Theology, Rhetoric, Manuduction, or Reading Scripture Together on the Path to God

Like medieval maps with their intricate illustrations, unusual proportions, and omission of seemingly crucial details, medieval works of theology were designed to provide not an objective “lay of the land” for disinterested study but an itinerary for individuals “traveling” a specific route. To read was to be taken by the hand and to join fellow travelers on a journey of participation — and ultimately union — with God.

In >Theology, Rhetoric, Manuduction, or Reading Scripture Toegether on the Path to God Candler introduces us to fertile medieval texts such as the Confessions of Augustine, the Glossa Ordinaria on the Bible, and the Summa Theologiae of Aquinas. At the same time he argues that modern thought has displaced their “grammar of participation” with a dualistic “grammar of representation” that determines our most taken-for-granted attitudes toward memory and learning. Offering a striking contrast to such attitudes, Candler’s >Theology, Rhetoric, Manuduction, or Reading Scripture Toegether on the Path to God opens the way to a more holistic account of reading, knowledge, and theology.