If it acts in accordance with this given norm, the work of theology must demonstrate what can be described in the most general terms as a biblical character. That is to say, it must be characterized above all by a deference to the reality of the gospel that is announced in Holy Scripture. That deference is expressed in many ways: by refusal of speculation; by resistance to the pressure to soften the imperative force of sola scriptura or tota scriptura; by the transparency of the language and concepts of theology to the scriptural canon; and above all, by the persistence, joy and humility with which holy reason addresses itself to the task of reading Scripture, not as master but as pupil, and by a willingness to learn it its school.

John Webster, Holiness, 20