medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Shameless self-promotion can be welcome. Have had a look on Google and promptly ordered for our Library. A very handy handbook!
Laura
----- Original Message -----
From: James Ginther
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: 17 March 2011 00:29
Subject: Re: [M-R] levels of biblical interpretation
medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture Prof Brown makes an important point here: while the fourfold sense was acknowledged throughout the Middle Ages, it was not employed uniformly. The early medieval approach differed considerably from the scholastic approach. I have worked more with the latter, and even then amongst the theologians of the schools there are significant differences. The distich translated here is often credited as coming from the pen of Augustine of Dacia (ca. 1260), but Robert Grosseteste has his own formulation specifically for the exegesis of the Psalms (and informed by the Tyconian Rules). The drawback of the Cassian example is that it is just an example and not representative of how the various senses were deployed in actual exegesis. For example, while the tropological sense (sensus moralis) was certainly tied to what you do (quid agas), theologians like Hugh of St-Cher spoke of it as "in persona animae fidelis" and that often permitted him to discuss what we would call aspects of philosophical psychology. Others, such as Grosseteste and Bonaventure, spoke of allegory not as just what you believe, but specifically about Christology and/or Ecclesiology.
There is also the other issue of what exactly were the four senses. There general agreement but some significant outliers (Augustine muddied the waters by talking about an etiological sense--much to the chagrin of the scholastic synthesizers), and Hugh of St-Victor only spoke of three senses.
So I would just suggest that the examples given may not completely present the state of play for exegesis in a given time.
If you are interested in later medieval exegesis, Christopher Ocker's book on Biblical Poetics does a very nice job in delineating the complexity of that period. And at the risk of shameless self-promotion, I have a long entry on exegesis in my Westminster Handbook to Medieval Theology (partially viewable on Google Books).
Jim
On Wed, Mar 16, 2011 at 7:08 PM, George Brown <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Besides Cassian, Gregory the Great in the Moralia in Job and Bede in Deschematibus et tropis describe the fourfold formula. In my A Companion to Bede, p. 25, I have more on the theory of symbol applied to Christian salvific history where I also cite the medieval distich that served as a memory aid:
Litera gesta docet, quid credas allegoria,
Moralis quid agas, quo tendas anagogia.
[The letter teaches event, allegory what you should believe./ Morality teaches what you should do, anagogy what mark you should be aiming at.
And I refer to Henri de Lubac's Exégèse médiévale: le quatre sens de l'Écriture (one volume of which has been translated into English).
GHB
On Mar 16, 2011, at 4:13 PM, Paul Chandler wrote:
medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
You're probably thinking of the famous passage in John Cassian's Conferences, 14.8.4:
The four figures that have been mentioned converge in such a way that, if we want, one and the same Jerusalem can be understood in a fourfold manner. According to history it is the city of the Jews. According to allegory it is the Church of Christ. According to anagogy it is that heavenly city of God 'which is the mother of us all.' According to tropology it is the soul of the human being, which under this name is frequently either reproached or praised by the Lord.
(trans. Boniface Ramsey, ACW 57: 510)
An older translation is here: <http://www.ccel.org/ccel/cassian/conferences.iii.v.viii.html> -- Paul
On 17 March 2011 06:03, Cormack, Margaret Jean <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Hi,
Can anyone give me a good example illustrating the four levels of
biblical interpretation? I had a website link which, foolishly,
I never copied onto a 'real' file - and so lost! I have an example using
'light' from Thomas Aquinas, but recall seeing one
with Jerusalem - and am wondering if there is an example with the
sacrifice of Isaac as well?
Thanks in advance,
Meg
--
Paul Chandler, O.Carm.
Holy Spirit Seminary | PO Box 18 (487 Earnshaw Road) | Banyo Qld 4014 | Australia
office: (07) 3246 9888 | home: (07) 3246 9894
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James R. Ginther, PhD
Assoc. Professor of Medieval Theology
& Director,
Center for Digital Theology
Saint Louis University
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