A Monastic Introduction to Sacred Scripture. Thomas Merton
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“Merton readers owe renowned Merton scholar Patrick F. O’Connell a debt of gratitude for making available these conferences which Merton gave to his students in the 1950s. O’Connell’s skillful editing and meticulous annotation make this volume an invaluable resource. His substantive and insightful introduction to the volume is a must-read—at once shedding light on how Merton’s approach to Scripture study evolved and illuminating Merton’s own ever deepening experience of the centrality of God’s word in his own life.”
—Christine M. Bochen, Nazareth College, co-author of The Thomas Merton Encyclopedia
“Patrick O’Connell’s rendering of these conferences is authoritative, elegantly facilitated by his detailed knowledge of Merton’s entire corpus. His scholarship teases out Merton’s emphasis on a contemplative reading of the Bible, the importance of lectio divina as well as critical study, in our response to the word of God. O’Connell’s project of presenting this monastic spiritual influencer’s wide-ranging teaching notes inspires my wonder, praise, and gratitude.”
—Jonathan Montaldo, editor of Entering the Silence (The Journals of Thomas Merton, vol. 2)
“As a monk, Thomas Merton was totally immersed in sacred Scripture and, in this book, we encounter some of the earliest fruits of Merton’s own prayer, lectio, and study as he began teaching Scripture in the years immediately after his ordination. A Monastic Introduction to Sacred Scripture is a foretaste of the rich banquet that would flow from Merton’s pen in the ensuing years.”
—Paul M. Pearson, Thomas Merton Center
“The history of monastic biblical interpretation ‘must not be studied from the outside,’ insists Thomas Merton, but demands ‘a deepened and experiential study, from within.’ This critical volume demonstrates Merton’s encounter with the Bible ‘from within’ prior to Vatican II, while underscoring just how transformed his reading of the Scriptures would be by his engagement with Jewish and Protestant voices during the 1960s. Editor Patrick O’Connell tracks that dramatic evolution to the great benefit of readers.”
—Christopher Pramuk, Regis University
“This book brilliantly elucidates the centrality of sacred Scripture in Merton’s monastic life and reveals his successful efforts to integrate modern exegetical methods with the ancient tradition of monastic biblical hermeneutics. O’Connell’s profoundly learned introduction and illuminating editorial notations situate Merton’s lectures within the broader frame of theological renewal unfolding before and throughout the Second Vatican Council. This work is an indispensable contribution to the field of Merton studies.”
—Joseph Q. Raab, Siena Heights University, co-editor of The Merton Annual
A Monastic Introduction
to Sacred Scripture
Novitiate Conferences on
Scripture and Liturgy 1
Thomas Merton
edited with an
introduction by
Patrick F. O’Connell
foreword by
Bonnie Bowman Thurston
A Monastic Introduction to Sacred Scripture
Novitiate Conferences on Scripture and Liturgy 1
Copyright © 2020 Thomas Merton Legacy Trust. All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in critical publications or reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without prior written permission from the publisher. Write: Permissions, Wipf and Stock Publishers, 199 W. 8th Ave., Suite 3, Eugene, OR 97401.
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paperback isbn: 978-1-7252-5300-1
hardcover isbn: 978-1-7252-5301-8
ebook isbn: 978-1-7252-5302-5
Cataloguing-in-Publication data:
Names: Merton, Thomas, author. | O’Connell, Patrick F., editor and introduction. | Thurston, Bonnie Bowman, foreword.
Title: A monastic introduction to sacred scripture : novitiate conferences on
scripture and liturgy 1 / Thomas Merton ; edited and introduction by Patrick F. O’Connell ; foreword by Bonnie Bowman Thurston.
Description: Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2020. | Includes bibliographical
references and index.
Identifiers: isbn 978-1-7252-5300-1 (paperback). | isbn 978-1-7252-5301-8 (hardcover). | isbn 978-1-7252-5302-5 (ebook).
Subjects: LCSH: Bible—Introduction. | Bible—Hermeneutics.
Classification: bs480 m542 2020 (print). | bs480 (ebook).
Manufactured in the U.S.A. 08/07/20
Foreword
Patrick O’Connell’s judicious editing of Thomas Merton’s monastic introduction to Scripture opens the way for exploration of a heretofore largely neglected aspect of Merton’s work: his scholarly acquaintance with and use of Sacred Scripture. If readers of Merton know his work on Scripture, they are probably aware of Bread in the Wilderness or, if they are “of a certain age,” the pamphlet Praying the Psalms. A Time–Life edition of the Bible that was never published was to have been introduced by Merton’s essay “Opening the Bible,” a rich exploration for the general reader which subsequently appeared posthumously as a small book of the same title. But little sustained work has been done on Merton’s scholarly knowledge of Scripture and the scriptural basis of much of Merton’s thought. An example of it can easily be discerned in the widespread use of Pauline material in The New Man. Now we have available Merton’s detailed and systematic notes on what he discerned to be necessary background for biblical study in the monastic context.
O’Connell’s extensive introduction provides the reader or scholar undertaking a study of Merton on Scripture with the history of Merton’s presentation of this material to monastic students at Gethsemani in the 1950s and a broader summary of his engagement with developing biblical scholarship during the final two decades of his life. I am, as always, in awe of Professor O’Connell’s editorial exactitude, his breadth of scholarship, and the acuity of his judgments on Merton’s strengths and weaknesses. His introduction is a seminal work, and his notes and translations accompanying the text are invaluable. He reminds the reader that “All the other Scripture courses known to have been given by Merton . . . focus on particular biblical texts rather than the more technical background material found in this set of conferences” (xiv). This is technical material, which may make it rather hard going for the general reader, as I imagine it must have been for some of Merton’s original listeners.
In his Prologue, Merton addresses the importance of studying Scripture and the dispositions with which one should approach it, realizing “that we are approaching the true source of life” (18). Merton uses the story of the Samaritan woman in John 4 as a positive example of the approach he favors. Part I is an extended discussion of biblical inspiration, covering the existence of inspiration (28–37), its nature (37–50), extent (50–53), and effects (53–58). It includes an interesting discussion of the thorny matter of inerrancy, which Merton asserts “is not questioned by any Catholic scholar” (54), to which I respond: “Perhaps not then.” O’Connell’s accurate assessment is that “some of the positions taken have a problematic ring to them for a post-conciliar audience” (xxiv). This longest section of Merton’s notes is densely and not always pellucidly argued, making O’Connell’s introduction to it particularly helpful. Happily, Merton concludes this technically complex, difficult, and now dated discussion with the observation: “Our obligation {is} to read Scripture with wonder and praise and gladness.