Theological Interpretation and the Spiritual Sense of Scripture: Henri de Lubac's Retrieval of a Christological Hermeneutic of Presence

Abstract

Abstract Despite their many similarities, a division exists between proponents of the theological interpretation of Scripture and proponents of the recovery of a spiritual sense of Scripture. This article suggests that one key difference lies in the way each group articulates the relationship of the present, risen Christ to the texts of Scripture. Those who advocate a recovery of the spiritual sense typically place more emphasis on Christ's present encounter of readers, while proponents of theological interpretation of Scripture are often quite reticent to describe such an encounter. This article will contrast the proposals for a theological interpretation of Scripture by revisionist David Tracy, postliberal Hans Frei, and evangelical Kevin Vanhoozer with the proposal to recover Scripture's spiritual sense by ressourcement theologian Henri de Lubac in order to suggest that de Lubac's recovery of the spiritual sense provides the necessary Christological framework to speak of Christ's present encounter of readers. It is suggested that de Lubac's recovery of the spiritual sense could advance the theological interpretation of Scripture to a more distinctly Christological hermeneutic.