Encore Post: Pastor Smith has spoken a little about the four fold sense of interpreting Scripture. The Alexandrian theologians (at least some of them) followed this four fold sense method. Antioch held just to the literal or historical sense.
Those four are: Literal, Allegorical, Tropological, and the Anagogical senses. Below, I will try to explain them. I hope it proves to be a helpful primer. I do not believe I have a full grasp on each of these senses, but again I hope this gives some idea as to how the senses of interpretation were used to “get deeper into the meaning.”
The literal or historical sense is applicable to both a historical event and literary text. The literal sense is emphasized insofar as it historically grounds subsequent spiritual interpretation. Every subsequent sense was supposed to be connected then to the literal sense.
The allegorical sense then is used after the literal sense. The allegorical sense has been argued to go all the way back to St. Paul, even Jesus uses allegory in some of this parables. The allegorical sense of Scripture has been understood as referring to the mysteries of Christ and the Church as prefigured in Scripture. So then in the allegorical sense the object of allegory is properly Christ and the Church. Another principal of the allegorical sense in light of the Old Testament is that the object of allegory in reference of the Old Testament is a reality in the future.
The tropological sense applies a Scriptural text to the moral life. This sense, historically, has been a contributing factor for Christian anthropology and spirituality. The tropological and allegorical senses are united because while the allegorical sense refers to Christ and Church, the tropological sense refers to the individual members of the Body of Christ.
Finally the analogical sense is the eschatological sense of Scripture that looks forward to the consummation of everything in Christ at his final coming. In light of this we can kinda begin to see how these senses work all together. For instance, the anagogical sense represents the fulfillment of allegorical sense.
This was all supposed to find Christ, but more often than not, theologians went much further afield. This is why Luther was very weary of it. The medieval Church came up with some fanciful interpretations that had absolutely nothing to do with Christ.
Rev. Jacob Hercamp
St. Peter’s Lutheran Church
La Grange, MO
See also: Rule #5: Look for the Intended Meaning | The Theological Schools of Alexandria and Antioch | Marcion | The Ebionites | Digging into the Old Testament
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