A Catholic Introduction to Biblical Interpretation
By John Gresham
The World Above the Text (Spiritual Context)
LECTIO
DIVINA
Description / Justification / Limitations / Tools / Application
Description of the method:
It is by entering into the spiritual context of scripture that one moves through the literal sense of the biblical text to the spiritual sense. According to the Pontifical Biblical Commission's 1994 document, The Interpretation of the Bible in the Church, the literal sense of scripture is not a literalist sense as in fundamentalism, but the sense directly expressed by the inspired human authors, a sense derived from historical and literary analysis of the text. The spiritual sense is understood as,
the meaning expressed by the biblical texts when read, under the influence of the Holy Spirit, in the context of the paschal mystery of Christ and of the new life which flows from it.
Thus, there is a spiritual context to biblical texts and a spiritual sense to be found by entering into that context. Whereas, one enters the historical context through study and historical investigation, one enters the spiritual context of scripture through faith in Christ and openness to the influence of the Spirit. Yet, just as there are methods for the historical study of scripture, so also, there is a method of reading the Bible that assists the reader in entering into the spiritual sense of scripture. Of, course a method for bringing one under the influence of the Spirit and moving one into a deeper experience of new life in Christ, will differ greatly from other methods of biblical reading. This method of spiritual reading is known in the Catholic tradition as Lectio Divina.
This method of reading biblical texts has 4 stages:
- Lectio (Reading) -- Slowly reading the text with attentiveness and openness.
- Meditatio (Reflection) -- Reflecting on the passage; letting the mind dwell upon the message; using the imagination to enter into the passage, placing oneself in the biblical event or message.
- Oratio (Prayer) -- Responding to the text as a message from God; turning the heart toward the One who speaks through the text; entering into a spiritual dialogue with the Divine Author.
- Contemplatio (Contemplation) -- Silence. Presence. Love. Union. (This is the goal of spiritual reading, a goal toward which one can strive, for which one can prepare, but which ultimately can only be received as a gift of grace)
Spiritual writer, Blessed Columba Marmion, summarizes the four stages of Lectio Divina:
We read (lectio)
Under the eye of God (meditatio)
Until the heart is
touched (oratio)
And leaps to flame (contemplatio)
[ Quoted by Thelma Hall in Too Deep for Words: Rediscovering Lectio Divina, (Paulist, 1988) p. 44 ]
Justification for the spiritual reading of scripture
In Catholic teaching, the meaning of scripture can not be exhausted or understood through scholarly study alone, as important as that is. Prayer for divine grace is required to understand the biblical texts. These texts cannot be understood entirely in terms of their human historical and literary contexts -- they also belong to a spiritual context. Without ceasing to belong thoroughly to our world they also must be read as coming from above and beyond our world, as communication and self-disclosure from the Divine. In his 1974 address to the Pontifical Biblical Commission, Pope Paul VI notes the limits of the scholarly study of scripture and the need for a spiritual openness to the divine message:
There must be a real existential openness to the mystery of the God of love, otherwise our exegesis will remain clouded in darkness no matter how scholarly it may be.
It is noteworthy, that Pope Pius XII, in his 1943 Encyclical, Divino Afflante Spiritu , promoting the historical and literary study of the bible, concludes with an exhortation from St. Augustine:
Let, then, the interpreters of the Divine Oracles devote themselves to this holy practice with all their heart. "Let them pray, that they may understand"
The need for spiritual reading of the bible is rooted in the Catholic understanding of scripture as divine communication:
For in the sacred books, the Father who is in heaven meets His children with great love and speaks with them; and the force and power in the word of God is so great that it stands as the support and energy of the Church, the strength of faith for her sons, the food of the soul, the pure and everlasting source of spiritual life. (Dei Verbum 22)
Limitations of the spiritual reading of scripture
Catholic teaching on biblical interpretation frequently warns against a misuse of spiritual interpretation which leads to subjective and speculative interpretations, often characterized by excessive allegorization of every detail of scriptural data. The Interpretation of the Bible in the Church warns against any interpretation that is alien to the original intent of the human authors. Biblical passages may indeed find a fuller and deeper significance and meaning as they are fulfilled in salvation history by the coming of Christ, yet any spiritual interpretation must not sever itself from its root in that original word of God in its historical communication.
Spiritual reading of the text must also avoid any individualistic interpretation. One reads and reflects on the biblical text within the faith of the church. The spiritual interpretations of the Fathers and many subsequent spiritual writers, have continuing value and insight despite their sometimes overly allegorical approach precisely because they interpreted scripture according to the analogy and the rule of faith, according to the whole message of scripture read within the christologically centered tradition of the church.
A good introduction to contemporary practice of Lectio Divina is Thelma Hall, Too Deep for Words: Rediscovering Lectio Divina (Paulist) See also, the online introduction, The Ancient Art of Lectio Divina by Luke Dysinger.
The writings of Christian saints, mystics and spiritual guides, particularly their reflections on biblical passages, may be read as models of lectio divina. These writers may even be read as a different sort of biblical commentator -- commentators who may be lacking in knowledge of the historical and literary contexts (the worlds behind and within the biblical texts), but who have climbed the heights of scripture's spiritual context (that world above the text) Many examples may be found in the Paulist Press series, Classics of Western Spirituality. In some cases, these volumes include a scripture index that can be used to quickly locate a spiritual writer's reflections on a specific passage of scripture.
Message of Biblical Spirituality is a new series from Liturgical Press focusing on spiritual message of biblical books.
The Navarre Bible New Testament (Scepter Publishers). New Testament text (RSV) with commentary by professors from Navarre University in Spain, includes comments from Church Fathers, Popes, Vatican II, the Catechism, as well as prominent spiritual writers particularly Blessed (soon to be saint) Josemaria Escriva. Also available: The Navarre Bible: Pentateuch. (Scepter Publishers) Same as above on Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.
Mark P. Shea. Making Senses Out of Scripture: Reading the Bible As the First Christians Did. (Basilica Press) provides a good introduction to the four fold sense of scripture that integrates literal and spiritual approaches to the biblical text.
Read some of the online articles about Lectio Divina and practice this meditative and prayerful reading of scripture with your biblical passage. Write your insights as a reflection on the passage or as a prayer in response to the passage. What insights does Lectio Divina give you into the meaning of the text? (Be sure to maintain the continuity between the historical and literary sense of the passage and the spiritual insights gained from meditation and prayer)Find an example of spiritual reflection on your biblical text in the writings of a saint, mystic or other spiritual writer. What insights does the author add to your understanding of the text? How do these insights compare to a more historical or literary analysis of the text?
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