BIBLICAL INTERPRETATION SERIES: PART 1
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There are many theories about how Scripture should be interpreted. Some maintain that Scripture only has a literal sense (i.e., what the author intended to communicate to the intended audience). Others believe that there are often spiritual interpretations in addition to the literal interpretation. A famous interpretation method (i.e., a hermeneutic) is the Quadriga (“chariot drawn by four horses”). In this method, each verse contains a literal meaning and three possible spiritual meanings. Possible spiritual meanings include the allegorical (the gospel-centered meaning that points to Christ), the tropological (the moral meaning of how to think and act), and the anagogical (what we should hope for in light of the text). The following readings are taken from The Christian Theology Reader by Allister McGrath (5th ed., 2017). The short reading from Clement was the origination of the Quadriga. The reading from Origin likens scriptural interpretation to the body, soul, and spirit of a person.
CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA ON THE FOURFOLD INTERPRETATION OF SCRIPTURE
Background: In this extract from the Stromata, Clement (c.150–c.215) succinctly sets out the fundamental principle that there are four senses (or meanings) of Scripture: a literal sense and three additional spiritual senses.
Reading: The meaning of the law is to be understood by us in three ways [in addition to its literal sense]: as displaying a sign, as establishing a command for right conduct, or as making known a prophecy.
ORIGEN ON THE THREE WAYS OF READING SCRIPTURE
Background: The Alexandrian theologian Origen (c.185–c.254), is widely regarded as one of the early church’s most influential and creative interpreters of Scripture. Origen here uses the imagery of “body, soul, and spirit” to distinguish three different ways in which Scripture may be read, according to the maturity of the reader in question.
Reading: There are three ways in which the meaning of the Holy Scriptures should be inscribed on the soul of every Christian. First, the simpler sort are edified by what may be called the “body” of Scripture. This is the name I give to the immediate acceptance. Secondly, those who have made some progress are edified by, as it were, the “soul.” Thirdly, the perfect […] are edified by the “spiritual” Law, which contains the shadow of the good things to come. Thus just as a human being consists of body, soul, and spirit, so also does the Scripture which is the gift of God designed for human salvation. […] Some parts of Scripture have no “body.” In these parts, we must look only for the “soul” and “spirit.” Perhaps this is the point of the description in John’s gospel of the water-pots “for the purifying of the Jews, holding two or three measures” (John 2: 6). The Word implies by this that the apostle calls the Jews in secret, so that they may be purified through the word of the Scripture which sometimes holds two measures, that is what one may call the “soul” and “spirit”; sometimes three, that is, the “body” as well. […] The usefulness of the “body” is testified by the multitude of simple believers and is quite obvious. Paul gives us many examples of the “soul.” […] The spiritual interpretation belongs to people who are able to explain the way in which the worship of the “Jews after the flesh” (1 Corinthians 10: 18) yields images and “shadows of heavenly things” (Hebrews 8: 5) and how the “Law had the shadow of good things to come.”
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