The Four Senses of Scripture: Lessons from the Thirteenth Century

Abstract

There is much in medieval hermeneutics that can be conveniently forgotten. But medieval exegesis did allow a sense of theme and unity to come to the fore. The existence of a list of texts, even if it is a changing list, is what is of significance: it stands as an indication that there was a body of opinion, fairly widely shared, which thought that these texts were dealing with common religious themes. Hidden under the letter, so to speak, there was a point of view which was present to the consciousness of authors writing in that living tradition. The existence of these shared religious themes and symbolic values was the very reason why these authors had taken up their pens. When approaching Scripture medieval exegetes assumed that they would be able to find common themes among the types and symbols which constantly reappeared in the sacred text.