This study looks at the assumptions within which students of the Bible in the West approached their reading, from Augustine to the end of the 12th century, when new skills in grammar and logic made it possible to develop more refined critical methods and to apply fresh tools to the task.

Learning in the Middle Ages had the purpose of making it possible to understand the Bible better. This study looks at the assumptions within which Western Bible students from Augustine through the 12th century approached their reading and developed more refined critical methods.