Bl. Denys on the Interpretation of Scripture

Intro to His Commentary on the Bible

One of the most impressive theological endeavors of the Medieval Era are the biblical commentaries of Bl. Denys the Carthusian. Over a span of 20+ years, Bl. Denys completed a series of commentaries on the entirety of Sacred Scripture (vol. 1-14 in his Opera Omnia) that were the fruit of his study of the Church Fathers and prayer.

Interestingly, Bl. Denys’ commentaries were primarily written for his personal study and reference rather than for public distribution. Further, unlike the medieval masters of theology, these were never publicly delivered, but written in the quiet of his monastic cell. Bl. Denys was not a master of theology and never taught at a university He studied theology for a few years at Cologne and completed his studies at 21.

He believed that the study of the entirety of Sacred Scripture and the commentaries of the saints were a prerequisite for being an effective theologian and demonstrated this to be the case.

The first commentary he wrote was on the Psalms and appended to the beginning was a guide to the interpretation of Scripture. I decided to translate it below for your enjoyment.

Bl. Denys the Carthusian, pray for us!