Scripture and Memory

The history of the three-year lectionaries tells a tale of an evolving hermeneutic. Originating in the Roman Lectionary, this hermeneutic was developed in subsequent denominational and ecumenical versions, most recently the Revised Common Lectionary. In keeping with the broad appeal of the three-year lectionary pattern, the hermeneutic is ecumenical in character. An amalgam of the historical hermeneutics of the two western traditions, it uses both the memory of the Church to interpret the Bible and the Bible to structure the memory of the Church. After an examination of the hermeneutic, West lays out the memory patterns of the two most widely used versions of this lectionary, the Roman Lectionary and the Revised Common Lectionary.