Sanctified Vision

John J. O’Keefe and R. R. Reno, Sanctified Vision: An Introduction to Early Christian Interpretation of the Bible . Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2005. 156 p.

In recent years, theologians have given intensive, and increasingly favorable, attention to patristic and medieval interpretation of the Bible. O’Keefe and Reno, both professors of theology at Creighton University, provide a concise and readable introduction to early Christian interpretation. Patristic readers did not attempt to find meaning “behind” the text, but “through” it, by showing how the innumerable details of Scripture connected in a unified whole. The authors examine the Fathers’ primary conviction that Jesus Christ was the clue to history and to Scripture, explore their use of “intensive” attention to words and word associations and their use of typology and allegory, and end with a chapter on how spiritual reading forms Christian virtues. Sanctified Vision illuminates several patristic techniques with contemporary parallels. Apart from the author’s unfortunate lack of interest in Scripture’s historicity (“Moses, if he existed at all . . . .” – p. 70!), this book serves as a superb introduction to the rich reading of our fathers in faith.