It has been a bit of a busy week. I am currently in the process of working on my first paper for my history course. It has to be six to eight pages long and based upon a reading or set of readings that we have covered in our class. I have decided to go with the excerpts of Origen's On First Principals. My thesis is this: Understanding forms of biblical interpretations beyond the literal form, such as found in Origen’s On First Principals, is beneficial for contemporary biblical study, preaching, and pastoral care. It is my hope that I will show that understanding biblical interpretation is necessary for those three specific areas. It is clear that biblical interpretation has been a divisive issue throughout the history of Christianity and it still causes problems today. In his work, Origen discusses at great length how there is more than one way to read the Bible. In fact he contends that there are three levels by which it can be read. First, the literal form in which everything is to be understood literally as the truth, usually understood by a beginner. Second is the soul of the scripture which helps readers grow in understanding the scriptures and then finally there is the allegorical level which sometimes betrays our intellect because we have to read more deeply into the texts in order to truly understand what Jesus and the authors of the Bible wanted us to know.
Since Origen came from the Alexandrian school of thought, which placed heavy emphasis on allegorical interpretation and influenced by Hellenistic philosophy, it is easy to see why he defended his beliefs so vigorously. After reading a few of the excerpts what I found sounded awfully familiar. Though some of his works and ideas would be deemed heretical, I kind of agree with his way of biblical interpretation. Since I come from an Episcopal/Anglican background I have been taught that there is more to the Bible then just what is written. I believe that we have to read more deeply to understand the scriptures. It is not always the case for the whole Bible, since there passages where the literal understanding makes sense, such as the laws in the Pentateuch. But, when we begin to look at the parables of Jesus we cannot just take these stories at face value. There is more to each of the stories than what is written. For our Thursday service we heard one of these parables, specifically about workers in a vineyard who murder the son of the landowner. The preacher broke the story down for us, explained what each character meant and their role/purpose within the story, and from that we gained a deeper understanding of what Jesus was trying to tell his apostles about the Kingdom of God.
This is a clear case of how understanding scripture beyond the literal from is beneficial for preaching. Through various exegetical techniques a preacher can dig deeper into a passage and use that knowledge to provide their congregation something to think about. Hopefully the preacher will uncover an idea that the congregation had not thought about before and then unlock that deeper knowledge. In this case it is necessary to be able to look at a passage and see that there is more to it than what is lying on the surface.
Likewise, if/when I become ordained I will be expected to provide opportunities for adult education. This of course usually takes the form of a bible study. I believe that bible study is necessary to the formation of any Christian and that we should always be looking to deepen our understanding of scripture. It then becomes necessary for any leader of a bible study to present passages from different perspectives and go beyond just a literal interpretation. If we stick to just a literal understanding we are not taking full advantage of what the authors have given us.
So this is a glimpse of my paper. I still have to figure out the last part but I think I can do it. Now I just have to write it.
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