BIBLE AND PIETY

The relationship between the written Word of God and Christian spirituality.

Bible and Life. The Bible, since it contains the living Word of God, is the principal source of Christian spirituality and a guide for Christian living, as was already recognized by the biblical writers themselves (2 Tm 3.14–17). The men of the patristic period were particularly conscious of the role of the Word of God in Christian formation. After a period of neglect since the Counter Reformation, the Bible is again assuming its normative function in the lives of the faithful due to the 20th-century biblical revival. The Bible is not a collection of abstract propositions regarding religion and morality, but a sacred history that approaches the relationship between God and man in a concrete, dynamic, and existential manner (Heb 4.12). It is the record of God's revealing Himself in action to His people and summoning them to share in His own happiness. Its precepts and counsels, which are presented in a variety of interlocking themes, must be understood within the framework of this historical context. Despite the variety of materials of which it is composed, the Bible has a unity that confers a Christian meaning upon the entire revelation and supplies a concrete norm for Christian life.

Bible and Prayer. Since prayer is the principal activity of the spiritual life, the influence of the Bible is felt principally in this sphere. The Church makes extensive use of the Bible in her liturgical prayer, which is the model for private prayer. Prayer, the fundamental attitude toward God, is exemplified in the lives of the great figures of the Bible; and it is by steeping himself in the mentality of the Bible that the Christian can best dispose himself for prayer. This requires a meditative reading of the Scriptures, through which man assimilates the living Word of God and thus prepares himself to respond actively to it in personal prayer. Through contact with the Bible, the Christian takes his place in the development of sacred history by passing through the same stages recounted in the scriptural narrative.

Bibliography: a. lefÈvre et al., Dictionnaire de spiritualité ascétique et mystique. Doctrine et histoire, ed. m. viller et al. (Paris 1932–) 4.1:128–278. g. brillet, Guide to the Bible, ed. a. robert and a. tricot, tr. e. p. arbez and m. p. mcguire, 2 v. (Tournai–New York 1951–55; v. 1, rev. and enl. 1960) 2:533–546. n. peters and j. dÉcarreaux, Notre Bible: Source de vie (Bruges 1950). c. charlier, The Christian Approach to the Bible, tr. h. j. richards and b. peters (Westminster, Md. 1958). l. leloir, La Bibbia, scuola di preghiera (Quaderni della rivista "Bibbia e Oriente" 1; Milan 1959). k. condon, Word of Life (Westminster, Md.1960) 112–123. "Bible, Life and Worship," Proceedings of the 22nd Annual North American Liturgical Week (Washington 1961). paul marie of the cross, Spirituality of the Old Testament, tr. e. mccabe, 3 v. (St. Louis 1961–63).

[c. j. peifer]