John of Ford on Biblical Authorship

When discussing whether Solomon himself or some of his companions wrote Song of Songs 8:11-12, he pronounces the question unanswerable and says,

Since we all agree that the voice is that of the Holy Ghost, why squabble about his instrument? Let us rather look for what the Holy Spirit wanted to convey to use in these words, seeing that he is the sole author of this marriage song, in the deepest sense.

–John of Ford, “Sermon One Hundred and Sixteen,” in Sermons on the Final Verses of the Song of Songs, translated by  Wendy Mary Beckett (Cistercian Fathers 47; Kalamazoo, MI: Cistercian Publications, 1984), 193.

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