Quadriga

[rcjones]

I have been around CA for four and half years hoping to find someone familiar with the Quadriga.

If you wish to post historical notes concerning it, feel free, but please don’t suppose that you are answering my question by doing so.

I have been hoping to find someone competent in the practice of discerning the Quadriga, in hopes of comparing notes on sensus plenior.

In view of over four years of participation here, it appears that though the Quadriga is a part of the belief system of Catholicism, that there is no one who actually practices the discernment of it today.

Please someone tell me I am wrong and point me to a modern writer who practices the hermeneutic to discern it.

Thanks.

 

[Allegra]

I have been around CA for four and half years hoping to find someone familiar with the Quadriga.

If you wish to post historical notes concerning it, feel free, but please don’t suppose that you are answering my question by doing so.

I have been hoping to find someone competent in the practice of discerning the Quadriga, in hopes of comparing notes on sensus plenior.

In view of over four years of participation here, it appears that though the Quadriga is a part of the belief system of Catholicism, that there is no one who actually practices the discernment of it today.

Please someone tell me I am wrong and point me to a modern writer who practices the hermeneutic to discern it.

Thanks.

I can’t help you, however, I would be interested if you explained what it is you are talking about a little more clearly.

 

[Francie3]

biblicalstudies.org.uk/articles_cbq-03.php

scotthahn.com/download/attachment/2518

catholic-resources.org/ChurchDocs/

 

[jcrichton]

I have been around CA for four and half years hoping to find someone familiar with the Quadriga.

If you wish to post historical notes concerning it, feel free, but please don’t suppose that you are answering my question by doing so.

I have been hoping to find someone competent in the practice of discerning the Quadriga, in hopes of comparing notes on sensus plenior.

In view of over four years of participation here, it appears that though the Quadriga is a part of the belief system of Catholicism, that there is no one who actually practices the discernment of it today.

Please someone tell me I am wrong and point me to a modern writer who practices the hermeneutic to discern it.

Thanks.

…I’m perhaps the least capable to help you… but have you considered that you are speaking of personal contribution to the Faith and not Dogmatic Teachings… this is the first I’ve heard of the term… when I looked it up art works, coins, olympic games and contest came up with the basic theme of a Roman chariot being pulled by four horses… ( en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quadriga )… when I researched it further… here’s newadvent’s take:

newadvent.org/cathen/11064a.htm
Nicholas of Osimo (AUXIMANUS).

A celebrated preacher and author, b. at Osimo, Italy, in the second half of the fourteenth century; d. at Rome, 1453…

Nicholas wrote both in Latin and Italian a number of treatises on moral theology, the spiritual life, and on the Rule of St. Francis…

(2) “Quadriga Spirituale,” in Italian, treats in a popular way what the author considers the four principal means of salvation, viz. faith, good works, confession, and prayer. These are like the four wheels of a chariot, whence the name. The work was printed at Jesi, 1475, and under the name of St. Bernardine of Siena in 1494.

…as I’m not versed in these treatises I can only say that you may have been proposing that privately held exercises of Faith are meant to be taken as Church’s Teachings–only the Pope, assisted by the college of Bishops can create Catholic Doctrine…

…if you care to discuss these treatises further, I welcome the chance to learn something new!

Merry Christmas!

Maran atha!

Angel

 

[rcjones]

Francie3 - Thank you for the links.

allegra and jcrichton - Quadriga is the term used to define the official church position as defined in the catechism which states that there are four senses to the scriptures:

CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH
SECOND EDITION
PART ONE
THE PROFESSION OF FAITH

SECTION ONE
“I BELIEVE” - “WE BELIEVE”

CHAPTER TWO
GOD COMES TO MEET MAN

ARTICLE 3
SACRED SCRIPTURE

The senses of Scripture

115 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 senses of Sacred Scripture are based on the literal."83

117 The spiritual sense. Thanks to the unity of God’s plan, not only the text of Scripture but also the realities and events about which it speaks can be signs.

1. The allegorical sense. We can acquire a more profound understanding of events by recognizing their significance in Christ; thus the crossing of the Red Sea is a sign or type of Christ’s victory and also of Christian Baptism.84
2. The moral sense. The events reported in Scripture ought to lead us to act justly. As St. Paul says, they were written “for our instruction”.85
3. The anagogical sense (Greek: anagoge, “leading”). We can view realities and 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

118 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.87

 

[ColdComfort]

I have been around CA for four and half years hoping to find someone familiar with the Quadriga.

If you wish to post historical notes concerning it, feel free, but please don’t suppose that you are answering my question by doing so.

I have been hoping to find someone competent in the practice of discerning the Quadriga, in hopes of comparing notes on sensus plenior.

In view of over four years of participation here, it appears that though the Quadriga is a part of the belief system of Catholicism, that there is no one who actually practices the discernment of it today.

Please someone tell me I am wrong and point me to a modern writer who practices the hermeneutic to discern it.

Thanks.

I’ve never heard the traditional fourfold meaning of scripture referred to as the Quadriga. I think that’s what you mean though. Beside the literal sense there is the allegorical sense, the moral (or tropological) sense, and the anagogical sense.

Not a modern one but I will often use this: haydock1859.tripod.com I’m sure others can refer you to more recent ones

 

[Allegra]

Francie3 - Thank you for the links.

allegra and jcrichton - Quadriga is the term used to define the official church position as defined in the catechism which states that there are four senses to the scriptures:

CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH
SECOND EDITION
PART ONE
THE PROFESSION OF FAITH

SECTION ONE
“I BELIEVE” - “WE BELIEVE”

CHAPTER TWO
GOD COMES TO MEET MAN

ARTICLE 3
SACRED SCRIPTURE

The senses of Scripture

115 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 senses of Sacred Scripture are based on the literal."83

117 The spiritual sense. Thanks to the unity of God’s plan, not only the text of Scripture but also the realities and events about which it speaks can be signs.

1. The allegorical sense. We can acquire a more profound understanding of events by recognizing their significance in Christ; thus the crossing of the Red Sea is a sign or type of Christ’s victory and also of Christian Baptism.84
2. The moral sense. The events reported in Scripture ought to lead us to act justly. As St. Paul says, they were written “for our instruction”.85
3. The anagogical sense (Greek: anagoge, “leading”). We can view realities and 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

118 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.87

Oh. I’ve heard of the four-fold approach to interpreting Scripture before, but I’ve never heard it refered to under that name. I think with that explaination, you might get more posters. Are there specific passages in Scripture that you would like to discuss their interpretations?

 

[rcjones]

Oh. I’ve heard of the four-fold approach to interpreting Scripture before, but I’ve never heard it refered to under that name. I think with that explaination, you might get more posters. Are there specific passages in Scripture that you would like to discuss their interpretations?

Any scripture would do. I am looking for a practitioner in order to discuss the nature of the methods used, whether they be subjective or objective.

Origen’s methods were rather undisciplined which led the church to reject much of his allegory. Are there methods which the church has refined in order to eliminate free-for-all allegory?

 

[jcrichton]

Francie3 - Thank you for the links.

allegra and jcrichton - Quadriga is the term used to define the official church position as defined in the catechism which states that there are four senses to the scriptures:

CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH
SECOND EDITION
PART ONE
THE PROFESSION OF FAITH

SECTION ONE
“I BELIEVE” - “WE BELIEVE”

CHAPTER TWO
GOD COMES TO MEET MAN

ARTICLE 3
SACRED SCRIPTURE

The senses of Scripture

115 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 senses of Sacred Scripture are based on the literal."83

117 The spiritual sense. Thanks to the unity of God’s plan, not only the text of Scripture but also the realities and events about which it speaks can be signs.

1. The allegorical sense. We can acquire a more profound understanding of events by recognizing their significance in Christ; thus the crossing of the Red Sea is a sign or type of Christ’s victory and also of Christian Baptism.84
2. The moral sense. The events reported in Scripture ought to lead us to act justly. As St. Paul says, they were written “for our instruction”.85
3. The anagogical sense (Greek: anagoge, “leading”). We can view realities and 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

118 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.87

…never knew it was termed quadriga.

…I wonder why newadvent.org did not list it as such.

…now, can you explain what you meant by not used?

Merry Christmas!

Maran atha!

Angel

 

[jcrichton]

Any scripture would do. I am looking for a practitioner in order to discuss the nature of the methods used, whether they be subjective or objective.

Origen’s methods were rather undisciplined which led the church to reject much of his allegory. Are there methods which the church has refined in order to eliminate free-for-all allegory?

…please bear with me (I’m truly pedestrian)… I was under the impression that Origen’s troubles arose from heresy not allegorical interpretation… can you expound on “undisciplined?”

Merry Christmas!

Maran atha!

Angel

 

[rcjones]

…never knew it was termed quadriga.

…I wonder why newadvent.org did not list it as such.

…now, can you explain what you meant by not used?

Angel

How would you expect people to use the methods if they don’t even know they exist?

 

[rcjones]

…please bear with me (I’m truly pedestrian)… I was under the impression that Origen’s troubles arose from heresy not allegorical interpretation… can you expound on “undisciplined?”

Angel

Origen produced free-for-all allegory. There were no controls and no way to verify his meaning.

 

[mercytruth]

Origen produced free-for-all allegory. There were no controls and no way to verify his meaning.

Yes, Origen was at times very allegorical. Some of this may have been a carry over from Philo. We have at least one occasion where St.Paul uses allegory in addition to the literal sense of a verse which is taken from the Torah. “You shall not muzzle the ox that treads out the corn.”

As an apostle, St. Paul had the authority to give allegorical interpretation to the literal. Jesus used many allegorical images to convey spiritual realities. I personally think allegorical interpretations of scripture other than the ones revealed in sacred scripture should not be taken as infallible. As much as I esteem the writings of St. John of the Cross and his allegorical interpretation of scriptures, I would not receive them as being infallible.

Zephaniah 3 is a good example of the allegorical, and of also a usual anagogical interpretation, which supplants the literal destiny of Israel in the past and in the future.
(I think this is an example of being subjective).

Which leads into the question of how “Israel” is to be interpreted in the prophetic writings of the OT. I personally think that when the prophets speak of the ‘nations’ and contrasts their salvation, or judgement with that of “Israel”, then we need to separate the salvation of the ‘church’ from the salvation of the descendants of “Israel” as two distinct peoples of God who will somehow be united in the last days.

Even the apostle Paul in Romans 11 separates the ‘church’ from the ‘Israel that will one day be saved’, but he does not give the eschatological details of how Israel will be saved,
nor how they will be united to God’s church.

You have brought up a good subject for reflection.

God’s peace

micah

 

[jcrichton]

How would you expect people to use the methods if they don’t even know they exist?

…let’s see… did not know the term “quadriga” existed not that I did not know that the Church Taught a particular method of reading/understanding Scriptures… can you quote the actual CCC’s definition of quadriga?

Merry Christmas!

Maran atha!

Angel

 

[jcrichton]

Origen produced free-for-all allegory. There were no controls and no way to verify his meaning.

…so this is why the Catholic Church claimed that he was promoting heretical teachings?

Merry Christmas!

Maran atha!

Angel

 

[rcjones]

…so this is why the Catholic Church claimed that he was promoting heretical teachings?

Merry Christmas!

Maran atha!

Angel

I could only guess. A doctrinally sound teacher can produce doctrinally sound free-for-all allegory. But that allegory would not have the authority of scripture. I don’t know what his particular heresy was.

 

[ahs]

Quadriga is the term used to define the official church position as defined in the catechism which states that there are four senses to the scriptures…

It’s the term used by whom? The Catholic Church, or Protestants?

And are you asserting that because some Catholics are not familiar with the term “quadriga” that they must therefore not know about the senses of Scripture?