5 - Greek and Jewish Allegorism
December 06, 2004 | Comments: 2SYS 501 – Hermeneutics – Lecture 5 – Historical Schools of Interpretation – Greek and Jewish Allegorism
I. Value of studying the historical schools
A. Learning from past errors, so as to avoid them
B. Being equipped to recognize flawed methods which lead to error
C. Prepared to evaluate current trends of interpretation
II. Greek Allegorical School
A. Based on extended metaphors, e.g. Pilgrim’s Progress
B. Text thought to contain some deeper hidden meaning
1. Reader needs to know if the author intended allegory
2. Then he must know the correct interpretation of allegory
C. Two traditions of Greek allegory
1. Religious – Homer, Hesiod
2. Philosophical and Historical – philosophy, ethics, science
3. Conflict between these resolved by allegorization of Homer, Hesiod
D. Became the model for converted Alexandrian Jews
III. Jewish Allegorical School
A. Jews also versed in Greek philosophy desired to reconcile it with Scripture
1. Conflict with OT anthropomorphisms and recorded immorality
2. Septuagint attempted to remove anthropomorphisms
3. Postulated that Moses was a major source for Plato, et al.
4. Allegorized OT writings
a. Considered literal meaning the body, allegorical meaning the soul
b. Literal meaning viewed as immature, allegorical as mature
B. Philo’s Three Principles of Allegorical Interpretation of Scripture
1. Any statement unworthy of God must be allegorical
2. If passage is contradictory or difficult, allegorize
3. Allegorical passages must be interpreted allegorically
4. Philo’s principles of allegorical interpretation
a. Grammatical peculiarities indicate a deeper meaning
b. Stylistic elements, e.g. synonyms and repetition indicate deeper meaning
c. Manipulation of punctuation, words, and meanings of words indicate deeper meaning
d. Symbols are to be understood figuratively
e. Spiritual truth may be obtained from etymologies of names
f. Double-application: natural objects may represent spiritual things
C. Interpreters thus free to interpret Scripture to their own advantage
Comments
All I can say, having reviewed these notes, is that I am overwhelmed with gratitude for the work ongoing since the reformation, liberating us from much of this allegorical treatment. One question: to what extent has such interpretation crept into the evangelical, fundamental, reformed schools of thought in the church presently?
nathan on December 07, 2004 at 08:32 PM
I believe it is an ongoing concern, which seems especially to find fertile soil among televangelists, fundamentalists, dispensationalists, etc. Not that we are immune, but I think the reformed heritage provides some pretty healthy innoculation against it.
andrew on December 08, 2004 at 11:05 PM
