The lens through which we approach scripture affects how we see it, and how we relate with God as a result. As we began our Biblical Studies course in All Saints, it was important to us to talk about what our approach to scripture would be. Otherwise, it would be easy to see the Bible simply as a book we were studying. We want to approach it through a hermeneutic, an interpretive lens, rooted in love.

The early church father, Augustine of Hippo (354-430) summed up this approach well. He said that love was “the fulfillment and the end of the law and all the divine Scriptures.” Because of this,

“If it seems to you that you have understood the divine Scriptures or any part of them, in such a way that by this understanding you do not build up this twin love of God and neighbor, then you have not yet understood them” (Teaching Christianity, [Hyde Park, NY: New City Press, 1996], p. 124).

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