FOUR SENSES OF THE SCRIPTURE (Today we study the four different meanings that come together when reading/analyzing the Bible. Before the topic of today, few observations)
Encouragement It is of great pleasure to know that many have started and will start reading the Bible. This is very helpful, bringing great transformation and blessings. Everyone should implement the practice of reading the Bible and apply the principles we are learning in the class. In the previous classes, we have outlined many advantages of reading the Bible (please see those points.)
Recommendations Once we start reading the Bible, we become aware of the need to ask for wisdom and humility. In many ways some have been misled to despise reading the Bible, in some other cases, some have left the community of faith as a result of reading the Bible with no prayerful deliberation. Oftentimes persons have acted on the word they heard or saw without praying and vetting it from the unity of the Scriptures, that is, making sure that it is in consonance with other revelations in the Sacred Scripture. Some believed that the words came to them in the dram when they were not conscious of any sin, and thus, they acted on the dream without praying first. Others stated that the word or vision came to them while they were praying before the Blessed Sacrament and therefore needed no discernment in prayer. As much as God speaks to us however, let s be patient and know when He is the One Who speaks. The way to know is to see the consistency between what we have received in the content of the Bible. It is not impossible to receive words that could mislead even while praying before the Blessed Sacrament or while fasting. We understand that the Bible says the evil one came to the presence of God (Job 1:6-7.) It is not impossible for interference while praying before the Blessed Sacrament. Additionally during the time of fasting for 40 days, the evil one came to tempt the Lord in that secured environment. Many books published as branded ‘revelations’ from angels and many read them and then crisis. Every angel can be vetted if their revelations do inform people to be united as One in Christ and live in the basic goodness required of all.
However, the recommendation here should not lead to lack of confidence or scrupulosity in what we receive in our hearts during prayer or reading the Bible, but only calls for deliberative prayer. Whereby once is not certain, the need for spiritual direction can be used. Humility is always the key and these words should always be considered, “The one who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought to know. But the one who loves God is known by God” (I Corinthians 8:2)
As a sign of humility, in the past, persons were tonsured before receiving minor orders (like Lector) Other major religions have the same way of bringing persons to the general tenets of faith.
Humility saves souls and should not limit liberality of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is not the cause of separation and this is the reason we inculcate the consciousness of reading the Word of God both in the personal and communal dimensions. Personal right stops where the unity of the Body of Christ is threatened. We have prayed that the Bible study ushers in the love for the Word of God in persons and be a blessing to the entire Church. May the Word of God, the Glory of God in the Pentecost unification, not be the reason for separation in the Body of Christ since the Word of God is given to strengthen the Church “I have given them the glory You gave Me, so that they may be one as We are one— I in them and You in Me—that they may be perfectly united, so that the world may know that You sent Me” (Jn.17.) May the Lord grant the fulfillment of the prayer of His Son by raising a generation who desires to know Him more in His Word and desire to be united in His Will, and lead all in the universe to unity in Christ, for WHOM all is created. {Please read up Verbum Domini, article 39. “Here the words of Hugh of Saint Victor remain a sure guide: “All divine Scripture is one book, and this one book is Christ, speaks of Christ and finds its fulfilment in Christ”… This makes it clear that the person of Christ gives unity to all the “Scriptures” in relation to the one “Word”)
Today’s Class
Four Senses of the Sacred Scripture In Christianity, the four senses are literal, allegorical, moral and anagogical… In the 3rd century, the theologian Origen, a graduate of the Catechetical School of Alexandria, formulated the principle of the three senses of Scripture (literal, moral, and spiritual). In the 4th century, the theologian Augustine of Hippo developed this doctrine which became the four senses of Scripture… St Augustine of Hippo (354–430) used the fourfold interpretive method in his explanation of Christian doctrine
Quadriga
Scriptural interpretation is sometimes referred to as the Quadriga, a reference to the Roman chariot that was pulled by four horses abreast. The four horses are symbolic of the four sub methods of Scriptural interpretation…
The rhyme is roughly translated:
The literal teaches what God and our ancestors did, The allegory is where our faith and belief is hid, The moral meaning gives us the rule of daily life, The anagogy shows us where we end our strife
The classic summary of fourfold exegesis is the following Latin doggerel verse, a widely known mnemonic device in medieval schools:[19]
Lettera gesta docet, quid credas allegoria, Moralia quid agas, quo tendas, anagogia.
The literal teaches history, the allegorical, what you should believe, the moral, what you should do, the anagogical, where you are going.
[See also Verbum Domini, no.37} “The letter speaks of deeds; allegory about the faith; The moral about our actions; anagogy about our destiny”
Literal Sense Literal interpretation: explanation of the meaning of events for historical purposes from a neutral perspective by trying to understand the text in the culture and time it was written, and location and language it was composed in
Allegorical Typological (or allegorical) interpretation: connecting the events of the Old Testament with the New Testament, particularly drawing allegorical connections between the events of Christ's life with the stories of the Old Testament. Also, a passage speaks directly to someone such as when Francis of Assisi heard the passage to sell all he had. It can also typologically point to the Blessed Virgin Mary, who is the ark which held the Word of God; Judith, who slew a tyrant is a Marian type; the burning bush, which contains the fire of God but was not consumed, as Mary held the Second Person of the Trinity in her womb but was not burnt up
Moral Tropological (or moral) interpretation: "the moral of the story", or how one should act now. Many of Jesus' parables and the Book of Proverbs and other wisdom books are packed with tropological meaning
Anagogical Anagogic interpretation: dealing with the future events of Christian history (eschatology) as well as heaven, purgatory, hell, the last judgement, the General Resurrection and second Advent of Christ, etc. (prophecies)
Thus the four types of interpretation (or meaning) deal with past events (literal), the connection of past events with the present (typology), present events (moral), and the future (anagogical)
Example
When Israel went out of Egypt, the house of Jacob from a barbarous people: Judea was made his sanctuary, Israel his dominion (Psalm 113). Now if we examine the letters alone, the exodus of the children of Israel from Egypt in the time of Moses is signified; in the allegory, our redemption is accomplished through Christ; in the moral sense, the conversion of the soul from the grief and misery of sin to the state of grace; in the anagogical sense, the exodus of the holy soul from slavery of this corruption to the freedom of eternal glory…
Galatian 4 in the sense of indebtedness
Old and New Testaments Medieval allegory began as a Christian method for synthesizing the discrepancies between the Old Testament and the New Testament…One example of typology is the story of Jonah and the whale from the Old Testament. Medieval allegorical interpretation of this story is that it prefigures Christ's burial, with the stomach of the whale as Christ's tomb. Jonah was eventually freed from the whale after three days, so did Christ rise from his tomb after three days. Four senses of Scripture - Wikipedia
3-STEPS IN READING THE SACRED SCRIPTURE
CONSIDERATION
APPLICATION
RESOLUTION
Practical Example The Baptism of Jesus (Mark 3:13-17)
16 As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. 17 And a voice from heaven said, “This is My Son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased.”
Consideration Jesus is the Son of Goda and He is well pleasing to the Father
Application I am begotten of God through Jesus, an adopted son/daughter of God,” He predestined us for adoption as His sons through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of His will,’ Ephesians 1:5. THEREFOR I AM PLEASING TO THE FATHER
Resolution Henceforth, I see myself as one loved. The Father loves me. My father does not drive me out after I have made mistake and apologized in my family. His love was not diminished. Now I know even though I made mistake in my life, and have confessed, the Eternal Father loves me. I call in “ABBA” fondly, and I will now pay attention to the affection in the word “Our Father” whenever pray the words.