The Word of God Is
Living and Active –
Hebrews 4:12.
.
Listening to the Word of God in
the School of the Holy Spirit
..
by Don Schwager
A
Charismatic and Scriptural Approach to
Reading Scripture Spiritually
The Lord Jesus invites us to encounter him in
the daily reading of Sacred Scripture. Through
the gift and working of the Holy Spirit he
opens our ears to hear his voice and to
recognize his presence as he speaks to us
through his word.
Saint Augustine of Hippo (354-430 AD), wrote:
"The Scriptures are in fact, in any passage
you care to choose, singing of Christ,
provided we have ears that are capable of
picking out the tune. The Lord opened the
minds of the Apostles so that they understood
the Scriptures. That he will open our minds
too is our prayer.”
The Lord opens the Scriptures
for us
The Lord wants us to approach the Sacred
Scriptures not simply as a word of the past
but as God’s Word that is also addressed to us
today. Saint Jerome, an early church father
(347-420 AD) who had a passionate love for the
Bible, wrote that to read Scripture is to
converse with God.
“You are reading
[Scripture]? No. Your betrothed is talking to
you. It is your betrothed, that is, Christ,
who is united with you. He tears you away from
the solitude of the desert and brings you into
his home, saying to you, ‘Enter into the joy
of your Master’… “How could one live without
the knowledge of Scripture, through which one
learns to know Christ himself, who is the life
of believers?”
“Reading
the Scriptures without the Holy
Spirit would be like opening a book
in the dark.”
- Raniero
Cantalamessa, The Mystery of
God’s Word
|
Jesus told his disciples,
“These things I have spoken to you while I am
still with you. But the Helper, the Holy
Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name,
he will teach you all things and bring to your
remembrance all that I have said to you” (
John 14:25). The Scriptures will remain a dead
letter until we allow the Holy Spirit to open
our ears and soften our hearts to receive his
word with meekness and trust. Fr. Raniero
Cantalamessa writes: “Reading the Scriptures
without the Holy Spirit would be like opening
a book in the dark” (The Mystery of God’s
Word).
A formational approach to
reading Scripture with the Holy Spirit
How can we read the Scriptures with the help
and guidance of the Holy Spirit? The Holy
Spirit will give us a disciple’s ear if we are
ready to listen and eager to learn. “Morning
by morning he wakens my ear to hear as those
who are taught. The Lord God has opened my
ear, and I was not rebellious” (Isaiah
50:4-5).
There are two very different ways of reading
Scripture: informational reading and
formational reading. We generally approach
informational reading as a subject we wish to
master. We approach the text with an
analytical and critical mind so we can form
our own opinion and judgment on the subject.
In a formational approach to reading Scripture
we allow the text to master us so we can grow
in our understanding of God’s mind, heart, and
plan for us as it is revealed in his word.
Formational reading requires a humble,
detached, and loving approach that is also
open to God’s mystery.
Jesus offers us a great promise, “If you
continue in my word, you are truly my
disciples, and you will know the truth, and
the truth will make you free” (John 8:31-32).
[Don Schwager is a member
of The
Servants of the Word and author of
the Daily
Scripture Reading and Meditation.]
See related articles:
- Scripture
Study
Course, by Don Schwager
- Formational
Versus Informational Reading of the
Scriptures, by M. Robert Mulholland
Jr.
- The
Unity of the Scriptures, An
introduction by Don Schwager
- How
to
Read the Bible, by Metropolitan
Kallistos Ware
- The
Authority
of Scripture, by Steve Clark
- The
Scriptures
Are One Book in Christ, quotes from
early church fathers
- Reading
the
Scriptures with the Early Church Fathers,
by Don Schwager
- Christ
In
All the Scriptures, by Dr. John Yocum
- Approaching
Scripture
As God's Word, by J.I. Packer
- In
the
Bible It Is God Who Is Speaking to Us,
by Dietrich Bonhoeffer
- You
Can
Understand the Bible, by Peter Kreeft
- Formational
Versus
Informational Reading of the Scriptures,
by M. Robert Mulholland Jr.
- How
to
Silence the Scriptures, by Soren
Kierkegaard
|
