Ecce Fides - Pillar of Truth - St. Patrick's Basilica

The following provides a helpful guideline regarding author intent:
1) What condition was the author confronting?
2) What was the culture of the area like?
3) What literary genres were common at the time?
4) What modes of feeling, narrating, and speaking were common at the time?
For example, the book of Revelation addresses a Church under persecution by either Nero or
Domitian. The sacred author is seeking to encourage the faithful to persevere in Christ amidst great trials
and tribulations. “Hold on,” “stand fast,” victory is at hand for those who remain loyal to God.
The author uses symbolic and allegorical language characteristic of apocalyptic or resistance literature.
Apocalyptic literature makes use of visions, animals, numbers, and cosmic catastrophes in a coded
language with the express purpose of instructing the faithful in times of difficulty. The very nature of
apocalyptic literature--which enjoyed great popularity amongst the Jews and Christians during the first two
centuries—was ideal for conveying a secret message to Christians that could not be readily understood by
the enemies of Christianity.
The Senses
In terms of the senses of Scripture, the following are important to keep in mind.
1) What is the literal meaning of the text?
2) What is the spiritual sense of the text?
3) What is the allegorical sense?
4) What is the moral sense?
5) What is the anagogical sense?
In the “passion and resurrection narratives” (Mt. 26f; Mk. 14f; Lk. 22f; Jn. 18f) we have the literal
reality that Jesus Christ suffered, died, and rose from the dead.
In terms of the spiritual sense of these narratives we recognize that Christ’s death and resurrection was
for our salvation—that in Christ we are born to eternal life. We also recognize, amongst other insights, that
Christ’s death made all suffering redemptive.
In terms of the allegorical sense, Jesus can be seen as the “New Moses.” Moses freed the people of
God from slavery and brought them to the edge of the “promised land” “flowing with milk and honey.” In
a much more powerful manner, Jesus, as the new and greater Moses type or figure, freed us from the
slavery of sin and brings us into the eternal bliss of heaven. Likewise, the crossing of the Red Sea by Moses
is seen as being symbolic of baptism as well as a sign or type of Christ’s victory over death.
As for the moral sense that can be acquired through a reading of these narratives, the insights are
unending. The moral sense is intended for, as Paul states, “our moral instruction” (1 Cor. 10:11). Jesus
reminds us that being moral entails the seeking and fulfilling of the will of the Father (cf. Mt. 26:39).
The anagogical sense of the passion and resurrection narratives focus on realities and events in terms
of their eternal significance. The resurrection of Jesus is a sign to us that we too, in him, will likewise rise
and be brought into eternal glory after the end of our earthly journey. The anagogical sense is intended to
guide us toward eternal life with God in heaven.
The four above senses are beautifully summarized by a medieval couplet that states: “The Letter
speaks of deeds; Allegory to faith; The Moral how to act; Anagogy our destiny.”
The Spirit
In terms of interpreting the Bible in light of the Spirit in which it was written we pursue the following
rules:
1) How is a particular Scripture passage understood within the context of the whole Bible?
2) How is the Bible understood within the Tradition it came out from? If an interpretation of a particular
passage makes a person conclude that Jesus was only a phantom or spirit, then one cannot accept this as
being an authentic Tradition of the Church. One must reject this interpretation as not being faithful to the
life of the Holy Spirit within the Church.
3) How is the passage of the Bible understood in terms of a coherence of truths? All the doctrines of the
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