Monthly Archives: August 2014

Chrysostom’s Principles of Interpretation

Posted on August 18, 2014 by krhughes14

I’m increasingly interested in how John Chrysostom utilized Scripture, both in his biblical commentaries and otherwise. Like most other early Christian figures, Chrysostom does not spend much time explicitly setting forth his method of interpretation (notable exceptions include Origen’s On First Principles … Continue reading →

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Augustine on Literal and Figurative Interpretation (2)

Posted on August 12, 2014 by krhughes14

As we saw previously, Augustine’s general rule of interpretation centers on the notion of charity: if the literal level seems to lead away from the love of God and love of neighbor, an allegorical meaning must be sought. In practice, however, … Continue reading →

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Augustine on Literal and Figurative Interpretation (1)

Posted on August 8, 2014 by krhughes14

In light of my previous post (here), one very reasonable question might have come to mind: how did the Fathers determine what in Scripture was to be taken literally, versus what is to be understood figuratively? This is hardly an … Continue reading →

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Mimesis, Typology, and Allegory

Posted on August 5, 2014 by krhughes14

What do scholars mean by the words typology and allegory? Incredibly, though these two terms describing non-literal interpretation are crucial for understanding how scripture was read in early Christianity, there is very little consensus on what exactly they mean, or even if there … Continue reading →

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