Greco-Christian stream·The Imitation of Christ·Book I — Admonitions Profitable for the Spiritual Life·Chapter V. Of the Reading of Holy Scriptures
V. Of the reading of holy Scriptures
On the spirit in which Scripture is to be read. Veritas in Scripturis sacris quaerenda est, non eloquentia — Truth, not eloquence, is to be sought in the Holy Scriptures. Read in the spirit in which they were written; pass over the difficult, fed by what one understands.
Source context
- Theme
- subordination of intellectual curiosity to humble, spiritually receptive reading of sacred text
- Soul-faculty
- Consciousness Soul
Steiner
not engaged in the GA corpus
Cross-tradition
- Lectio Divina (Benedictine / Western monastic tradition)The fourfold monastic practice of sacred reading (lectio, meditatio, oratio, contemplatio) likewise subordinates analytical comprehension to prayerful assimilation, treating Scripture as a living spiritual encounter rather than an object of scholarship.
- Sufi hermeneutics (ta'wil)Sufi exegetes such as Ibn Arabi distinguish the exoteric letter (zahir) from the esoteric spirit (batin), insisting that the inner meaning is accessible only to the purified soul — a cross-tradition congruence with Kempis's warning that knowledge without humility profits nothing.
- Vedanta — adhikara (qualification for teaching)Advaita Vedanta conditions access to Upanishadic meaning on the student's moral and contemplative preparation (adhikara), structurally paralleling the chapter's insistence that spiritual disposition precedes correct understanding of sacred words.
Chapter V. Of the Reading of Holy Scriptures
OF THE READING OF HOLY SCRIPTURES
It is Truth which we must look for in Holy Writ, not cunning of words. All Scripture ought to be read in the spirit in which it was written. We must rather seek for what is profitable in Scripture, than for what ministereth to subtlety in discourse. Therefore we ought to read books which are devotional and simple, as well as those which are deep and difficult. And let not the weight of the writer be a stumbling-block to thee, whether he be of little or much learning, but let the love of the pure Truth draw thee to read. Ask not, who hath said this or that, but look to what he says.
2Men pass away, but the truth of the Lord endureth for ever. Without respect of persons God speaketh to us in divers manners. Our own curiosity often hindereth us in the reading of holy writings, when we seek to understand and discuss, where we should pass simply on. If thou wouldst profit by thy reading, read humbly, simply, honestly, and not desiring to win a character for learning. Ask freely, and hear in silence the words of holy men; nor be displeased at the hard sayings of older men than thou, for they are not uttered without cause.
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