PATRISTIC PERIOD: ALLEGORICAL

METHOD

The Patristic Period refers to the period from the end of the New
Testament period (Apostolic Age - the death of the last Apostle, John about
100 A.D.) to the council of Chalcedon (451 A.D.). Most scholars find the
patristic period of church history vitally important because many basic
orthodox Christian concepts originated during this period. The allegorical
(or spiritualizing) method of Biblical interpretation was prominent during
this period.
Allegorical Method
The word “allegory” is derived from the Greek word, “allegoreo,” and is
used only once in the New Testament (Gal. 4:24). The term allegory
basically means ‘to speak figuratively.’ It is used to explain something
while using the image of something else.
Allegorizing is searching for a hidden or secret meaning underlying but
remote from and unrelated in reality to the more obvious meaning of a
text. In other words, allegorical method is a method of interpretation or
exposition where the words contain a secondary meaning, other than the
straightforward one. The literal reading is a sort of code, which needs to
be decoded/interpreted/translated to determine the more significant and
hidden meaning. In this approach, the literal is superficial, the allegorical
is the true meaning.
One example of allegorical interpretation of Biblical text is given by C. I.
Scofield. In his Reference Bible, Scofield interprets Genesis 1:16
allegorically: The greater light/sun is Christ, and the lesser light/moon is
the church, reflecting the light of Christ, and the stars are individual
believers.
Another example of allegorical interpretation of Biblical text is found in I
Kings 2:19. Some interpreters have interpreted this text allegorically as a
picture of Mary reigning with Christ in Heaven.
Some used allegorical method to claim that Old Testament Israel is a figure
(type) of the New Testament church.
Therefore, allegory is basically a hermeneutical tool, a technique, a
method of interpretation. Allegorical interpretation looks for a deeper,

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spiritual meaning within the text without denying its historicity and literal
meaning. Most interpreters agree that some passages of the Bible can be
interpreted symbolically, typologically, or allegorically at the same time.
The allegorical technique itself was common to pagan, Jewish, and
Christian writers. By this method, not only was it possible for the
interpreters to consider a certain kind of historical events, but every
possible narration was seen as a type of an elevated reality.
Alexandrian School
The usage of allegorical interpretation as applied to Scripture can be
traced to the Alexandrian school which is regarded as the first academic
and theological school in Christianity. The famous school of Alexandria
was active in 185 A.D. It was established in the second century. Clement
of Alexandria (C.150-C.215), Pantanus’ pupil, brought it into light. Fathers
of Alexandria interpreted the Scripture allegorically. Alexandrians
believed that God had intentionally placed stumbling blocks in the Bible
in order to awaken human minds. There were hidden truths behind the
literal meanings. Therefore, the difficulties of scripture themselves
suggest the existence of a deeper meaning.
Two names stand out in Alexandrian school of allegorization: At
Alexandria, Philo used the allegorical method in order to diminish
references and notions in the OT which would be offensive to pagans.
Origen in Alexandria (c. 200 CE) continued the allegorical method in the
interests of Christianity. By suggesting that the OT had layers of meaning
beyond the literal, Origen made it acceptable and affirmed the unity of
both OT and NT. The most famous instance of allegorical interpretation is
Origen’s explanation of the Parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10. In
the allegorical view, the man who is robbed is Adam, Jerusalem is paradise,
and Jericho is the world. The priest is the Law, and the Levites are the
Prophets. The Samaritan is Christ. The donkey is Christ’s physical body,
which bears the burden of the wounded man (the wounds are his sins), and
the inn is the Church. The Samaritan’s promise to return is a promise of
the second coming of Christ.
Allegorical interpretation interprets the biblical narratives as having a
second level of reference beyond those persons, things, and events
explicitly mentioned in the text. A particular form of allegorical
interpretation is the typological, according to which the key figures, main
events, and principal institutions of the Old Testament are seen as “types”
or foreshadowing of persons, events, and objects in the New Testament.

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According to this theory, interpretations such as that of Noah’s ark as a
“type” of the Christian church have been intended by God from the
beginning.

Allegorical or typological interpretation is useful in various ways. It

provides the means for interpreting the whole of the Old Testament in a
Christological way so that the Christian church was understood as rooted
in, and in continuity with, the Old Testament against the positions of the
Marcionites1 and the Gnostics2. This was sustained by another
fundamental conviction and presupposition of early Christianity, viz. their
faith that the whole universe and its history was in the hands of God as the
Creator, in which Jesus was fundamentally involved as the Wisdom or
Word of God (1 Cor. 8:6; Jn 1:1-18; Col. 1:16-17; Heb. 1:1). Allegorical
interpretation is also the means by which the Old Testament law and
rituals are reinterpreted in line with the developing Christian practice
(circumcision, sacrifices, etc.). Furthermore, and very importantly,
allegorical interpretation enabled Christian interpreters to link up the
Scriptures with their own cultural context by weaving links between the
Scriptural texts and the language and learning of their own times.

One of the greatest problems with the allegorical method of interpretation

is that it seeks to find an allegorical interpretation for every passage of
Scripture, regardless of its original context. Interpreters who allegorize can
be very creative, but can be tempted to read one’s own beliefs into the
allegory and then think that they have scriptural support. Allegory may
twist someone’s thinking toward a teaching. When representations are
created within a system to persuade others into accepting it, this is abuse
of the Scriptures.

For Class Reference Only

1
A Marcionite is a member of a Gnostic ascetic sect that flourished from the 2nd to 7th century a.d. and that
rejected the Old Testament and denied the incarnation of God in Christ.
2
A 2nd century religious movement whose followers believed that knowledge and a pure life could free people
from the material world, which was created by an inferior god called a demiurge.