Abstract
Bernard of Clairvaux, a twelfth-century French monk, wrote eighty-six sermons on the first two chapters of Song of Songs. What drew him to the text of Song of Songs? How did interpreters of the Middle Ages understand the text? Bernard was drawn to the Song of Songs because of its very human imagery, imagery which he tied to the humanity and passion of Christ. Bernard maintained that Christ understands and embraces our humanness and loves us for who we are in all of our humanity, and in the end, love—as an experiential relationship between God and humanity—is the grand theme of Benard's sermons on Song of Songs.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.