Let\u2019s apply the spiritual sense of the Christmas story to our lives. For that story happens not only once, in history, but also many times in each individual\u2019s soul. Christ comes to the world but He also comes to each of us. Advent happens over and over again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Christmas is so familiar that we sometimes wonder whether anything fresh and true can be said about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But there is a way to explore its meaning that may seem new to us today, yet is in fact quite traditional, dating back to the Middle Ages and the ancient Fathers of the Church.
Modern interpreters often argue about whether a given Scripture passage should be interpreted literally or symbolically. Medieval writers would question the \u201ceither\/or\u201d approach. They thought a passage could have as many as four \u201cright\u201d interpretations, one literal and three symbolic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These were: (1) the historical or literal, which is the primary sense on which the others all depend; (2) the prophetic sense when an Old Testament event foreshadows its New Testament fulfillment; (3) the moral or spiritual sense, when events and characters in a story correspond to elements in our own lives; and (4) the eschatological sense, when a scene on earth foreshadows something of heavenly glory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This symbolism is legitimate because it doesn\u2019t detract from the historical, literal sense, but builds on and expands it. It\u2019s based on the theologically sound premise that history too symbolizes, or points beyond itself, for God wrote three books, not just one: nature and history as well as Scripture. The story of history is composed not only of \u201cevents,\u201d but of words, signs and symbols. This is unfamiliar to us only because we have lost a sense of depth and exchanged it for a flat, one-dimensional, \u201cbottom-line\u201d mentality in which everything means only one thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Let\u2019s try to recapture the riches of this lost worldview by applying the spiritual sense of the Christmas story to our lives. For that story happens not only once, in history, but also many times in each individual\u2019s soul. Christ comes to the world\u2013but He also comes to each of us. Advent happens over and over again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Read it all<\/a>.<\/p> Francesco Granacci (1469 \u2013 30 November 1543) was an Italian painter..Adoration of the Christ Child,c.1500 pic.twitter.com\/DSVzOXgPzz<\/a><\/p>— Yiannis Einstein-\u0399\u03c9\u03ac\u03bd\u03bd\u03b7\u03c2 \u0391\u03c1\u03b2\u03b1\u03bd\u03b9\u03c4\u03ac\u03ba\u03b7\u03c2 (@yianniseinstein) May 1, 2024<\/a><\/blockquote>