Living the Word

For over a thousand years of Christian practice, reading scripture was woven into mystical theology as a transformative spiritual journey, not merely a literary technique. Henri de Lubac argued this 'spiritual interpretation' was a spiritual itinerary. However, by the later Middle Ages, the professionalization of scripture in schools separated scriptural understanding from the soul's encounter with God. 'Spiritual exegesis' became narrow doctrinal exposition, 'mystical' referred to subjective experience rather than scriptural wisdom, and 'allegory' turned into literary criticism. The chapter sketches a possible path to retrieve this lost approach.

Study at a glance

Abstract

This chapter traces the pattern of reading and relating to the scriptural that was intimately woven into the fabric of mystical theology for more than a millennium of Christian practice. While the ‘spiritual interpretation of scripture’ is usually considered as a technical method of biblical exegesis, Henri de Lubac argued that it was less a literary technique than a spiritual itinerary. But already by the later Middle Ages, the ‘professionalization’ of scripture in the schools gradually drove a wedge between scriptural understanding and the transformational encounter of the soul with God. ‘Spiritual exegesis’ came to be understood narrowly as the work of doctrinal exposition. The ‘mystical’ came to refer not to the wisdom deep in scripture but to the subjective experience of the soul, while ‘allegory’ became more and more a mode of literary criticism. The conclusion sketches a possible path of retrieval.