Θεωρία in the Exegetical Works of St. John Chrysostom

В современных научных исследованиях наблюдается тенденция сформировать единый словарь специальных экзегетических терминов и единую семантико-интерпретационную модель. Для определения методов толкования и смыслов Священного Писания нередко привлекаются греческие слова, заимствованные из античной греческой литературы, например: ἀλληγορία, ἀναγωγή, θεωρία. Полученная в результате модель часто применяется как шаблон для анализа и описания древних экзегетических памятников. При этом многие исследователи совершенно выпускают из вида узус самих древних экзегетов, что приводит к подмене понятий и искажению мысли древних авторов. Так в описании экзегетического метода свт. Иоанна Златоуста часто вводят термин «θεωρία», который обозначает одновременно и духовный смысл Писания и соответствующий метод его раскрытия. Златоуст действительно использует слово «θεωρία», однако при этом не подразумевает никакого специального технического определения метода или смысла духовной экзегезы. In modern scientific research, there is a tendency to form a single dictionary of special exegetical terms and a single semantic-interpretative model. Greek words borrowed from ancient Greek literature are often used to determine the methods of interpretation and the meanings of Scripture, for example: ἀλληγορία, ἀναγωγή, θεωρία. The resulting model is often used as a template for the analysis and description of ancient exegetical monuments. At the same time, many researchers completely disregard the ancient exegetes themselves, which leads to a substitution of concepts and distortion of the thoughts of ancient authors. So in the description of the exegetical method of St. John Chrysostom often coined the term «θεωρία», which designates both the spiritual meaning of Scripture and the corresponding method of its disclosure. St. John Chrysostom does use the word θεωρία, however, it does not imply any special technical definition of the method or the meaning of spiritual exegesis.

Living the Word

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.

Origen (c.185–c.254)

An ascetic Christian, prodigious scholar and dedicated teacher, Origen devoted his life to exploring God’s revelation. Much of his work takes the form of commentaries on Scripture. He argued that Scripture has three levels: the literal, the moral and the spiritual. The literal level veils the others, and we need God’s help to find the divine mysteries behind the veil. His commentaries directly or indirectly influenced the practice of exegesis throughout the patristic period and the Middle Ages. Origen used his spiritual exegesis, as well as arguments, concepts and models drawn from philosophy, to tackle the theological problems of his day: the compatibility of providence and freedom, the relation of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit to each other and to rational creatures, the problem of evil, and the origin and destiny of the soul. He is famous – or infamous – for arguing that the souls of angels, demons and human beings enjoyed a previous heavenly existence, but that they sinned and fell. God created the world to punish and remedy their faults.

Ressourcement Anti-Semitism? Addressing an Obstacle to Henri de Lubac’s Proposed Renewal of Premodern Christian Spiritual Exegesis

Henri de Lubac hoped that his works on premodern Christian exegesis would help the church recover a more holistic Christian approach to Scripture, but the presence of anti-Jewish rhetoric in the tradition, which he reproduces in his major works, is a significant obstacle to any such recovery. While he did not address this difficulty in his major works, his resistance to Anti-Semitism during World War II provides a resource for addressing this problem. His early writings offer principles for a renewed and recentered approach to Christian use and interpretation of Scripture.

Prophecy, Polemics, and Spiritual Exegesis: Interpretive Warrants for Ruptures in American Anglicanism

Spiritual exegesis of Hebrew Bible texts fuels the divide between two ecclesial instantiations of Anglicanism in the United States. This exegesis, engaged in strikingly similar manners by both organizations, remains bereft of its traditional controls that, if followed, would allow it to more productively shape ecclesial life. A look at four of these controls sets the stage for a detailed analysis of representative texts, which demonstrates how leaders in both organizations fail to properly hold their interpretive strategies accountable to the larger Christian narrative. In conclusion, brief consideration is given to how adherence to these controls could reshape the conflicts at hand by the exegesis of a Hebrew Bible text of liturgical significance to Anglicanism.

The Threefold Body in Eschatological Perspective

In this article, I draw from Henri de Lubac’s ecclesiology to delineate the relations between the three forms of Christ’s body (historical, ecclesial, and sacramental). Using the heuristic frameworks of scholastic sacramental theology and of spiritual exegesis, I demonstrate that language concerning the ecclesial body is significantly more complex than with the historical or sacramental bodies. The ecclesial body is at once entirely provisional—the sacrament of Christ—and the fulfillment itself—the totus Christus. This leads me to pose the question: what aspects of the Church endure through eternity and which pass away? I argue that it is the faithful who abide, while the visible institutional structures of the Church will be no more. I clarify how the institutional aspects of the Church relate to the congregatio fidelium and suggest that academic ecclesiology concern itself with the lives of the faithful rather than simply with faith and order.