Lectio Divina: Not So Divine.

Maybe it’s not as popular as it used to be, but recently I was reminded that the practice of lectio divina is still out there in evangelical circles.

Lectio divina is Latin for “divine reading”. It is a traditionally Roman Catholic practice of Bible reading that has gained acceptance in some evangelical churches. In fact, Eugene Peterson (author of The Message) is one who promotes this type of reading.

But looking closer, I don’t find lectio divina to be all that “divine”.

The promises of lectio divina are attractive enough. The flap of Peterson’s book reads: “Do we read the Bible for information about God and salvation, for principles and ?truths? that we can use to live better? Or do we read it in order to listen to God and respond in prayer and obedience?” Well – I think that’s a bit of a false dichotomy, but of course we would prefer the more relational option – Scripture reading is not just about gaining “information”.

An Anglican site explains it this way:

It is a way of praying the scriptures that leads us deeper into God’s word. We slow down. We read a short passage more than once. We chew it over slowly and carefully. We savour it.

What is Lectio Divina? (Anglican Communion)

So far, that’s what I would call “meditation”. I’m all for it. But lectio divina is actually something very different.

Lectio divina traditionally has four phases – lectio (reading), meditatio (meditation), oratio (prayer), and contemplatio (contemplation).

The emphasis of lectio divina is how Scripture speaks to you. Of course, I would agree that all of Scripture is written for us (see Romans 15:4), but this is a little different. Basically, lectio divina is looking for a personal revelation from the Spirit – something that you would not find from simply studying the passage.

Some phrases from some material I received regarding the practice:

• The fifth time you read it, you will choose within sentences, phrases or words targeted the one that has captivated you…
• . . . share individually what the Word has told each and how you believe that the spirit is manifesting through the Scriptures.

Notice that first you’re looking for what “captivates you” – not what the point of the passage of Scripture actually is. This may seem to be splitting hairs – of course different things stand out each time you read the passage. But look at the second phrase – the “spirit is manifesting” – “how you believe” – again, this is not studying the Bible to understand what it’s saying, but instead you are to look for a personalized revelation, or a “spiritual meaning” behind the text.

The Anglican explanation is even clearer: “…when we engage in lectio we are not concerned primarily with ascertaining theological or doctrinal truths but listening to what God is saying to us through the text.” Again, why can God not speak to us through “truths” in the text?

There seems to be a bit of “bait and switch” going on here. Slow meditation and personal application in a prayerful quiet time are biblical practices. But you don’t need “lectio divina” to do that. Instead of looking for the meaning of the passage and asking the Spirit to apply it to your heart, you are often asked to set aside the actual meaning of the text, and instead look for words and phrases that “jump out” to “you”. Then do you look for the meaning in context? No, you look for a new personal message from the spirit, which may or may not relate to the teaching of the text at all!

Wikipedia tellingly links the earliest origins of lectio divina with Origen himself, who became notorious in the history of the church for popularizing “spiritual meanings” in the text. That is, hidden meanings that were not found by a logical, contextual reading of the text.

I have seen the Scriptures transform lives over and over. The Spirit does speak to us through His Word – He is the author. He applies it to our hearts. But Scripture is sufficient (2 Timothy 3:16-17) – there is not some other “manifestation” that we need in order to truly benefit from God’s Word. Worse, adding our own subjective readings will not clarify, but instead twist the Bible. Having just finished our hermeneutics class, I would note that this is actually the opposite of what we teach our students. We want to know what God’s Word says, not what we feel it says at the moment.

So please – meditate, pray, and savour God’s Word. He will use it in your life, through His Spirit. But please, leave lectio divina out of it.