The practice of Lectio Divina, or “sacred reading,” is a monastic practice that officially started in the 6th century and developed in the Middle Ages into a process of four steps: reading, reflecting, responding and resting (though now five steps are often given). This practice, once found only in Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches, has spread through evangelical churches like wildfire, thanks to the Contemplative movement.
An example of Lectio Divina will be discussed in this article. In a sermon message as well as on the church blog, there are instructions for doing Lectio Divina This church is not being singled out, it is only serving as a real life example. The steps given by this church for practicing Lectio Divina are almost universally the same as given in other sources for Lectio Divina except in this case, they give five steps. Each step is followed by a response from this writer.
The Steps And Responses
Step 1: Take a couple of deep breaths. Pause. Even if there is noise in the room, try to take a moment to quiet yourself and make room for God to speak. Pray and ask your heavenly Father to speak to you.
Why the need to take deep breaths and then pause in order to pray or read Scripture? This is likely coming from the influence of Eastern meditation practices. In Taoism and Hinduism, the breath (chi, prana) is part of a sacred force or energy that permeates creation. In Buddhism, the breath is actually generated by Buddha Mind since there is no self, and the goal is to realize that (through many rebirths). Returning to the breath is an exercise that stops the thinking mind and supposedly seduces you into recognizing the breath is not yours. The breath in both Hindu and Buddhist meditation is an essential part of the process and beliefs.
“Make room for God to speak.”
If I am reading God’s word, God will be speaking as soon as I start reading. One does not need to do a relaxing or breathing technique to “make room” for God to speak. This writer is familiar with such methods, however, from her time in the New Age and preparing to do a meditation.
Furthermore, why does anyone need to”make room for God to speak?” This is one way Contemplatives downgrade God, to make you think that if you are thinking too much, not being still, not being silent, or are being distracted, God will not get through to you. This is rubbish. The God who created everything, who knows everything, who spoke to the prophets and gave us his revelation certainly does not need anyone to “make room” for him to speak.
Step 2: Read: Now read your chosen passage over once or twice paying close attention to any word or phrase that sticks out or strikes a chord within you.
This is also worded as noticing a word or phrase that “jumps out at you” or “stands out to you.” What hermeneutical method is this? It is not known in any respected Christian work or teaching, and it is actually contrary to any normative or sound method of Bible interpretation. It could be viewed as childish or as supremely irrational. Contemplative practices are by nature irrational because they are subjective mysticism, based on seeking experiences. Truth shifts from God’s word to being rooted in feelings and/or experiences.
Reading God’s word should consist of careful observation and then understanding the meaning. Sound hermeneutics teaches to ask questions such as: Who is the original audience? What do you observe in the text? What does the passage say about God? What is the context? How does it relate to other passages in the Bible? And so forth.
Step 3: Reflect – Read the passage again and reflect on those words or phrases that stand out.
We should not reflect on a passage until we have determined its meaning. This is directing the reader to reflect on something out of context and on what subjectively “stood out” for whatever reason. Maybe the word stands out because you like that word, or heard it recently. Or maybe it is a word or phrase that reminds you of something. Those are not reasons for reflection, especially taking it out of context from the rest of the passage.
If we are reading a passage about God providing manna in the wilderness to those he was leading out of Egypt, we can’t accurately reflect on that incident until we read the passage in context. Using cross references, we may find Jesus’ words about being the “true bread from heaven” in John 6 (or we may recall it), and then we might read that passage. That would be the start of true reflection.
We need to read the passage for its meaning and the Holy Spirit will illuminate it if it is being handled properly. We can’t expect the Holy Spirit to work through mistreatment of the text, which is exactly what this is.
(Rest of Step 3): Ask, “What is going on in my life right now that I need to hear this?” and “What might God be saying to me?” Don’t move on from reflection too quickly. Sit for a few minutes allowing God’s Spirit to do his work. Maybe even take a breath and close your eyes for a moment.
The instruction for this step assumes that something going on in life might be connected to certain words or phrases that “stand out.” That approach can lead to interpreting the words through the filter of one’s circumstances rather than viewing one’s circumstances through the filter of God’s word. One should not assume that something from the passage is related to one’s life right now just because certain words “stood out.” And one should not start thinking about how it applies to life right now if the meaning of the passage has not been sought out (and with this method the meaning has not been correctly sought out since Lectio Divina does not seek the objective meaning of the text).
And again, with the breath! Breathing is not spiritual or magical. It is a physical act that keeps us alive. It has no spiritual benefit.
Step 3: Respond – Here is where we answer the question, “What is God inviting me into?” and we respond to it. Or perhaps God is asking something of us – and we respond to it.
The same error is here as in the previous step. Why is there an assumption that God is inviting us into something? It is more likely that God would be “inviting” the reader to handle the passage correctly. The assumption should be that there is value in any Bible passage with proper reading and reflection, as described in the response to the previous step. This step tries to make it all about the person doing the reading.
Step 4: Rest – Once we have responded to what God has said, we read the passage one more time and meditate on what you’ve experienced and rest with God.
Meditating on what we experience after using a bad way to read the Bible is only compounding the problem. Instead, we can re-read the passage and reflect on it after doing proper hermeneutics. If desired, one can use a Study Bible or commentaries to get historical and grammatical information.
Two suggested passages are given for a Lectio Divina exercise on the blog, Ephesians 3:14-21 and Colossians 3:12-17. These are rich edifying passages and it is a shame to subject them to this mystical method instead of teaching a proper hermeneutic.
Lectio Divina is Pagan
Lectio Divina advocates make a distinction between this method and reading the Bible in a normative fashion. They recognize that Lectio Divina is not reading the Bible in a normal fashion and misuse and mis-define the Hebrew terms translated as meditation to try to justify it. Lectio Divina is a pagan technique that views the Bible as having a meaning other than what it plainly states.
This is a dangerous view that treats the Bible as an esoteric book and/or as a tool that gives the reader an experience and a “private meaning.” It may make people feel good or spiritual, but ultimately it offers only an empty experience devoid of true meaning because it is not rooted in truth.
The Bible is God’s revelation in words, and language is based on logic and reason. You cannot have language without logic and reason, and so God has wired us for that. To try to override that only brings confusion and distance from God’s revelation.
Using the words to get an extra-biblical revelation or message is a supreme irony considering that the words are God’s revelation given to us in and of themselves! Words are not mystical in nature; they are vehicles of meaning.
Lectio Divina actually sabotages the Bible by giving the illusion that it is reading and meditating on God’s word when, in truth, it is merely a subjective exercise that pushes aside or even destroys the real meaning of the text.
An Answer to LD Advocates
If Lectio Divina is being introduced in your church, you can point out:
1. This method is not modeled anywhere in Scripture
2. This method treats the Bible as though it is an esoteric book, ignoring its plain meaning
3. This method ignores or dismisses examples of how Scripture is treated in the Bible, such as in Luke 4 and Acts 8
4. This method can lead to deceptive spiritual experiences or false understanding of God’s word since one is not reading God’s word by the Holy Spirit’s help, but rather via a subjective man-based method
“I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, would give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him.” Ephesians 1:17 CSB
“…these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God….Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God.” 1 Corinthians 2:10, 12 ESV
Recommended
Article by Tim Challies about a book that critiques Lectio Divina
Short link: https://shorturl.at/tLXko