Andrew Murray Jr and the practice of spiritual reading

Abstract

In the writing of letters to his children Andrew Murray Jr gives the reader a glimpse in his understanding of reading not only of Scripture but of other books and texts. In his letters he teaches his children "how to read" using terminology that can be traced back to the Desert Fathers and the Benedictine tradition. This way of spiritual reading can be used fruitfully in dialogue with literary studies especially Reader Response theories in an age where reading, especially Bible reading, has become problematic.