LECTIO DIVINA

My life as a Christian has been an adventure. Ever since dedicating my life to Christ, I have sensed His leading and direction. Even the way my research goes – the Lord leads me. Today’s program will give you an example of what I mean.

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Over the past few programs, we’ve been showing how New Age Eastern religious ideas have infiltrated the church. We have also promoted a book titled “Running Against The Wind: The Transformation of a New Age Medium and His Warning to The Church.” [1]

While I was reading this book I came across a topic that I had never heard about before – it was called Lectio Divina. I was fascinated with what Brian Flynn had written:

The modern day contemplative prayer movement stems from the monastic period of Christianity (early middle ages), which was a time of experimentation and mystical practices. One of the practices, lectio divina, meaning sacred reading, involved taking a page of Scripture and reading it over and over again for the purpose of memorization. [2]

Flynn further elaborated on the meaning of lectio divina by quoting Friar Luke Dysinger, a present day monk at Saint Andrews Abbey:

Choose a text of Scriptures… Place yourself in a comfortable position and allow yourself to become silent. Some Christians focus for a few moments on their breathing; others have a beloved “prayer word” or “prayer phrase” then gently recite in order to become interiorly silent. For some the practice known as “centering prayer” makes a good introduction to lectio divina…

Now, if you know anything about New Age methods, you will see some similarities. Further if you search the Scriptures, you will not find justification for using such methods to get closer to God. In fact the practices that originate from the East are used by New Age seekers to contact the gods.

Now, the reason why I am doing today’s program. Only a few hours after I read about lectio divina (remember I had never heard about it before), I received an e-mail from a couple who research for me. They had discovered an interesting item released from Zenit, News Agency from Rome. The title of the article was: Pope Encourages Spiritual Reading of Scripture at Angelus Address: He Extols "Lectio Divina". This is what I read:

Benedict XVI says the rediscovery of "the ancient practice of 'lectio divina,' or spiritual reading, of sacred Scripture" is one of the fruits of the Second Vatican Council. Today, when praying the midday Angelus with several thousand people gathered in St. Peter's Square, the Pope said that "'lectio divina' … consists of meditating fully on a biblical text, reading and rereading it, 'ruminating it' in a certain sense" and "squeezing all its 'juice' so that it nourishes meditation and contemplation… [3]

Of course the Bible encourages us to meditate on God's Word day and night (Psalm 1:2), and "Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth" (2 Timothy 2:15). But remember, God's entire Word is truth (Psalm 119:60). We must study and declare the whole counsel of God (Acts 20:27). What the Pope is now endorsing compares more with Eastern meditative chanting, rather than balanced study of the Word of Truth. To take a number of scriptures out of context and "squeeze" meaning from them while meditating is spiritually dangerous.

I am Roger Oakland. This has been a biblical perspective to help understand the times.

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