Augustine and figurative meaning

Any harsh and even cruel word or deed attributed to God or his saints that is found in the holy scriptures applies to the destruction of the realm of lust [i.e. it is to be taken only figuratively].

Augustine, On Christian Doctrine, 3.39

A Brief History of Interpretation

A very helpful summary of the history of biblical interpretation by Dr. Thomas Long...

http://community.tncc.edu/faculty/longt/REL200/intro-comp-interp.htm

Gregory of Nyssa on Song of Songs

Comment on Song of Songs 1:13...

The location of the heart is said by experts to lie between the two breasts. Here is where the bride says that she has the sachet in which her treasure is kept. Also, the heart is said to be a source of warmth from which the body's heat is distributed through the arteries. The body's members are thereby heated, animated and nourished by the heart's fire. Therefore the bride has received the good odor of Christ in the governing part of the soul and has made her own heart a kind of sachet for such incense. And so she makes all her actions, like parts of the body, seethe with the breath from her heart so that no iniquity can cool her love for God in any member of her body.

Homilies on the Song of Songs 3 in J. Robert Wright, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture: OT IX (Downers Grove: IVP, 2005), 306-307.

Gregory of Elvira on the Song of Songs

Explanation of the Song of Songs 3.29

These two hands are the two covenants of the old law and the gospel. When it refers to his left hand, it indicates the old covenant, but the right hand is the preaching of the gospel. The old covenant is inferior because it is placed beneath the head of the church, who is Christ, whereas the right hand embraced the church, meaning that old sins were covered by the sacraments of the gospel. Whoever goes forth in faith, therefore, and serves Christ with devotion, leaves the old person beneath himself and embraces anew the body of Christ, which is the church.

Gregory of Elvira in J. Robert Wright, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture: OT IX (Downers Grove: IVP, 2005), 314.

Ambrose on the Song of Songs

Comment on 8:1-4

What are the breasts of the church except the sacrament of baptism? And well does he say "sucking," as if the baptized were seeking him as a draught of snowy milk. "Finding you without," he says, "I shall kiss you," that is, finding you outside the body, I embrace you with the kiss of mystical peace. No one shall despise you; no one shall shut you out. I will introduce you into the inner sanctuary and hidden places of Mother Church, and into all the secrets of mystery, so that you may drink the cup of spiritual grace.

Ambrose, Consolation on the Death of Emperor Valentinian, 75 in J. Robert Wright, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture: OT IX (Downers Grove: IVP, 2005), 362.

Origen and Literal Meaning

Let no one suspect that we hold that Scripture does not contain real history, or that the precepts of the Law are not to be observed to the letter, or that what is written of the Savior did not happen in reality...Much more numerous are the truly historical passages than those which are to be taken in the purely spiritual sense.

Origen, On First Principles in George Montague, Understanding the Bible, 35

Allegory and Martin Luther

Even though he called allegorizers "clerical jugglers performing monkey tricks," Luther himself was known to engage in the occasional allegory.

His interpretation of the Good Samaritan:

the man going down to Jericho = Adam and all humankind
the robbers = devils who robbed and wounded us
the priest = fathers (Noah, Abraham) before Moses
the Levite = priesthood of the Old Testament
the good Samaritan = Lord Jesus Christ
oil = grace

from Robert H. Stein, "The Parables of Jesus in Recent Study," in Word and World 5/3 (1985), 249.

Meaning and Authority in Interpretation

Allegorical/Spiritualistic Summary

Meaning: Beyond the text
Authority: Spirit
Question: Is there a deeper, spiritual meaning that needs to be uncovered?

Allegory of the Fish

The Allegory of 153 Fish, John 21:11 (Compiled by Mark Moore)

The number 153 has had a number of allegorical interpretations attached to it, none of which appear valid:

(1) There were supposedly 153 varieties of fish in the Sea of Galilee. Thus, this is a veiled reference to Mt 13:47-48, showing that all kinds of people will be saved. This estimate comes from Oppian via Jerome. However, Jerome is somewhat "loose" in his counting of Oppian's categories. Besides that, Oppian wrote c. 176-180 and therefore can not adequately account for John's usage of 153.

(2) The total represents the sum of all the numbers from 1-17. 17 = 10 commandments plus the 7 gifts of the Spirit. Or, according to R. Grant, "'One Hundred Fifty-Three Large Fish' (John 21:11)," Harvard Theological Review 42 (1949): 273-75, there are seven Apostles present at the catch and ten who received the Holy Spirit (John 20:24). Thus, 153 functions here as 144,000 does in Revelation 7:4 to represent all God's redeemed.

(3) Peter's name in Hebrew, Simon Iona, numerically is 153.

(4) 153 = 100 (Gentiles) + 50 (Jews) + 3 (Trinity).

(5) The Hebrew word for Mt. Pisgah has a numerical value of 153. This shows how Jn 21 is Jesus farewell adress to the leaders of the New Israel, just like Moses' (cf. Num 11:16-25; 27:17). (O. T. Owens, "One Hundred and Fifty Three Fishes," ExpT 100 (1988): 52-54.)

(6) The Hebrew for "The Children of God" has a numerical value of 153. Hence, Jn 21 is a reference to the new "children of God." (J. A. Romeo, "Gematria and John 21:11--The Children of God," JBL 97/2 (1978): 263-64.)

(7) The 153 fish in the net, plus the one that Jesus had cooked = 154 fish. This matches the numeric value of of the Greek word "day," which was one of the titles for Jesus in the early church. (K. Cardwell, "The Fish on the Fire: Jn 21:9" ExpT 102 (1990): 12-14.)

(8) 153 is gematriacal Atbash. If you reverse the numerical value of the Hebrew Alphabet, then take the numbers 70, 3, and 80, you get the Greek letters "I," "X," and "Th." These are the first three letters of the Greek word "fish" which was, of course, a significant symbol in early Christianity. This word was an accrostic for early Christians which signified: "Jesus Christ, God, Son, Savior." (Cf. N. J. McEleney, "153 Great Fishes [John 21:11]--Gematriacal Atbash," Biblica 58 [1977]: 411-17).

Philo

Let us follow him from the beginning in his book “On the Allegories of the sacred Laws.” “It would,” he tells us, “be a sign of great simplicity to think that the world was created in six days or indeed at all in time.” Six, therefore, is only mentioned because it is a perfect number, being the first which is produced by the multiplication of two unequal factors. On the seventh day God did not “rest,” but, having desisted from the creation of mortal creatures, began the formation of more divine beings; and the word should be rendered “He cause to rest.” Nature delights in the number seven. There are seven stars in the Bear, seven parts of the soul, seven viscera, seven limbs, seven secretions, seven vowels, seven tones of the voice, seven strings to the lyre; and by God’s “causing to rest” on the seventh day is meant that when reason “which is holy according to the number has entered into the soul, the number six is then arrested, and all the mortal things which this number appears to make.” By “the green herb of the field” Moses means “that portion of the mind which is perceptible only by intellect.” The verse “God did not rain upon the earth,” means that God did not shed the perceptions of things upon the senses. To take literally the words “God planted a Paradise in Eden” is impiety; “let not such fabulous nonsense even enter our minds.” The meaning is that God implants terrestrial virtue in the human race. The tree of life is that most general virtue which some people call goodness. Its four heads are the cardinal virtues. Pheison is derived from pheidomai “I spare,” and means prudence, and being an illustrious virtue it is said to compass the whole land of Evilat where there is gold. The name Gihon means “chest” or an animal which attacks with its horns, and therefore stands for courage, and it compasses Ethiopia or humiliation; in other words, it makes hostile demonstrations against cowardice. Tigris is temperance; the name is connected with a tiger because it resolutely opposes desire. Euphrates means fertility and stands for justice. Again, Pheison means “change of the mouth,” and Evilat “bringing forth,” which is an appropriate name for folly which always aims at the unattainable, and is destroyed by prudence manifested by speaking, i.e. by the changing of the mouth! The carbuncle and emerald of the land of Evilat stand for Judah and Issachar. The Euphrates does not mean the river, but the correction of manners. The literal statement that God cast Adam into a deep sleep and made Eve of one of his ribs is fabulous; the meaning is that God took the power which dwells in the outwards senses, and led it to the mind. The serpent means pleasure, which leads Philo into a long disquisition about the rod of Moses, and the tribe of Dan. Dan means “temperance” though he is the son of Bilhah, which means imbibing; he is a serpent in the path that is in the soul; he bites the heels of the horse, because “passion has four legs as a horse has,” and is an impetuous beast and full of insolence, and the soul which is the rider of this horse falls backwards, i.e. falls from the passions when they have been wounded.

Frederic W. Farrar, History of Interpretation, Bampton Lectures 1885 (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1961), 143-144.

Martin Luther

When I was a monk I allegorized everything. But after lecturing on the epistle to the Romans I came to have some knowledge of Christ. For therein I saw that Christ is not an allegory, and I learned to know what Christ actually was.

In McCartney, Let the Reader Understand (Bridge Point, 1994), 93.

Thomas Aquinas

The multiplicity of these senses does not produce equivocation or any other kind of multiplicity, seeing that these senses are not multiplied because one word signifies several things; but because the things signified by the words can themselves be types of other things. Thus in Holy Writ no confusion results, for all the senses are founded on one – the literal – from which alone can any argument be drawn, and not from those intended in allegory, as Augustine says. Nevertheless, nothing of Holy Scripture perishes on account of this, since nothing necessary to faith is contained under the spiritual sense which is not elsewhere put forward by the Scripture in its literal sense.

Summa Theologica 1.1.10 in McCartney, Let the Reader Understand (Bridge Point, 1994), 92.

Thomas Aquinas

The author of Holy Writ is God, in whose power it is to signify his meaning, not by words only (as man also can do) but by things themselves. So, whereas in every other science things are signified by words, this science has the property that the things signified by the words have themselves also a signification. Therefore that first signification whereby words signify things belongs to the first sense, the historical or literal. That signification whereby things signified by words have themselves also a signification is called the spiritual sense, which is based on the literal, and presupposes it. For as the apostle says (Heb. 10:1) the Old Law is a figure of the New Law and [Pseudo-] Dionysius says: “The New Law itself is a figure of future glory.” Again, in the New Law, whatever our Head has done is a type of what we ought to do. Therefore, so far as the things of the Old Law signify the things of the New Law, there is the allegorical sense; so far as the things done in Christ, or so far as the things which signify Christ, are types of what we ought to do, there is the moral sense. But so far as they signify what relates to eternal glory, there is the anagogical sense. Since the literal sense is that which the author intends, and since the author of Holy Writ is God, Who by one act comprehends all things by His intellect, it is not unfitting, as Augustine says (Confessions xii), if, even according to the literal sense, one word in Holy Writ should have several senses.

Summa Theologica 1.1.10 in McCartney, Let the Reader Understand (Bridge Point, 1994), 91.

John Wycliffe

For him the Bible was an all-sufficient guide without contradictions; mirroring the truth of God, it gave access to metaphysical reality. Wycliffe not only insisted on the primacy of Scripture; he also refused to separate theology from the Bible and laid a foudnation for reform by calling for church doctrine and practice to line up with Scripture. Using Augustine's principles, Wycliffe believed that the law of love should guide interpretation, that faith precedes understanding, and that the essential message of Scripture is plain to those who submit humbly to illumination by the Holy Spirit. Although colored by allegory, his preaching and his theological works were always built upon the brammatical-historical sense of Scripture, and he said all allegory should have a Christological focus. Wycliffe stood for the priesthood of the believer: individuals could work out their own salvation with the help of the gospel and without the church being the essential mediator of grace. Since this called for a Bible in the common language, he began translating the Vulgate into English. This work was completed after his death, probably by Nicholas of Hereford and John Purvey.

James T. Spivey Jr. in Bruce Corley et al, Biblical Hermeneutics, 2nd ed (Nashville: Broadman and Holman, 2002), 109.

Medieval Hermeneutics

The Letter shows us what God and our fathers did; the allegory shows us where our faith is hid; the moral meaning gives us rules of daily life; the anagogy shows us where we end our strife.

in Klein, Introduction to Biblical Interpretation (Dallas: Word, 1993), 38.

Medieval Hermeneutics

The foundation is in the earth and it does not always have smoothly fitted stones. The superstructure rises above the earth, and it demands a smoothly proportioned construction. . . . Even so the Divine Page, in its literal sense, contains many things which seem both to be opposed to each other and, sometimes, to impart something which smacks of the absurd or the impossible. But the spiritual meaning admits no opposition; in it, many things can be different from one another, but none can be opposed. The fact, also that the first course of stones to be laid upon the foundation is placed flush with a tarut cord, and these are the stones upon which the entire weight of the others rests and to which they are fitted - is not without its meaning. For this is like a sort of second foundation and is the basis of the entire superstructure. This foundation both carries what is placed upon it and is itself carried by the first foundation. All things rest upon the first foundation but are not fitted to it in every way. As to the latter foundation, everything both rests upon it and is fitted to it. The first one carries the superstructure and underlies the superstructure. The second one carries the superstructure and is not only under the superstructure but part of it. The foundation which is under the truth as we have said stands for history, and the superstructure which is built upon it we have said suggests allegory.

Hugo of St. Victor, Didascalion VI.4. The Didascalion of Hugh of St. Victor, 2nd edition, trans. Jerome Taylor (New York: Columbia University Press, 1991): 140-141.

Is Barney the Antichrist?

Proof that Barney, the cute purple dinosaur, is the Antichrist can be ascertained with a little numerical study of his name and description.
Given: Barney, a cute purple dinosaur.
Step 1: Extract the Roman numerals from the given.
(Remember since the Romans had no letter 'U', we must replace each instance of 'U' with a "V")
Initial conversion: BARNEY A CVTE PVRPLE DINOSAVR
Roman Numercial extraction: C V V L D I V
Step 2: Add them: 100 + 5 + 5 + 50 + 500 + 1 + 5 = 666
Irrefutable proof! Christian Parents are advised to get all their kids Barney tapes and burn them!

from http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Parthenon/6528/anti.htm

Philo

And God says, he “who slays Cain shall suffer sevenfold” (Gen. 4:15). But I do not know what analogy this real meaning of this expression bears to the literal interpretation of it, “He shall suffer sevenfold.” For he has not said what is to be sevenfold, nor has he described the sort of penalty, nor by what means such penalty is excused or paid. Therefore, one must suppose all these things are said figuratively and allegorically; and perhaps what God means to set before us here is something of this sort. The irrational part of the soul is divided into seven parts, the senses of seeing, of smelling, of hearing, of tasting, and of touch, the organs of speech, and the organs of generation. If, therefore, any one were to slay the eighth, that is to say, Cain, the ruler of them all, he would also paralyze all the seven. (Det. 166b-168b).

Philo in Bruce Corley, Biblical Hermeneutics (Nashville: Broadman and Holman, 2002), 62.

Philo's Rules of Interpretation

(From Gary Hall, Lincoln Christian Seminary)
1. The literal sense is excluded if: the statement is unworthy of God, There is a contradiction, or the allegory is obvious.
2. The literal and allegorical sense can be used side by side when: an expression is repeated, a word is superfluous, there is an apparent tautology, there is a change of expression.
3. Words may be explained apart from their punctuation, especially if there is a contradiction.
4. Use of synonyms implies allegory.
5. Plays on words are permissible to get the deeper sense.
6. Particles, adverbs, and prepositions may be given all their meanings in one context; words may be altered; an unusual expression means something mystical.
7. All numbers and names of places that have etymologies are symbols for moral and spiritual things.