The literal sense and the spiritual understanding of Scripture according to St. Thomas Aquinas
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.12775/BPTh.2017.018Keywords
Saint Thomas Aquinas, biblical hermeneutics, literal sense of Scripture, spiritual sense of ScriptureAbstract
In contemporary Biblical hermeneutics, there is a confusion about what the literal and spiritual senses are. From this confusión, it follows that the interpreter does not know the sense to be reached and that there is a considerable distance between what the Bible meant when it was written and what it now means in the Church. St. Thomas has a clear doctrine about what is the literal sense and what the spiritual sense, which can clarify this confusion and avoid the negative consequences it has for exegesis. From this doctrine, there are two essential contributions that can serve this purpose: the literal sense is mainly the sense intended by the divine author, and the spiritual understanding is what allows the interpreter to reach the literal sense of the New Testament, the key that opens up the meaning of revelation and of Scripture.
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