embraced the life of holiness, and another for those who have attained the
middle state, and another for those who are moving rapidly towards
perfection.” 58 Obviously, the multiple senses of scripture are intimately
related to the stages of spiritual maturation. 59 Hence, Gregory the Great’s
famous maxim:
For as the word of God, by the mysteries which it contains, exercises the
understanding of the wise, so usually by what presents itself on the outside,
it nurses the simple-minded. It presenteth in open day that wherewith the
little ones may be fed; it keepeth in secret that whereby men of a loftier
range may be held in suspense of admiration. It is, as it were, a kind of river,
if I may so liken it, which is both shallow [ planus ] and deep, wherein both
the lamb may fi nd a footing, and the elephant fl oat at large. 60
But there is always this rub: faithful Christian readings do not just happen
and the needed interpretive skills do not spontaneously arise over time.
We have to be trained—mostly through Spirit-possibilized imitation of
others—to read scripture in its fullness so that we are drawn along toward
the fullness of God and our own fullness in God. We have to learn how to
be divining readers; that is, “spiritual” and not “carnal” readers, readers
who do not merely want to know what a text meant for the fi rst hearers, or
even what it means now for us, but who seek to respond whole-heartedly
and whole-bodily to the Father’s invitation to share in the mission and
destiny of his Son. 61
CONCLUSION: SANCTIFYING INTERPRETATION
Edwards’ trinitarian aesthetics teaches us that “we do not remain external
to the beauty that captivates us, but we are made beautiful as we partake
in his beauty.” 62 We are in Christ and by the Spirit harmonized with the
Father and with another, with Creator and creation, graced to create har-
monies in and for the world’s sake, just because God’s life, which is always
giving itself to and for us, is eternally harmonious. Hence, it follows that
our readings of scripture, our efforts to “play” the scriptures beautifully,
are always purposed to create possibilities for others to be drawn into the
performance with us.
It is an astonishing realization: God gives us the responsibility of mak-
ing faithful sense of the scriptures, a responsibility we can fulfi ll only as we
come to share, more and more fully and faithfully, in the character of God.
BEAUTIFYING THE BEAUTIFUL WORD: SCRIPTURE, THE TRIUNE GOD... 113
