Medieval Exegesis

The first work in Henri de Lubac's multivolume Medieval Exegesis begins his comprehensive historical and literary study of the way Scripture was interpreted by the churchmen of the Latin Middle Ages. Examining the prominent commentators of the Middle Ages and their texts, de Lubac discusses the medieval approach to biblical interpretation that sought "the four senses" of Scripture, especially the dominant practice of attempting to uncover Scripture's allegorical meaning. Though Bible interpreters from the Enlightenment era on have criticized such allegorizing as part of the "naivete of the Middle Ages, " de Lubac insists that a full understanding of this ancient Christian exegesis provides important insights for us today.