Reading the Bible - it's a matter of interpretation.

Recent conversations and some online discussion has brought me back to this old note from 2008 and my continued thinking about how we use and misuse the texts of the Bible. Finding a way that keeps clear of fundamentalism on the one hand and a completely skeptical view (or a completely poetic view) on the other whilst treating Scripture seriously and fully recognising it's central place in the Great Tradition. Bishop Tom Wright when he was bishop of Durham, spoke in 2008 to the (Roman) Synod of Bishops about reading the Scriptures and the necessity of a fourfold understanding of the sacred texts. He suggested the following approach: "To get the balance right, I propose a fourfold reading of scripture. We are to love God with heart, soul, mind and strength. 1. The heart: Lectio Divina, private meditation and prayer, and above all the readings in the eucharist. 2. The mind: historical study of the text and its original contextual meaning. 3. The soul: the ongoing life of the church, its tradition and teaching office. 4. The strength: the mission of the church, the work of God’s kingdom." If only we could keep the The Fourfold Amor, the four loves, before us when we read Scripture then we may avoid the errors of both a fundamentalist reading or of concentrating just on the historical-critical method both of which on their own limit our readings of sacred Scripture and our understanding of what God has to say to us in our given situation.