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Hearing the Scriptures with the Early Church

“They devoted themselves to apostles’ teaching” (Acts 2:42)

A. Introductory Observation: “Hearing,” not “Reading”

The early church manifested a deep reverence for Scripture and a zealous desire to understand and apply it. If every New Testament manuscript suddenly disappeared, it could be reconstructed (except for less than a dozen verses) from the Christian writings of the second and third century.

At the same time, literacy was rather uncommon, and books were very expensive. Most people would not therefore read the Bible, but hear it read, sung, and explained in a community setting.

So, how do you teach the Bible to new converts? We have to assume that early Christian "Bible study" was much more like storytelling and memorization than like lecturing and note-taking. In this regard, there are ample precedents in the teaching methods of the early rabbis (Gerhardsson).

B. Teaching the Scriptures

“But as for you, continue in what you have learned and firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it, and how from childhood you have known the sacred writings that are able to instruct you for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work” (2 Ti 3:14-17).

“Like newborn infants, long for the pure, spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow into salvation—if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good” (1 Pe 2:2-3).

For concerning the divine and sacred mysteries of the faith, we ought not to deliver even the most casual remark without the Holy Scriptures: nor be drawn aside by mere probabilities and the artifices of argument. Do not then believe me because I tell you these things, unless you receive from the holy Scriptures the proof of what is set forth: for this salvation, which is of our faith, is not by ingenious reasonings, but by proof from the Holy Scriptures (Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lectures 4:17).

Three catechetical approaches developed in the early church. There is some sense of development as first one then another approach receives greatest attention, but all are really there from the beginning, and attested in the New Testament itself.

1. The moral and ethical approach—the Bible as a guidebook for correct behavior. 1 Peter, how to act amid persecution; Col 3, certain behaviors to “put on” or “put off.”

The Didache and the Epistle of Barnabas preserve a tradition of a primitive form of Christian moral instruction, which they knew as “the Way of Life.” Didache 1:

(1) There are two ways, one of life and one of death, and there is a great difference between the two ways.
(2) The way of life is this: First you shall love the God who made you, secondly, your neighbor as yourself; and whatever things you wish not to happen to you, you also do not do to another.
(3) Now, the teaching of these words is this: Bless those that curse you, and pray for your enemies, and fast for those that persecute you. For what credit is it to you if you love those that love you? Do not even the gentiles do the same? But, for your part, love those that hate you, and you will have no enemy. (4) Abstain from carnal and bodily lusts. If anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also, and you will be perfect. If anyone impresses you to go one mile, go with him two. If anyone takes your tunic, give him your cloak as well. If anyone takes from you what is yours, do not refuse it—not even if you can. (5) Give to everyone that asks you, and do not refuse, for the Father wants us to give of his own gifts to everyone. Blessed is the one who gives according to the commandment; for that one is innocent. Woe to the one who receives; for if anyone receive something because he has need, he is innocent; but the one who receives it without having need will give an account as to why he took and for what, and being in prison he shall be examined as to his deeds, and he will not come out from there until he pay the last quadrans. (6) But concerning this has been said, “Let your charity sweat in your hands until you know to whom you give.

2. The christocentric approach—the Bible (the Old Testament) as a witness to the person and work of Jesus Christ. Look for typological or allegorical clues that point to Jesus. We see a christological approach to the Old Testament in the sermons in Acts (for example, Ac 2; 7; 13) and in Paul’s allegory of the two mountains (Gal 4:21-31).

Irenaeus’ Apostolic Preaching 67:

Of his healings, Isaiah says thus, “He took our infirmities and bore our diseases,” … And he called to mind the different types of healing saying thus, “In that day the deaf shall hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind, in darkness and gloom, shall see.” And again the same says, “Be strengthened weak hands and palsied knees; be comforted you fainthearted in mind; be strong, fear not: Behold our God renders judgment and will render it. He will come and save us. Then the eyes of the blind will be opened and the ears of the deaf will hear. The lame will leap as a hart, and the tongue of the stammerer will be clear.” And concerning the dead, that they shall rise, he says, “So shall the dead arise, and those in the tombs shall awake”; and by doing these things, he will be believed to be the Son of God.

3. The creedal approach—creeds or rule of faith as faithful summaries of the Bible’s contents. Biblical creeds and creed-like statements appear in 1 Co 15, Php 2, Col 1, Heb 1, etc.

Irenaeus’ Apostolic Preaching 6:

And this is the order of our faith, the foundation of [the] edifice and the support of [our] conduct: God, the Father, uncreated, uncontainable, invisible, one God, the Creator of all: this is the first article of our faith. And the second article: the Word of God, the Son of God, Christ Jesus our Lord, who was revealed by the prophets according to the character of their prophecy and according to the nature of the economies of the Father, by whom all things were made, and who, in the last times, to recapitulate all things, became man amongst men, visible and palpable, in order to abolish death, to demonstrate life, and to effect communion between God and man. And the third article: the Holy Spirit, through whom the prophets prophesied and the patriarchs learnt the things of God and the righteous were led in the path of righteousness, and who, in the last times, was poured out in a new fashion upon the human race renewing man, throughout the world, to God.

Cyril of Jerusalem’s Catechetical Lectures used the creed as an outline for the content of the catechetical instruction.

C. Interpreting the Scriptures

How to arrive at the correct interpretation of Scripture is still a contentious issue!

An Australian Bible college has the following statement: "Maybe God left some passages of the bible obscure deliberately to see if we love our opinions more than we love our sisters and brothers in Christ."

The early church accepted the literal, historical sense of the text, but went beyond it guided by the rule of faith.

1. In Judaism there is both halachah (legal interpretation) and aggadah (stories, comparisons, etc., more affective, personal). It is not a matter of choosing one over the other—each has its appropriate uses.

The process of biblical exposition is called midrash, which literally means "searching for something that is hidden." The Hebrew word for "sermon" is the related term derash--a "search." Halachic midrash is exposition in order to determine how to fulfill one's religious obligations. Aggadic midrash is intended to inspire faithfulness or delve into esoteric topics such as the creation of the universe.

There also developed a four-fold interpretation of Scripture, which could be remembered by the acronym pardes ("garden").

Peshat ("simple"), the literal meaning.
Remez ("hint"), a layer of meaning less obvious but strongly alluded to.
Derash ("search"), a still more hidden layer.
Sod ("search"), the most obscure meaning.

Jewish midrash is noted for drawing careful attention to the details of the text, and asking questions about anything that seems unusual: apparent contradictions (for example, of history or morality), repetitions, etc. It can be rather fanciful in drawing conclusions from the etymology of words, gematria (assigning a numerical value to words and letters), and so forth.

2. Early Christianity also understood there was more than just the literal sense. (“The letter kills, the Spirit gives life” 2 Co 3:6).

a. Christological/typological approaches. Up to around ad 200, there was little or no full-blown allegorical interpretation, but the Bible was definitely read in christological or typological terms—OT texts read through the lens of the Christ event, looking for hints and prefigurings of Jesus’ ministry (cf. Irenaeus’ Apostolic Preaching).

In other words, Jesus is the criterion of interpretation. The goal is to read the Bible in such a way that its reference to Christ is made explicit. Luther took a similar approach by insisting that what matters in Scripture is "that which preaches Christ."

A New Testament example: Melchizedek (Ge 14:17-20). In Hebrews 7:1-4, the author interprets this obscure passage in a christological manner, allowing the details of the Genesis text (titles, etymologies of Hebrew words, etc.) to point to the great high priesthood of Christ.
Later exegetes would mine additional details. In particular, the detail that Melchizedek brought "bread and wine" was interpreted as a foreshadowing of the Eucharist.

b. Origen (d. 254). Origen is considered the father of the allegorical method of scriptural interpretation. He insisted that, since Scripture is from God, it cannot possibly be untrue; hence no errors or contradictions can be admitted in Scripture. There are imperfections (antilogies, repetitions, want of continuity, etc.), but these imperfections become perfections by leading us to the allegory and the spiritual meaning.

Origen’s threefold sense of Scripture:

Literal sense, corresponding to the body.
Moral sense, corresponding to the soul.
Allegorical sense, corresponding to the spirit.

Origen was essentially handling the Bible the same way a contemporary rabbi would. In fact, he was one of the few exegetes to read and interpret the Old Testament from the Hebrew text.

c. John Cassian (d. ca. 435). It was quickly established that Scripture had both a literal and a spiritual meaning, and that the Old Testament could be read as a Christian document only in a non-literal manner. By the time of Cassian, Christians asserted that the spiritual meaning itself has three senses. According to Cassian, “but of spiritual knowledge there are three kinds, tropological, allegorical, anagogical.”

Cassian made reference to 1 Co 14:6, “Now brothers and sisters, if I come to you speaking in tongues, how will I benefit you unless I speak to you in some revelation or knowledge or prophecy or teaching?” Thus, the fourfold sense comprises the four modes of discourse Paul noted: revelation, knowledge, prophecy, and teaching.

Others connected the three spiritual senses to the three Christian virtues: faith, hope, and love.

Literal sense (“revelation”) – face value (e.g., Jerusalem = the historical city in the Middle East)
Allegorical sense (“knowledge”) – statements of doctrine in the form of an allegory, corresponding to faith (e.g., Jerusalem = the church)
Tropological or moral sense (“teaching”) – ethical guidance, corresponding to love (e.g., Jerusalem = the human soul)
Anagogical sense (“prophecy”) – grounds for Christian hope, pointing to the future, corresponding to hope (e.g., Jerusalem = the heavenly city)

By the middle ages, this schema was called the quadriga (“four-horsed chariot”). A traditional 13th-century verse encapsulates this approach:

Littera gesta docet,                      The literal teaches facts,
Quid credas allegoria,                  The allegorical (teaches) what to believe,
Moralis quid agas,                        The moral (teaches) what to do,
Quo tendas anagogia.                  The anagogical (teaches) whither to aspire.

Although considered necessary for a Christian interpretation of the Old Testament, the quadriga was also deemed appropriate for interpreting the New Testament.

D. Praying the Scriptures

“There is a difference between studying the Bible and meeting its Author”—Paul Calmes (Baptist pastor)

1. Development of lectio divina.

Origen (3rd century) used the Greek phrase thea anagnosis (“divine/sacred reading”) to describe Bible reading for the purpose of finding a hidden message from God. An attempt to go beyond the literal sense. Note, however, that for Origen you don't arrive at valid non-literal interpretations by intellectual analysis, but by mystical contemplation.
Cyprian’s letter to Donatus (ca. 250) gives an early reference to lectio divina: be “constant in prayer as in reading; speak with God, then let him speak with you. Let him instruct you in his precepts, let him direct you.”
By the late 3rd-early 4th century, the leaders of the earliest monastic communities has established lectio divina as part of the daily rhythm of work, prayer, and spiritual reading.

2. Process. A country preacher described his quiet time in a way that exactly matches the four classic stages of lectio divina: “I read myself full, I think myself clear, I pray myself hot, and I let myself go.” The four stages are:

Reading (“I read myself full,” lectio). This is not speed-reading, but reverential listening for God’s “still, small voice” (1 Kg 19:12). It is listening attentively for what God is saying through the Scripture. The goal is not to cover all the verses, but to find a word or passage that speaks to us in a personal way.
Meditation (“I think myself clear,” meditatio). Once we have found the word that seems meant for us, we mull it over. We turn the word or phrase over in our minds to let God’s word become God’s word for us.
Prayer (“I pray myself hot,” oratio). Now we are ready to offer the word back to God in prayer. We may dialogue with God about what we have heard. We are also often drawn to offer to God parts of ourselves that perhaps we had previously withheld.
Contemplation (“I let myself go,” contemplatio). The final stage is simply resting in God’s presence. Contemplation moves us beyond words; it is enough just being there.

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