Lectio divina in the Orthodox tradition and contemporary biblical hermeneutics

Ekvivalent metodi i iskustvu koji se opisuju s lectio divina kod latinskih autora u pravoslavnoj predaji bilo bi „duhovno čitanje“ Pisma. Ovakav pristup biblijskim tekstovima bio je u novovjekoj biblicistici osporavan, ignoriran i proglašavan premodernim i srednjovjekovnim. Međutim, okret k „sinkroniji“, u drugoj polovini XX. vijeka stavlja u epicentar čitaoca, iskustvo, srodnost čitaoca i teksta, aproprijaciju, odnos prema „stvari teksta“ i sl., i time vraća lectio divina u polje hermeneutičkih promišljanja. U pravoslavnoj predaji, kao i u suvremenoj pravoslavnoj biblicistici lectio divina ili „duhovno čitanje“ adekvatno je zahtjevu biblijskih tekstova, ne potire ispravno shvaćen historijski kriticizam, omogućava da glas tekstova iz daleke prošlosti nesmetano uprisutnjuje Boga kroz sve historijske epohe, kao i da komunicira suštinsku biblijsku poruku u Crkvi i društvu.In Orthodox tradition the concept of „spiritual reading“ of Scripture might be viewed as equivalent to the methods and experience described as lectio divina by Latin authors. This approach to biblical texts in modern biblical studies has sometimes been challenged, ignored or declared to be pre-modern and obsolete. However, the turn towards „synchrony“ in the second half of the 20th century places the concept of the reader, the experience, the relationship between the reader and the text, appropriation, attitude towards „the substance of the text“, and so on at the center of hermeneutical observations. This approach has brought lectio divina back to the field of hermeneutic reflection. In the Orthodox Tradition, as well as in modern Orthodox biblical studies, lectio divina or „spiritual reading“ is considered appropriate to absorbing the fundamental claims of biblical texts; it does not inhibit correctly understood historical criticism; and it allows the voice of texts from the distant past to speak of God down the ages and diachronically communicate essential biblical messages to the Church and society