Assessment

Continuous Assessment 40% Major Essay (5000 words) 60%

Module Aims

This module explores the diverse roles that the biblical canon performs as sacred scripture across a number of Christian traditions in personal, communal and liturgical contexts; and the underlying theological and anthropological commitments. Particular attention is paid to lectio divina and to the dynamics of transformative engagement with biblical texts.

Indicative Syllabus

• The biblical canon as the Church’s sacred text: canon and canonicity; scripture and tradition; the reciprocal relationship between Scripture and community
• The Lectionary: different lectionaries; structure; relationship between Word and lection in Catholic and Protestant traditions
• The Lectionary and the Liturgical Year
• Liturgy of the Word: dialogic structure; its place in the celebration of the paschal mystery.
• Lectio divina: tradition, theory and practice
• The role of faith in biblical interpretation: the role of the reader; Scripture as sacrament
• The interpretation of the bible in the life of the Church: actualisation and inculturation
• The mechanics of reading for transformation.

Learning Outcomes

• — Articulate a theological understanding of Scripture that supports transformative reading strategies.
• — Reflect theologically on personal experience of the various elements of lectio divina.
• — Differentiate the underlying principles which inform the use of scripture in different ecclesiological traditions.

Bibliography

• — Enzo Bianchi. Lectio Divina. London: SPCK, 2015.
• — Normand Bonneau, Preparing the Table of the Word. Collegeville MN: Liturgical Press, 1997.
• — Normand Bonneau. The Sunday Lectionary: Ritual Word, Paschal Shape. Collegeville MN: Liturgical Press, 1998.
• — Michael Casey OCSO. Sacred Reading: The Ancient Art of Lectio Divina. Ligouri, MS: Triumph Books, 1996.
• — John P. Burgess, “Scripture as Sacramental Word. Rediscovering Scripture’s Compelling Power,” Interpretation: A Journal of Bible and Theology 52/4 (1998): 380-391.
• — Kenneth Hagen, editor. The Bible in the Churches: How Various Christians Interpret the Scriptures. Third Edition. Milwaukee: Marquette University Press, 1998.
• — Gordon Lathrop. “Sources: the Four Gospels and Liturgical Reform,” Studia Liturgica 44 (2014):1-12.
• — Gordon Lathrop. The Four Gospels on Sunday. The New Testament and the Reform of Christian Worship. Minneapolis: Fortress Press. 2012.
• — Carlo Maria Martini.”The School of the Word,” Worship 61/3 (May 1987): 194-198.
• — Sandra M. Schneiders, The Revelatory Text. Interpreting the New Testament as Sacred Scripture. Second Edition. Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 1999.
• — Raymond James Studzinski, “Bible Reading Revisited: The Librarian’s Guide to Lectio Divina and Formative Styles of Reading,” Theological Librarianship 7/1 (2014). DOI: https://doi.org/10.31046/tl.v7i1.327
• — Fritz West, Scripture and Memory. The Ecumenical Hermeneutic of the Three-Year Lectionaries. Collegeville MN: Liturgical Press, 1997.
• — Gerald O. West. The Academy of the Poor. Towards a Dialogical Reading of the Bible. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1999.
• — Walter Wink, The Bible in Human Transformation: Toward a New Paradigm in Biblical Studies (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1973).
• — General Introduction to the Lectionary for Mass 2nd ed (1981)