History of the Allegorical Interpretation of Parables
The Rationale for the Allegorical Method
Definition and Scope: Allegorical interpretation is a method used throughout church history to interpret parables, as well as scriptures outside the parable genre. Parables are particularly susceptible to this method because they are based on comparisons.
Cultural Influences (The Greek Context):
The early church was influenced by the Greek cultural environment.
Greek interpreters used allegory to handle the myths of their heroes and gods (), whose actions were often morally questionable.
Robert Stein's Perspective: Stein noted that allegory was a means by which the actions of ancient heroes, whose morality was no longer acceptable, could be adapted and remain useful to later generations by obscuring the literal meaning in favor of a hidden one.
Philo of Alexandria:
A Jewish thinker living in the Greek intellectual hub of Alexandria.
Philo used the allegorical method to interpret the Old Testament to make it palatable and compatible with Greek philosophy and his cultural context.
Early Church Application:
Church fathers used allegory to redirect the meaning of texts they found difficult or unpalatable.
Example (Song of Solomon): Instead of being interpreted as a physical love story between a man and a woman, it was allegorized as the relationship between Christ and the Church.
Biblical Bases for Allegory: Jesus' Own Interpretations
The Interpretive Key: The primary justification for the allegorical method is that Jesus provided complex interpretations for some of his own parables, suggesting multiple points of comparison rather than just one.
Parable of the Sower: Jesus gave specific meanings to multiple components within the story.
Parable of the Wheat and the Tares (): Jesus provided a detailed interpretive grid for the concepts in this parable:
The Sower of Seed: The Son of Man.
The Field: The world.
The Good Seed: The sons of the kingdom.
The Weeds: The sons of the evil one.
The Enemy: The devil.
The Harvest: The close of the age.
The Reapers: The angels.
Early Church Interpretations of the Good Samaritan
Marcion ():
Known as a Gnostic heretic and eventually excommunicated.
Provided the earliest recorded interpretation of the Good Samaritan.
Allegory: The Good Samaritan represents Jesus Christ.
Irenaeus:
Good Samaritan: Represented Christ, who had compassion and bound the wounds of humanity.
The Two Denarii: Represented the image and inscription of the Father and the Son.
The Labors in the Field (Parable of the Workers):
Vineyard: Righteousness.
Householder: The Spirit of God.
Denarius: Knowledge of the Son of God or immortality.
First Hour Workers: Those called at the beginning of creation.
Third Hour Workers: Those under the Old Covenant.
Sixth Hour Workers: Those during the ministry of Jesus.
Ninth Hour Workers: Contemporaries of Irenaeus.
Eleventh Hour Workers: Those present at the end of time.
Clement of Alexandria:
Good Samaritan: The neighbor, specifically Christ.
Thieves: Rulers of darkness.
Wounds: Fears, lusts, passions, pains, deceits.
Wine: The blood of David's vine.
Oil: The compassion of the Father.
Binding of Wounds: Love, faith, and hope.
Origen and the Threefold Method
The Threefold Grid: Origen, considered the greatest theologian of his time, developed a method based on a tripartite understanding of humanity derived from ("spirit, soul, and body").
Body (Literal): External events and the surface text.
Soul (Moral): Horizontal relationships and human experiences.
Spirit (Spiritual/Allegorical): Vertical relationship with God; this was considered the most important level.
Example (Parable of the Mustard Seed):
Literal: A mustard seed.
Moral: Faith.
Spiritual: The Kingdom of God.
Origen's Good Samaritan Interpretation:
Man going down to Jericho: Adam descending into sin.
Jerusalem: Paradise (the high point from which he fell).
Jericho: This world.
Robbers: Hostile influences and demons (referencing ).
Wounds: Sins and disobedience.
Priest: The Law (unable to save).
Levite: The Prophets.
Good Samaritan: Christ.
The Beast: The Body of Christ.
The Inn: The Church.
The Two Denarii: Knowledge of the Father and the Son.
The Innkeeper: Angels.
Return of the Samaritan: The Second Coming of Christ.
Augustine’s Refinement of the Allegory
Linguistic Puns: Augustine suggested "Jericho" meant "moon" in Hebrew, signifying mortality due to the moon's waxing and waning.
Augustine's Good Samaritan Interpretation:
Man/Jerusalem/Jericho: Adam leaving the city of heavenly peace for mortality.
Robbers: The devil and his angels.
Stripping the man: Taking away his immortality.
Beating the man: Persuading him to sin.
Half-Dead: Dead spiritually through sin, but half-alive through the knowledge of God.
The Two Denarii: The two commandments (Love God and Love Neighbor).
The Innkeeper: The Apostle Paul.
The Return: The Resurrection (rather than the Second Coming).
The Middle Ages and the Fourfold Method
Four Levels of Interpretation: Added a fourth level (the Heavenly or Anagogical meaning) to the literal, moral, and spiritual meanings.
Jerusalem Example:
Literal: A city in Palestine.
Moral: The human soul.
Spiritual: The Christian Church.
Heavenly: The Heavenly City.
Venerable Bede: Followed Augustine's Samaritan interpretation closely, applying it also to the Prodigal Son (identifying the man as Adam and the oil as repentance).
Thomas Aquinas: Argued that four levels were naturally necessary, just as there are four cardinal directions (North, South, East, West).
The Reformation: A Rejection of Allegory
Martin Luther:
Rejected the fourfold method as "clerical jugglers performing monkey tricks."
Emphasized the literal sense (the author's intention) and stated Origen's exegesis was "worth less than dirt."
Inconsistency: Luther occasionally still used allegory in parables. In the Good Samaritan, he viewed the Innkeeper as a preacher of the Word and the oil/wine as the Gospel or grace/cross.
John Calvin:
The most consistent reformer in rejecting allegory.
Referred to allegorical interpretations as "idol fooleries."
First major figure in years to argue the Good Samaritan was not Christ.
Critique of Allegory: He argued that turning "half-dead" into a theological proof for the state of Adam's soul was a "cunning story" cooked up by meddlers.
Principle: We should look for nothing more than what Christ intended to tell us; search for only one literal sense.
William Tyndale: Stated scripture has but one sense—the literal sense—which is the ground of all and never fails.
Modern Period: R.C. Trench and the Rule of Faith
Archbishop R.C. Trench: Author of Notes on the Parables of Our Lord. While emphasizing a literal meaning, he maintained that one should also look for a deeper meaning, effectively continuing the allegorical tradition.
Trench's Good Samaritan Attributes:
Binding Wounds: Sacraments healing the soul.
Oil: Anointing of the Holy Spirit.
Two Denarii: Gifts, graces, and the remission of sins.
The Rule of Faith: A principle used throughout history stating that allegorical interpretations are acceptable as long as the "spiritual meaning" being read into the text remains orthodox (consistent with church dogma).
Augustine’s Practical Rule: If an interpretation helps one love God and neighbor more, it is considered useful and harmless, even if not the author's original intent.