Fr. David Hottinger, PES, wasn’t aiming to have his writing featured in an academic journal. But thanks to Dr. Kevin Clarke, professor for the Patristic Biblical Interpretation course at Sacred Heart Major Seminary, Fr. Hottinger is now a published author in the esteemed journal Scrinium: Journal of Patrology and Critical Hagiography. The international scholarly journal addresses patristics, critical hagiography, and Church history.
Fr. Hottinger is a student in Sacred Heart’s Licentiate in Sacred Theology (STL) program. The program accommodates priests by offering online classes during fall and spring semesters coupled with summer in-person classes.
The paper was penned for Dr. Clarke’s class in the summer of 2023. Under the title, “Parting the Waters: the Anagogical Sense in Maximus’ Ambiguum 10,” the paper examines how the fathers of the Church — in particular, Maximus the Confessor (580-662 AD) — interpreted the Bible. While Church fathers appreciated the literal meaning of Scripture, they also sought spiritual meaning to aid them in their own lives and to grow in holiness, Fr. Hottinger said. Based on his research, Fr. Hottinger provides examples of how Maximus interpreted Scripture and posits valid criteria for evaluating interpretations based on Maximus’ own body of work.
“In our times, that way of interpreting the Bible has fallen on hard times and people are skeptical. One fruit from reading the paper could be a confidence that the spiritual sense is real and intended by the Holy Spirit,” Fr. Hottinger said. “I think it’s a topic that everyone who is a lover of the Bible will find interesting, including Catholic spiritual scholars, students of the Bible, and fellow students and seminarians at Sacred Heart.”
After Fr. Hottinger submitted the paper for his class in 2023, Dr. Clarke encouraged him to submit it for peer review and publication, offering resources and guidance to his student along the way.
“When I read Fr. David's essay for my course, I recognized the type of material that I see in the journals,” Dr. Clarke said. “For those who may not understand the significance of academic publications, the beauty of ‘blind peer review’ is that reviewers have no idea the identity of the author, who could very well be an established senior scholar. The essay's acceptance shows that the expert reviewer and the editors judged this material to be worthy of entering into that conversation.”
As a busy pastor at a parish in St. Paul, Minnesota, nearly a year passed before Fr. Hottinger had the opportunity to submit the paper in late summer of 2024. The writing was accepted for publication just a few weeks later, and the paper was published in October.
“I really owe Dr. Clarke a debt of gratitude for being with me from the beginning of this project, first by suggesting that I turn to Maximus and to this particular work. Then, by encouragement and guidance the whole way through, including facilitating the revision process. This wouldn’t have been possible without him,” Fr. Hottinger said.
Fr. Hottinger hopes the paper will pique an interest in Maximus the Confessor for those who read it.
“Maximus is not a household name, but some call him the St. Thomas Aquinas of the Eastern Church. He was a hero of the faith in his time and produced a large corpus of writing that still has a lot of relevant and nourishing content,” Fr. Hottinger said.
Fr. Hottinger says his studies at Sacred Heart and the interaction with other student priests each summer enriches his ministry at his parish. Dr. Clarke looks forward to welcoming him and other priests to Sacred Heart for the STL program next summer.
“Now, whenever I do research on Maximus, it looks like the roles are reversed. I may have to cite Fr. David!” Dr. Clarke said.