scholarly journals Literal in contrast to alegorical interpretation: History versus myth

2018 ◽  
pp. 207-220
Author(s):  
Rodoljub Kubat
Keyword(s):  
The Other ◽  
Philo Of Alexandria ◽  
Literal Interpretation ◽  
Theodore Of Mopsuestia ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Christian Understanding ◽  
Exact Moment ◽  
Correct Understanding ◽  
Allegorical Interpretation

Allegoresis as an exegetical method originated within Hellenistic schools of philosophy, and it expressed the Hellenistic thought to a great extent. First interpreters of the Bible who started using allegorical interpretation were the Hellenized Jews - Aristobulos and Philo of Alexandria. Later Christian interpreters followed in their footsteps, especially the representatives of the Alexadrian School, of whom the most notable is Origen. Biblical interpreters were faced with the problem of relation between the literal and the allegorical interpretation from the very beginning. The source of that problem was the Christian understanding of history, namely, the belief that God has really revealed Himself in history. Denial of text?s historical meaning deprived the formative events of faith of any meaning. On the other side, the sole view of the history as series of events from the past which have no deeper meaning led exegesis to sterile literalism. Tensions between the literal interpretation and the allegoresis escalated particularly in the 4th century when Emperor Julian the Apostate tried to revive Hellenistic paganism. In order to revive old myths, he made use of allegoresis. In polemic writings against the Christians he also emphasized that the Bible has to be understood allegorically. Prominent Christian theologians then arose against allegorical interpretation, seeing in it as a serious threat for the correct understanding of the Scripture. In that exegetical battle, the most notable were: Basilius the Great, Diodoros of Tarsus and Theodore of Mopsuestia. In this paper we will take a look at that exact moment in history.

scholarly journals Rule of Love and Rule of Faith in Augustine’s Hermeneutics: A Complex Dialectic of the Twofold Rules

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 207-218
Author(s):  
Steven Yong
Keyword(s):  
Sixteenth Century ◽  
The Other ◽  
Literal Interpretation ◽  
Rule Of Faith ◽  
Good Samaritan ◽  
De Doctrina Christiana ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Original Meaning ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
Allegorical Interpretation

Since the sixteenth-century Reformation, literal interpretation of the Bible has been deemed the best hermeneutical method to unearth the biblical writers’ original meaning. For the Reformers, allegorical interpretation was denigrated for reading an extraneous, or spiritual, meaning into any text. Although Augustine was among the first who champions a literal interpretation of the Scripture—as he outlined in his De doctrina christiana—until recent decades, Augustine is still being perceived as inconsistent in following his hermeneutical method as it is attested in his interpretation of the Good Samaritan. In his interpretation, Augustine seems to have allegorized the parable, thus his method was accused of being inconsistent. Is it really the case? This article attempts to contest such an accusation by showing that Augustine’s method of interpretation cannot simply be categorized as either entirely literal or allegorical. Augustine never professes as a literalist, an exegete who only applies what is now known as a historical-critical method. On the other hand, he did not recklessly legitimate the application of allegorical reading to any text. Taken as a whole, Augustine’s hermeneutics revolves around a complex dialectic of regula dilectionis (the rule of love) and regula fidei (the rule of faith) that allows both interpretations to be considered to be true.

scholarly journals Ekspository Preaching: Jawaban Terhadap Kebutuhan Sistem Berkhotbah Masa Kini

2016 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-20
Author(s):  
Aris Elisa Tembay
Keyword(s):  
Expository Preaching ◽  
The Other ◽  
Word Of God ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Detailed Explanation ◽  
God's Word ◽  
Allegorical Interpretation

Dalam ilmu Homeletika, dikenal ada tiga jenis khotbah; yakni khotbah Topikal, Tekstual, dan Ekspositori. Dibandingkan dengan dua jenis khotbah yang lain, ekspositori memiliki ciri-ciri dan kelebihan tersendiri, oleh karena pengkhotbah sangat terikat dengan teks yang dikhotbahkan dan teks tersebut harus merupakan teks yang lengkap seperti satu perikop.  Sesuai dengan namanya “Ekspositori” adalah memberitakan atau mengekspos kebenaran Firman Allah dalam satu rangkaian yang terdiri dari tema, pokok-pokok besar dan kecil yang kesemuannya bersumber dari teks. Sehingga menolong pengkhotbah untuk jauh dari penafsiran alegoris, karena seluruh khotbah terdiri dari suatu penjelasan terperinci tentang satu bagian tertentu dari Alkitab dan nats Alkitab itu terjalin dalam seluruh uraian. Khotbah ekspositori menolong jemaat atau pendengar untuk mudah mengerti maksud dan tujuan Firman Tuhan, karena yang diberitakan bukan ide pengkhotbah tetapi murni penguraian dari teks yang dibacakan. Di samping itu sistematika ekspositori yang menguraikan pokok-pokok besar dan kecil bersumber dari tema yang berasal dari teks, memudahkan pendengar untuk mengerti bahkan mengingat Firman Tuhan yang diberitakan. Oleh sebab itu khotbah ekspositori adalah jawaban bagi tantangan pemberitaan Firman Tuhan masa kini.   In Homiletics, there are three types of preaching known; namely Topical, Textual, and Expository sermons. Compared with the other two types of preaching, the expository has its own characteristics and advantages, because the preacher is very bound to the text being preached and the text must be a complete text like a passage. In accordance with its name "Expository" is to preach or expose the truth of God's Word in a series consisting of themes, big and small points whose findings are sourced from the text. So it helps the preacher to be far from allegorical interpretation, because the entire sermon consists of a detailed explanation of one particular part of the Bible and the scriptures are intertwined in the entire description. Expository preaching helps the congregation or listener to easily understand the purpose and purpose of God's Word, because what is preached is not the preacher's idea but purely a decomposition of the text read. In addition, expository systematics that outlines the major and minor points of origin comes from themes originating from the text, making it easy for listeners to understand and even remember the Word of God preached. Therefore expository preaching is the answer to the challenges of preaching God's Word today.

Reacting to Translations Past

2015 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 133-152 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julie McDonough Dolmaya
Keyword(s):  
English Translation ◽  
Translation Studies ◽  
Role Playing ◽  
The Other ◽  
Pedagogical Approach ◽  
The Past ◽  
Role Playing Games ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Translation Services ◽  
Historical Role

Reacting to the Past is a pedagogical approach that incorporates historical role-playing games into the classroom. In this paper I discuss this approach and demonstrate how it could be adapted for translation studies courses. Two games are described: one is set in England in the early 1500s and focuses on William Tyndale’s English translation of the Bible, while the other is set in Canada in 2007 and focuses on the development of the Canadian standard for translation services. Finally, to shed some light on the experiences and reactions of students who are taught using the Reacting to the Past approach, I briefly discuss the results of a survey of translation students who played the two games in an undergraduate theory of translation course during the Fall 2012 term.

Chronicles and intertextuality in early rabbinic literature

2019 ◽  
Vol 43 (4) ◽  
pp. 712-725
Author(s):  
Blaire A French
Keyword(s):  
The Other ◽  
Rabbinic Literature ◽  
Special Treatment ◽  
Dual Effect ◽  
The Past ◽  
Leviticus Rabbah ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
The One

The call to read Chronicles ‘midrashically’ in Leviticus Rabbah 1.3 and Ruth Rabbah 2.1 challenges the contemporary understanding of intertextuality in the early Rabbis’ interpretation of Scripture. David Stern, James Kugel, and others claim that the sages considered each word of the Bible to be equal, regardless of who wrote it or when. The Rabbis’ insistence, however, that Chronicles receive special treatment contradicts this assertion. This article argues that Chronicles’ late date of composition had a dual effect. On the one hand, Chronicles’ lateness reduced its authority and led the Rabbis to give greater weight to the words of the Primary History in their intertextual readings. On the other hand, Chronicles’ retelling of the past provided a biblical warrant for the Rabbis’ own reshaping of tradition.

Seventeen Centuries of Sin: The Christian Past in Antebellum Slavery Debates

2020 ◽  
Vol 89 (2) ◽  
pp. 307-332
Author(s):  
Paul Gutacker
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
African Americans ◽  
Religious History ◽  
Church History ◽  
The Other ◽  
Christian Tradition ◽  
Nineteenth Century America ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Close Study

AbstractHistorians of American religion generally agree that religious debates over slavery were characterized by a reliance on the plain meaning of the Bible. According to the conventional wisdom, antebellum Americans were uninterested in or even overtly hostile to tradition and church history. However, a close study of pro- and antislavery literature complicates this picture of ahistorical biblicism. For some defenders of slavery, not merely the Bible but also Christian tradition supported their position, and these Catholics, Episcopalians, Presbyterians, Methodists, and Baptists mined the past for examples of Christian slaveholding. On the other hand, both white and Black antislavery authors used religious history to bolster their cases against the peculiar institution, with African Americans leading the way in developing an antislavery account of the Christian past. The previously unnoticed historical dimensions of religious arguments over slavery prove central to understanding why these debates failed, while also modifying how we conceive of scripture, tradition, and religious authority in nineteenth-century America. Arguments over slavery show that religious Americans—even many who claimed to be biblicists—did not read the Bible alone but always alongside and in relation to other texts, traditions, and interpreters.

The Allegorical Exegesis of Song of Songs by R. Tuviah ben ’Eliʽezer—Lekaḥ Tov, and Its Relation to Rashi's Commentary

AJS Review ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 75-92
Author(s):  
Jonathan Jacobs
Keyword(s):  
Song Of Songs ◽  
Literal Interpretation ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Future ◽  
Unique Approach ◽  
Allegorical Interpretation

This article examines three facets of R. Tuviah ben ’Eliʽezer's commentary,Lekaḥ tov, on Song of Songs: (a) his unique approach to allegorical interpretation; (b) his participation in Judeo-Christian polemics; and (c) the question of a connection between his commentary on Songs and Rashi's. R. Tuviah proposes to read the verses of Songs as simultaneously describing the past, the present, and the future of the Jewish nation, a type of reading that is extremely rare in rabbinic midrashim, which R. Tuviah adopts to create a systematic allegorical commentary. There are similarities between the interpretations of R. Tuviah and those of Rashi; while not numerous, all the same these two scholars were the first to propose a literal interpretation of Songs, they both engaged in similar Judeo-Christian polemic, and they interpreted Songs on the allegorical level in a similar fashion. These points of similarity support the possibility that Rashi was exposed to reports of R. Tuviah's commentary on Songs.

The Evangelicism of Lefèvre d'Étaples: 1525

1972 ◽  
Vol 19 ◽  
pp. 42-77 ◽  
Author(s):  
Henry Heller
Keyword(s):  
The Other ◽  
Religious Thought ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Other Hand

Several excellent studies of the theology of Lefèvre d'Étaples are in print. Although they approach his work from a variety of perspectives all it seems reach essentially similar conclusions. They all take for granted that Lefèvre's application of humanist principles to the study of the Bible marked a notable break with the past. All admit that his stress on the inner reception of the Word, his consequent insistence on a hermeneutic which was at the same time more direct and more spiritual, and his more or less exclusive evangelicism represented a clear departure from the established modes of religious thought. On the other hand, Hahn, Dörries, and the others all agree that Lefèvre's thought must be clearly differentiated from the more radical evangelicisms of Luther or Calvin.

scholarly journals The Nature and Structure of the Islamic World

1996 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 401-405
Author(s):  
Yousuf Dadoo
Keyword(s):  
Popular Culture ◽  
Print Media ◽  
The Other ◽  
Muslim World ◽  
The West ◽  
Literal Interpretation ◽  
Islamic World ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Western Media

The author offers a concise critique of Wes tern perceptions of Islamand the Muslim world. He then proceeds to discuss the Muslim world andproposes a taxonomy for it on the basis of certain configurations in orderto prove that the Muslim world should not be treated as a monolith.Contemporary problems, which shall be elucidated during the course ofthis review, are highlighted.In "Prospectus," Braibanti introduces the perception dialectic that isnow prevalent in the West as regards Islam. First, there is the pejorative"green menace," according to which the united hordes of Islam threaten toannihilate the West. Second, there is a more sober ecclesiastical, political,and intellectual reappraisal of Islamic issues. The author offers a tentativeprediction: In a more confrontational environment, the former view willpredominate, and vice versa. He then discusses the first component of thedialectic in greater detail over the next three chapters.In "Circles of Antagonism: Popular Culture," Braibanti states that thenegative bias toward Islam and the fear of it are reflected daily in Americanmedia and in policy-shaping forums. He cites a few contemporary examplesfrom literature, movies, print media, and documentaries.He argues that two "subtle rhetorical aberrations" (p. 7) prejudice theperception of Islam. The first one is the tenn fundamentalist, which isequated with violence. In Christianity, where this term is defined clearly,it refers to a literal interpretation of the Bible by a minority of adherentswho believe in biblical infallibility. When this term is applied to Muslimson this basis, virtually all can be called fundamentalists. However, as violencecannot be linked to the quintessentials of Muslim belief, it is unfairto blame all Muslims for the crimes committed by a minority. The authorcould have elaborated on the nebulousness of this term for Muslims withdetails like the following: Whereas certain groups of Christians, like theAmish, emulate lifestyles of earlier times in minute details, no "traditional"Muslim spurns conclusively the benefits of technetronics. So one wouldnot find a Muslim preferring to travel by camel when motor transportwould be affordable and more convenient."Fundamentalism" gained currency among Western media with theIranian revolution of 1979. Some Muslims often ask: Was this binaryopposition, namely, fundamentalist/other, fabricated to sow confusionamong Muslims? Would the "other" only refer to a nominal, nonpracticingMuslim? ...

scholarly journals Towards a Reform of the Christian Understanding of Shona Traditional Marriages in Light of Ancient Israelite Marriages

2017 ◽  
Vol 43 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Canisius Mwandayi
Keyword(s):  
Martin Luther ◽  
Biblical Text ◽  
Sacramental Theology ◽  
Pragmatic Approach ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Bible ◽  
The World ◽  
Christian Understanding ◽  
The Church

As we celebrate 500 years of the great reformist, Martin Luther, among the most memorable and cherished ideas about him were his calls for a return to the Bible as well as reforms in the understanding of marriage. Departing from the traditional sacramental theology of marriage, Luther convincingly argued that since matrimony existed from the beginning of the world, and still continues even among unbelievers, there are no reasons why it should be called a sacrament of the church alone. Tapping from his reformist ideas, this paper argues for the place of Shona traditional marriages in light of celebrated traditional biblical marriages. The argument here comes against the past and current onslaught against African traditional marriages. Evaluated against the European white wedding, African traditional marriages have been rated as living in sin unless a marriage had been blessed in church. Had it been just a colonial ill-thought it could have been tolerable, but what is quite disturbing is that most pastors today continue to ridicule those who are traditionally married but not yet married in church. Engaging a pragmatic approach to the biblical text, this paper argues that if God blessed such marriages as Isaac to Rachel, Jacob to Leah and Rachel, Boaz to Ruth and others—which were contracted traditionally—there is no way His hand could be seen as short when it comes to African marriages. Since biblical marriages which were contracted traditionally were not sinful in nature, one can use such examples as a leverage to appreciate and defend Shona traditional marriages.

The Same Yesterday and Today and Forever? A Hermeneutical Study of the Use of the Old Testament in the Epistle to the Hebrews and its Implications for Scriptural Authority and Biblical Preaching in a Secularized Western Setting

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
Samuel Maginnis
Keyword(s):  
Old Testament ◽  
The Other ◽  
Word Of God ◽  
Sacred Text ◽  
Biblical Authority ◽  
Biblical Preaching ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Epistle To The Hebrews ◽  
Christian Understanding ◽  
Interpretive Method

Abstract Secularization and pluralism have created a crisis of biblical authority within contemporary Western Christianity. Responding to this, Christine McSpadden has produced a manifesto for preachers which approaches the Bible not as just one ‘sacred text’ amongst others but as a unique means of life-changing encounter with the living and active Word of God. Though she makes no reference to it, McSpadden’s understanding of Scripture closely echoes that of one of the earliest Christian texts, the Epistle to the Hebrews. The purpose of this paper is to examine Hebrews’ use of the Old Testament and what its interpretive method reveals about the author’s understanding of the nature of Scripture; to identify the extent to which McSpadden’s approach follows this understanding and method; and to determine what further implications this shared tradition may have for the doctrine of scriptural authority and the practice of biblical preaching in a contemporary Western setting. It concludes that McSpadden’s approach stands firmly in the tradition first articulated in Hebrews and that together they reflect the most ancient Christian understanding of scriptural authority, which protects the Bible texts from historical irrelevance on one hand and from unduly speculative and subjective interpretations on the other.

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