The Senses of Scripture



When interpreting Holy Scripture, you must take into account the sense of the verses. There are two major senses as shown in the Catechism of the Catholic Church: CCC 115-119.
St Thomas Aquinas has a section regarding the senses of Scripture in "Summa Theologica, I, 1, 10".


1. Literal Sense: word for word verbatim. A word by itself can have many meanings. However that same word taken in context can have only one meaning. Every part of Scripture has a literal sense. Literal senses can have an explicit sense such as Jn 1:14, "...the Word was made flesh", explicitly means, 'the Son of GOD became Man'. The same verse can have an implicit meaning, 'Christ had a human soul'. When words are used in their 'original sense' (not metaphorical) they are called 'Literal Proper'. The Literal sense of Scripture can be only one.

2. Spiritual Sense: Also called 'Typological' or 'Mystical' sense. The sacred writer had nothing to do to introduce the 'Spiritual' sense. It was put there by GOD and the human writer was unconscious of it.

3.. Parabolical Sense:


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