In the Beginning of Theology Was the Word
When we first begin studying theology, we are given a course entitled The Scientific Method, which, in fact, is a misnomer. The title is misleading. What this so-called method teaches is merely how to read a text, how to quote it, and so on. The methods used in theology are presented as “scientific,” yet in practice they are simply the normal methods applied in other disciplines, such as the human sciences.
We end up applying these legitimate methods in theology, but we are not truly employing the proper method of theology itself. A genuine theological method should involve the light of faith and a rigorous approach aimed at uncovering all traces of Revelation, the living Tradition, and the guidance of the Church in a text. It should constitute a faith-led reading of Scripture within the broader context of the Church’s Tradition.
In reality, we are not explicitly taught how to read a text theologically. We are told that Revelation encompasses Scripture, the Living Tradition, and the Magisterium, yet we are not instructed on how to integrate these sources or how to employ them systematically.
Instead, we continue to apply the same so-called scientific method used in human sciences, now applied to theological texts—whether Scripture, a document from the living Tradition, or a magisterial text. The proper theological method, which would guide our understanding according to faith and Tradition, remains absent. We rely instinctively and intuitively on our faith to interpret the texts, but this occurs only implicitly; it is never formally presented or explained as a method in itself.
After gathering what our faith and spiritual intuition can discern as part of Revelation—namely, the Word of God, the living Tradition, and the Magisterium—we proceed to put order into the fruits of what we have collected. In doing so, we unconsciously employ various methods of work. Even within a more systematic approach to theology, we operate in certain ways without being fully aware of them—or, more precisely, without being sufficiently aware.
These implicitly used methods need to be examined and verified to ensure that we are genuinely engaging with the object of our study, rather than merely skimming its surface. It becomes clear here that the philosophical background of our personal formation shapes the way we approach theological reality—the objects of our reading, study, reflection, and meditation.
Moreover, theology as practised today ends up shaping the way we understand our faith. The method we employ—both explicitly and implicitly—determines the outcome of our theological understanding. Consequently, the form of theology we use is decisive and formative. In effect, the real authority in the Church is theology itself, or more precisely, the prevailing way theology is understood at a given moment in history.
The heart and centre of theology is the Living Word of God, the object of the entire Revelation that the Second Person of the Trinity, Incarnate, came to give us. Engaging directly with the Word of God requires employing a proper methodology to ensure that what we receive, understand, and communicate remains faithful to the Word of God itself, rather than being shaped by our personal frameworks, habits, or limited, reductive methods.
The Council of Vatican II quoted a Pope, stating that Scripture is the soul of theology. It is more accurate, however, to say that the Living Word of God is the soul of theology—it is theology itself. The aim of theology is to encounter the Living Word of God, still present and active here on earth, in our lives and at the heart of the Church. In meeting Him, we must listen to Him and allow Him to take root in our lives. We cannot treat the Word of God in an artificial or purely intellectual manner. The Word of God is a living Being, not merely words written on a page.
Consequently, our entire being is the proper instrument of theology. It is not simply our mind or intellect analysing a text under the general light of faith. Theology is a personal encounter between ourselves and the Living Word of God. Without learning how to make this encounter happen, we have not truly begun theology. At that stage, we are merely dealing with texts—texts from Scripture, from the living Tradition, and from the Magisterium—but not yet with the Living Word Himself. The difference is profound, and regrettably, it is insufficiently emphasised.
If we begin with this central principle of theology—that it consists in encountering the Living Word of God, being enlightened, guided, nourished, and transformed by Him in our mind, will, and heart—then it becomes clear that theology cannot arise merely as an intellectual exercise. Theology is born from this encounter and the transformation it effects within us. It does not emerge from simply thinking about texts that speak of God; it arises from meeting the Living Word Himself.
The main question, then, becomes: how do we meet the Word of God? How do we listen to Him? How do we put into practice what He teaches? How do we experience the transforming power of the Word, and what knowledge and understanding emerge from this encounter? From this, we then consider how to communicate it. This is the central task of the theologian.
In this sense, theology must begin with the affirmation that in the beginning was the Word. There is no alternative starting point. We must recognise the existence of the Living Word of God, and witness His presence, action, and life, as seen in the Acts of the Apostles. We must acknowledge that He precedes us, that He comes to us, and ultimately, that at the beginning is the Word of God—and the Word of God is God. This is the proper foundation from which theology can commence and proceed.
Theological study, approached in this way, becomes a radically transformative journey. Without this orientation, what is produced is not theology but mere intellectual exercise—thinking according to arbitrary methods, rather than authentic Catholic theology.
If the Word is present at the beginning, what follows is, in fact, an extremely simple and straightforward consequence. When the Eternal Word of God became incarnate, He opened His mouth and spoke words that are Spirit and Life—words that are Holy Spirit and Divine Life. These words can transform us, save us, liberate us from the slavery of darkness, and bring radical change to our lives.
These words serve as a genuine bridge between the Eternal Word of God, who is in Himself inaudible to our human ears, and our human, incarnate reality. It is through His words that we can reach Him, be transformed by Him, and truly encounter Him, allowing ourselves to be touched and changed.
It becomes abundantly clear, in light of the reflections above, that the primary task of the future theologian—and indeed of every faithful member of the Church, every follower of Jesus—is to learn how to encounter not only the Living Word of God, the eternal Word among us, but also how to listen to Him and receive His words. In fact, the greatest miracle following the Incarnation is the utterances of Jesus—His words, what came forth from His mouth. This is a sacred phenomenon: to witness the Living Word of God, who is in Himself inaudible, become audible, become understandable, enter silently into our lives, guide us, and transform us.
These words are our treasure. They flow from Him, and He remains present among us today as the risen Lord. The central task of the theologian, therefore, is to learn the method of theology. The first and core method in theology is simply to learn how to hear—to listen attentively to the utterances of Jesus. This is the essential task of the theologian, of the future theologian, and of every faithful person.
This task requires a method because the human mind can interfere, can override the action of listening, the receptivity of faith necessary to truly hear the Word of God. Such interference can jeopardise the encounter, impeding the capacity to listen. Learning the method of listening—receiving, digesting, and being transformed by the words of the Living God, Jesus—is the first step toward experiencing the Word of God. This encounter produces new knowledge, a deeper understanding of His words.
The primary and central place where we encounter Jesus’ words is the entirety of the Bible, both Old and New Testament.
The Bible contains the Word of God. It is inspired by the Holy Spirit. Every word in the original text is intended by the Holy Spirit, who guides, illuminates, and directs the human author so that he writes what the Holy Spirit wills and only what the Holy Spirit wills. In this sense, the Scriptures—the Old and New Testaments—occupy an absolutely privileged place. They represent the most intense, most direct, and most personal way in which we can encounter the Living Word of God.
This is particularly significant today, when we have unprecedented access to the Scriptures: different versions, translations, interlinear Bibles, dictionaries, comparative tools, and so forth. More than at any other time in history, we are privileged to have direct access to the Scriptures. Through these tools, especially interlinear Bibles, we can engage almost directly with the original texts in Greek and Hebrew, and in some cases Aramaic.
It is therefore the duty of the theologian to engage directly with the Scriptures, but his primary duty is to believe that the text, in its original Hebrew and Greek, is inspired by the Holy Spirit. Each word is intentional and divinely guided. This demands a careful study of the inspiration of the text and the canon, which in turn should cultivate in the future theologian a robust act of faith.
Consequently, the theologian’s openness of mind and heart when reading the Bible is profoundly different. He approaches the text as inspired, directly engaging with the Holy Spirit and the Living Word of God, inseparably united. This is at the core of the theological method. It requires a strong act of faith grounded in the Church’s teaching: that the Bible is inspired, how it is inspired, and that each word is divinely purposeful and versatile.
Without renewing this act of faith each time the Bible is approached, one cannot truly meet the Living Word of God. To encounter Him through His utterances in the Scriptures requires this form of openness. Without it, we reduce the encounter to an intellectual exercise: reflecting on the text, extracting beautiful thoughts or theological insights, but never engaging in a living encounter with the Word of God Himself.
Mary is the way
We can then understand why Mary is shown to us as the way. As Saint John Henry Newman observed, she is the exemplar of the true theologian.
“Thus St. Mary is our pattern of Faith, both in the reception and in the study of Divine Truth. She does not think it enough to accept [faith], she dwells upon it; not enough to possess, she uses it; not enough to assent, she develops it; not enough to submit the Reason, she reasons upon it; not indeed reasoning first, and believing afterwards, with Zacharias, yet first believing without reasoning, next from love and reverence, reasoning after believing.” (University Sermons, Sermon 15, preached on the Feast of the Purification (2 February 1843), under the title “The Theory of Developments in Religious Doctrine.”)
At the Annunciation, she seeks to understand the Word of God delivered to her by the angel, asking, “How can this be, since I do not know a man?” (Luke 1:34). When the divine meaning becomes clear, she freely submits herself to that Word: “Behold, the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word” (Luke 1:38). This is the highest embodiment of what it means to be a theologian: to receive the Word, to let it penetrate the heart, and to surrender one’s life to it.
The Holy Spirit then comes upon her, and the eternal Word becomes flesh in her womb. As the angel declares, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you” (Luke 1:35). In her, the Word spoken by God becomes reality. The words she receives will continue to grow within her throughout her life, to mature, and to bear fruit.
Mary’s act of faith is entirely directed towards the Word of God. She believes that whatever God speaks, He is able to accomplish. This conviction is revealed again at Cana in Galilee, where she tells the servants: “Do whatever he tells you” (John 2:5). Her words express the audacity and certainty born of experience. In saying this, she echoes the Father’s own voice at the Transfiguration: “This is my beloved Son… listen to him” (Mark 9:7; see also Matthew 17:5; Luke 9:35).
Who is Theologian?
In the early centuries, theology was understood—particularly by the Greek Fathers—as the summit of spiritual transformation, synonymous with union with God. To “do theology” meant to be united to the Son, turned towards the Father, in the Holy Spirit. This loving intimacy and contemplation of the Father constituted theology itself. For this reason St John the Evangelist was called “the theologian” (a title still preserved in many church dedications as “John the Divine”). His Gospel reveals an entry into the inner life of the Trinity; the depth with which he describes the relationship between the Son and the Father witnesses to an experience of this intimacy. Only exceptionally was a Father of the Church granted the title “Theologian”: first St Gregory of Nazianzus, and much later St Symeon the New Theologian (949–1022).
Sources and references
On theology as contemplation and union with God among the Greek Fathers:
Evagrius Ponticus famously defines the theologian as one who truly prays: “If you are a theologian, you will pray truly, and if you pray truly, you are a theologian.”
Source: Evagrius, Chapters on Prayer 60.
English translation available here: https://archive.org/details/evagriusponticuschaptersonprayer
On the notion of theology as direct contemplation in Gregory of Nazianzus:
Gregory describes true theologians as those who “have been purified in soul and body, or at least are being purified, who have passed beyond the material to the spiritual.”
Source: Oration 27.3 (First Theological Oration).
English text: https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/310227.htm
On St John the Evangelist as “the Theologian”:
The Byzantine tradition consistently calls him ὁ Θεολόγος (“the Theologian”).
See: A. Louth, Greek East and Latin West (2007), pp. 38–39.
Publisher link: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/greek-east-and-latin-west-9780881412741
On the rare conferral of the title “Theologian” (John, Gregory of Nazianzus, Symeon):
See Kallistos Ware, The Orthodox Way (revised edition, 1995), pp. 21–22.
Publisher link: https://svspress.com/the-orthodox-way-revised-edition
On St Symeon the New Theologian:
His title reflects direct experience of God (theoria) as essential to theology.
Good scholarly introduction:
Symeon the New Theologian, Discourses, trans. C. J. de Catanzaro (1980).
Publisher link: https://www.paulistpress.com/Products/6204/the-discourses.aspx
The Word and the Spirit
It is good to recall the intrinsic and inseparable relationship between the Holy Spirit and the Word of God; one cannot speak of the Word as though it were detached from the Spirit. Saint Paul teaches that “the sword of the Spirit is the word of God” (Ephesians 6:17). The Letter to the Hebrews likewise affirms that the Word is “living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword,” capable of “piercing to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12). Through this divinely bestowed sharpness, the Holy Spirit reaches the deepest recesses of our being, at the very juncture of soul and spirit, by means of the Word.
This intimate cooperation between the Word and the Holy Spirit is manifested supremely at the Annunciation. The Word of God is able to take flesh, to become incarnate, through the action of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit’s work is to bring about the Incarnation of the eternal Word in Mary’s womb. Something similar—though infinitely smaller and humbler—occurs in the life of the theologian. Each day he or she receives a word spoken by Jesus, and it is through the Holy Spirit that this word is heard, understood, and put into practice.
Lectio is the Way
Lectio Divina is the royal way of learning theology because it is the spiritual, transformative process through which we learn God’s language, word by word, as it were. It is the form of prayer in which we meet the Word of God in a uniquely privileged manner, since it comes to us through the royal means: the Scriptures, God’s words. Lectio Divina is the way we listen to a word from Jesus, receive it, hear it, and are transformed by it. Word after word, Jesus, the Eternal Word, grows within us. To be transformed, to receive a new understanding of a word from God, and to learn how to express that word today, constitutes the entire process of Lectio Divina.
In fact, Lectio grants us three graces: first, and above all, to be transformed by a word from Jesus; secondly, to receive a new, spiritual understanding of that word; and thirdly, to receive the grace to articulate it, to communicate it to our contemporaries. Theology itself acknowledges these three graces, and St Teresa of Ávila likewise reminds us of them.
Lectio Divina is therefore the heart of the method in theology. It is the true scientific method, for it respects the letter of the text, honours the historical-critical approach, and at the same time remains faithful to the light of faith, the light of the Holy Spirit who inspired the Scriptures. It allows the words of Jesus to flow from Him to us. It is the method that corresponds perfectly to the very object of theology: the words of Jesus. It draws upon the opening of both mind and heart, and it requires the total commitment of the person to the Person of Jesus. It is Mary’s method. At its centre is the action of the Holy Spirit, who enables us truly to meet the Risen Lord, to hear His daily word, and to allow that word to become incarnate within us.
As we can see, Lectio Divina, the true method of theology, involves a living and profound act of faith, animated by the renewed total gift of oneself. The “method”—the genuinely scientific method—is nothing other than the human person’s self-commitment modelled on Mary’s commitment at the Annunciation.
Lectio Divina is the method that draws us daily back to the Living Word of God, capable of entering into us. As Scripture says, it “penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12). Indeed, “the Word of God is alive and active, sharper than any double-edged sword” (Hebrews 4:12). Truly, truly, at the beginning of theology was the Word! Let us return to the beginning every day. Let us allow nothing to come between us and the Word—no screen, no obstacle—but direct and immediate contact, in the power of the Holy Spirit.