Allegory is a means of presenting or interpreting a story by focusing on hidden or symbolic meanings rather than the literal meaning. Background Allegory arose from the Cynic and Stoic philosophies of the Hellenistic period (fourth to second centuries B.C.). As a general phenomenon, allegorical interpretation is adopted when sacred traditions are challenged by advances in knowledge and thought. When no longer able to interpret the traditions historically, and being unwilling to discard the traditions themselves, followers of the traditions probe for deeper, symbolic meanings. In the Greek world allegory was used primarily to interpret the Homeric myths and to preserve some moral and philosophical truths from them. Old Testament Allegory Scholars generally agree that none of the Old Testament was written allegorically. Portions of it have been interpreted allegorically by later generations. Allegorical interpretation of the Old Testament arose among Hellenistic Jews in Alexandria during the second century B.C. Philo, who died about A.D. 50, was its most prolific proponent. Philo sought to preserve Old Testament traditions against Greek perspectives in science and philosophy. He applied allegory to many portions of the Old Testament where the biblical views seemed to contradict contemporary secular understandings. The use of allegorical interpretation in the Middle Ages began as a Christian method for studying the differences between the Old Testament and the New. Christian scholars believed both the Old and New Testament were equally inspired divinely by God and sought to understand the differences between Old Testament and New Testament Laws. Medieval Christian Scholars believed the Old Testament acts as an allegory of New Testament events. Allegorical interpretation led many early expositors to follow false trails. The emergence of the allegorical method of interpretation in the early church provides a good example. Because much of the Old Testament was seen as unhelpful or sub-Christian, the only way to save it for Christian use was to distinguish a hidden spiritual sense, concealed behind the natural meaning. Allegory seemed to be a legitimate method of interpretation because it was controlled by the content of the New Testament or, later on, by church dogma. The relationship between the natural meaning of the Old Testament and the teachings of the New was left to the ingenuity of the expositor. One serious effect of the allegorical method was that it tended to hinder people from taking the historical or natural sense of the Old Testament seriously. In the Middle Ages, the logic was taken a step further. Not only was the unhelpful natural sense of the Old Testament given its spiritual sense from the natural sense of the New Testament. Even the natural sense of the New Testament was seen to require its own spiritual interpretation, which was found in the tradition of the church. Thus, authority now lay, not in the natural meaning of the canon of Scripture, but in the teachings of the church as it interpreted the spiritual meaning according to its own dogma. Origens work is dated around the beginning of the third century. Origen who interpreted the Scriptures in an allegorical way, is credited with being the father of the allegorical method of interpretation. The reason is that Origen, in a comprehensive system, made allegory the only way to truly understand the Scriptures. In Origens system of interpretation, he often denied the ordinary sense of the text, and replaced it with allegories which he made up. These allegories then became the real meaning of the text. There was no way to challenge the allegories on the basis of the text, since what the text actually said was no longer what it meant. It was, therefore, no longer necessary that the allegory actually come from the text, because it was the allegory that was authoritative. The theology which the allegory illustrated was imposed upon the text.
Posted on: Sun, 24 Nov 2013 04:27:45 +0000
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