Vol. XXXVIII / 1 - Studia Moralia

MODELS AND MULTIVALENCE 49
contradicts the relatively recent (and still developing) notion of
“spirituality” as it is being discussed in academic circles. 3
The Integrative Model
Summary. Another model for the interaction of spirituality
and moral theology predates the hierarchical and has deep roots
in the Christian tradition. According to this approach, the
spiritual and moral teachings of the Church are thoroughly
intertwined. This integrative model existed prior to the
development of a theological nomenclature that assigned the
study of the deposit of the faith to distinct scientific disciplines.
In the tradition it found two forms of expression: (1) monastic
theology, which itself is deeply tied to and in close continuity
with patristic thought, and (2) high scholastic theology,
especially as it appears in the theological synthesis of Thomas
Aquinas.
Monastic theology was practical in its orientation and
emphasized the epistemological role of love as a way of leading
a person to a deep, intimate union with God. It was sapiential in
its scope, closely tied to the Scriptures, and symbolic in the way
it expressed its insights and convictions. It based itself in
Augustine’s Neoplatonic synthesis of Christian thought and read
both the Scriptures and the Book of Creation in allegorical
terms. Such interpretation was done primarily usually fourfold
division of the senses of Scripture presented in John Cassian’s
Conferences (14.8): (1) the literal, which conveyed the historical
truth of the text, (2) the allegorical, which communicated
something about Christ and his Church, (3) the tropological,
which taught the moral meaning of the text, and (4) the
anagogical, which brought the meaning of the text regarding the
last things. In this way, all of theology (e.g., history, dogma,
morality, and eschatology) was united in the act of lectio divina
and had practical significance for the believer. The Scriptures
3
For the continuities and discontinuities between “spiritual theology”
and the contemporary discipline of “spirituality,” see SANDRA SCHNEIDERS,
“Spirituality in the Academy,” Theological Studies 50(1989): 687-90.