Scripture, he says, must be read in a three-fold manner: “secundum historiam, allegoriam, et moralem instructionem, seu magis dicendum, tropologiam.”
I. The Historical Sense of Scripture
Then the whole Bible must be gone through three or four times in its historical sense, and those portions of it be marked which are not capable of literal interpretation. What would be false, unbecoming, unmeaning, and opposed to true morality, if interpreted literally, must be mystically understood.
I. The Old Testament Law & Histories
At first, the student ought to confine himself to the Books of Moses, and the historical books of the Old Testament, and study them with Josephus or Hegesippus open before him. If he cannot make out a word, let him look at Isidore’s work on Etymologies, Jerome’s Explanation of Hebrew names, the Liber Derivationum, or the Partionarius vel Glossarius.
The principal facts should be committed to memory; for instance, the details of the Creation, the history of the building of the Ark, the names and number of the Patriarchs, the plagues of Egypt, and such like.
Next, St. Augustine’s work, De Quaestionibus can be read with great profit.
II. The Old Testament Prophets
After this, the student may begin to read the prophetical books of the Old Testament; paying attention to the fulfilled, and to the unfulfilled, prophecy.
III. The Rest of Scripture
Then the rest of the Bible may be read. St. Jerome’s work on the localities of Palestine is to accompany the reading of the Gospels.
II. The Allegorical & Moral Meaning of Scripture
When the Bible has been mastered, the student is to study the Sacraments of the Church. These he will find fully treated by Hugh of St. Victor’s.
Then he is to study the principal virtues, and the opposing vices.
If he wants a history of the Church, there is the Candela Gerlandi; or, if he likes, the Quare of Simon the Theologian. Next to this, the works of St. Augustine, the Doctrina Christiana and the De Civitate Dei, are to be mastered.
After this preparation, the student is in a position to take up any book of Holy Scripture, and study profitably its allegorical and moral meaning.
Source: Anonymous, 12th-13th century
