Abstract: This essay examines Thomas More's use of the fourfold method of Scriptural interpretation in De Tristitia Christi , especially tropology. While More states that meditating on the Passion narratives is conducive to growth in virtue and salvation, he often interprets the text to recommend actions in temporal affairs alien to the commentaries of the Fathers. However, a consideration of the role De Tristitia holds prudence to play in spiritual growth reveals that the interpretative framework cultivates this virtue to pave the way for more profitable reading. Such use of tropology is consonant with the work's aim to meditate on the role of the propassions in Christ's Passion, insofar as it reveals in the written word of God the same desire to render propaedeutic the lower functions of humanity found in the word incarnate. The essay closes by considering More's generous exegesis in light of his martyrdom in the Henrician Reformation.
Jennifer Fast (Mon,) studied this question.
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