Spiritual Reading: A Study of the Christian Practice of Reading Scripture

Reading Scripture is a spiritual practice at the very heart of the Christian faith. But how is it possible to encounter God in reading the words of the Bible? Does reading the Christian Bible require a different approach from how one may read other texts or writings? What is required of the spiritual reader to read well? Seeking to answer such questions, Angela Lou Harvey provides a theological exploration of the idea of ""spiritual reading"" in the context of the Western church today. Drawing upon insights of theologians such as Karl Barth, Henri de Lubac, and Ellen F. Davis, the author suggests that the particulars of Christian belief profoundly shape the distinctive practice of the spiritual reading of the Bible. ""Angie Harvey offers an engaging analysis of spiritual reading as a Christian practice of reading scripture, helpfully located in the landscape of theological interpretation and lectio divina, and with the church serving as a ""home"" for spiritual readers. Her studies of several key writers deepen our appreciation of the depth and complexities of what is involved, while offering vision for renewed Christian reading. Harvey offers today's readers significant 'ressourcement' for a key task."" –Richard S. Briggs, Lecturer in Old Testament and Director of Biblical Studies, Cranmer Hall, St John's College, Durham University ""'You are not here to verify, / Instruct yourself, or inform curiosity / . . . You are here to kneel / Where prayer has been valid.' What T. S. Eliot wrote about a place is also true, Harvey argues, of a book: the Bible. Reclaiming the tradition of lectio divina and reflecting on its relationship to the Bible reading practiced in the academy, her own book is a welcome reminder of the one thing that matters."" –Francis Watson, Durham University Angela Lou Harvey holds degrees from Rice University, Harvard Divinity School, and Durham University, from which she received her PhD. Having grown up in Texas, she now lives in England, where she is raising a young family and with them learning more about how to read.