Gary Neal Hansen

Theology. It's good for you.

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You are here: Home / Archives for Ladder of Monks

Finding a Life-Giving Approach to the Bible (part 7, conclusion): Process & Goal

September 4, 2014 by Gary Neal Hansen Leave a Comment

And so we come to the end of the classic book on lectio divina by Guigo II (d. 1188), The Ladder of Monks. The idea of a ladder is key to understanding his approach to the Bible — despite all the food metaphors I’ve noted in these posts. He might have done better still with a spiral […]

Filed Under: Bible, Prayer, Theology Tagged With: Guigo II, Ladder of Monks, Lectio divina

Finding a Life-Giving Approach to the Bible (part 3): Read It

August 7, 2014 by Gary Neal Hansen Leave a Comment

The subtitle here is not a snarky Nike-influenced oversimplification: “Just read it.” No. I am referring to the first step of the process in medieval monastic spiritual reading, the foundation of “lectio divina.” Simply reading the Bible, opening at Genesis and pressing on to Revelation, is an excellent practice, of course, though a challenging one for many. But that is […]

Filed Under: Bible, Prayer Tagged With: Guigo II, Ladder of Monks, Lectio divina, Sacred reading, Spiritual reading

Finding a Life-Giving Approach to the Bible (part 1)

July 25, 2014 by Gary Neal Hansen Leave a Comment

If you want to understand your faith, whether to live it with confidence or to share it with others, you need to have a solid working knowledge of the Bible. The problem for a lot of Christians, though, is that we don’t know where to start. Actually a lot of us don’t want to start. Some […]

Filed Under: Bible, Prayer, Theology Tagged With: Bible Study, Cathusian Monks, Guigo II, Ladder of Monks, Lectio divina

Theology. It’s good for you.

I'm a Church historian by trade. My writing, speaking, and teaching explores the Christian past to equip today's disciples. Join me here for regular posts on the best of theology, spirituality, community, and ministry. read more…

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Need a new and manageable way to dig into Scripture?

Find out how it can be a joy again--or maybe for the first time. Love Your Bible: Finding Your Way to the Presence of God with a 12th Century Monk is a modern introduction to an ancient, prayerful, Christian practice called lectio divina. Click the button to subscribe to my weekly(ish) newsletter with all my new articles and announcements. As my way of thanking you, I'll send you the ebook version for free.

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