The inspired richness of human experience and the Bible

We can say with Aquinas that "grace does not destroy nature, but perfects it." The Bible is a book of human authors as well as of the Holy Spirit. Consequently, it is the product of a vast human religious culture with its internal traditions, external influences, occasional crises, and its moments of intellectual resolution. It is this richness of human experience that is inspired, not a magical world of human authors removed from normal human life and circumstances. As Austin Farrer once noted, the Bible is like a love-letter written by a soldier fighting in the trenches on the battlefield. There is some blood and dirt on it and the paper is torn, but the message is beautiful and we can understand it. The divine word speaks to us truly, but does so through the gritty reality of human historical life.

Thomas Joseph White, OP, The Light of Christ

Beautifully put and so very true.