Luther and Interpretation of Scripture

When Luther came on the scene, he broke away from the fourfold meaning of Scripture. It is no mystery that Luther repudiated allegory and spoke favorably of typology. However, in practice, Luther still utilized allegory while interpreting Scripture passages. One only needs to read some of his commentaries to see that he does use allegory as part of his exegetical process. Go to his discussion about the doves on Noah’s ark for instance. Or pick up CPH’s two volume set: A Year in the Gospels with Martin Luther. There you will often see sections titled: Allegories.

So is Luther a hypocrite? No. As long as allegory agreed with the analogy of faith and gave comfort to troubled consciences, allegory was free to stand. This idea of allegory is not far removed from the way typology is commonly used in today’s context. Nor is it far from the middle of the road commentators from Alexandria, like Cyril. Though Luther speaks against Origen’s use of allegory, that it is not connected to the analogy of faith, Luther is thankful that Origen’s allegories are most often connected to morality. For Luther, these interpretations should always be compatible with and informed principally by Christ and to a lesser extent, the church. Luther praises Peter and Paul’s use of allegory concerning the flood (1 Pt 3) and the Red Sea (1 Cor 10) because it ‘serves to comfort hearts.

Luther appears to take what is good from the Alexandrian interpretative tradition and the best of Antioch and builds his own method. Luther asserts the historical account is the literal sense as well as the spiritual sense in his Genesis lectures, but understands allegory (or would modern scholars understand it as typology?) can work well and assist, as was shown above. Luther held to a Christology more along the lines of Cyril of Alexandria. Christological doctrine is born from exegesis of Scripture. As long as the allegory was connected to, illustrated the historical account, and agrees with the analogy of faith, allegory is permitted.

Rev. Jacob Hercamp
St. Peter’s Lutheran Church
La Grange, MO