith commitments can reach consensus. I hold that a degree of objectivity is possible. Interpretations are always contestable, but in fact there is very little dispute about the meaning of the biblical passages we have discussed. No one doubts that Deuteronomy 7 mandates the slaughter of the Canaanites or that Matthew 25 prioritizes feeding the hungry. Even where the exact meaning of the text is disputed (what is meant by “the lyings of a woman” in Leviticus? what constitutes unnatural intercourse for women in Romans 1?), the range of disagreement is circumscribed and arises from the laconic nature of the text rather than from the philosophical difficulty of interpretation.
The Amateur Exegete 