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But the Scripture has been opened since
the Passion; since those who from then on have
understood it, consider and discern in what way the
prophecies must be interpreted.8°
I 13 2. Read the Scripture within the living
Tradition of the whole Church. According to a saying
of the Fathers, Sacred Scripture is 81 written
principally in the Churchs heart rather than in
documents and records, for the Church carries in her
Tradition the living memorial of Gods Word, and it is
the Holy Spirit who gives her the spiritual interpretation
of the Scripture (. . . according to the spiritual
meaning which the Spirit grants to the Church8).
114 3. Be attentive to the analogy
offaith.82 By analogy of faith we mean the
coherence of the truths of faith among themselves and 90
within the whole plan of Revelation. The senses of Scripture 515 According to an ancient tradition, one can
distinguish between two senses of Scripture: the literal
and the spiritual, the latter being subdivided into the
allegorical, moral and anagogical senses. The profound
concordance of the four senses guarantees all its richness
to the living reading of Scripture in the Church. 116 The literal sense is the meaning conveyed
by the words of Scripture and discovered by exegesis,
following the rules of sound interpretation: All other
110 senses of Sacred Scripture are based on the
literal.8~ 117 The
spiritual sense. Thanks to the unity of Gods plan,
not only the text of 1101 Scripture but also the
realities and events about which it speaks can be signs.
events by recognizing their significance in
Christ; thus the crossing of the Red Sea is a sign or type
of Christs victory and also of Christian Baptism.8~
justly. As St Paul says, they were written
for our instruction.8~
events in terms of their eternal
significance, leading us toward our true homeland: thus
the Church on earth is a sign of the heavenly Jerusalem.86
U I 18 A medieval couplet summarizes
the significance of the four senses: The Letter speaks of deeds; Allegory to faith;
The Moral how to act; Anagogy our destiny.8~ It is the task of exegetes to work, according
to these rules, ards a better understanding and explanation
of the meaning of
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