Full Description
Recovering the Church's Classical Approach to Biblical Interpretation
For nearly 1,700 years, the church read Scripture through four interwoven lenses--literal, allegorical, tropological, and anagogical--known as the quadriga. Modern biblical hermeneutics has largely set this tradition aside. In The Four Senses of Scripture, Patrick Schreiner argues the church hasn't moved beyond the ancient approach so much as it has lost something essential.
Schreiner doesn't reject the grammatical-historical method--he recovers what it leaves behind. This book
● covers all four senses--literal (grammatical-historical), allegorical (Christological), tropological (moral), and anagogical (eschatological)--with the what, why, and how of each;
● traces why early Christians used this method and makes the case for recovering a medieval mind for modern readers;
● demonstrates each sense in practice with examples drawn from across the biblical canon;
● engages exegetical, historical, and allegorical critiques of the quadriga with scholarly rigor; and
● includes an appendix written specifically for church application with scholars, students, and pastors in mind.
Drawing on patristic and medieval exegesis, Schreiner offers a coherent, historically grounded framework for reading Scripture through all four senses in conversation, a method that better honors the nature, goal, and ecclesial context of biblical interpretation. The book includes a foreword by Jonathan T. Pennington.
Contents
Foreword by Jonathan T. Pennington
Part 1: The Four Senses in Preparation
1. The Need for the Four Senses
2. The Four Senses: A House to Live In
3. Recovering a Medieval Mind
Part 2: The Four Senses in Principle
4. Literal: The Grammatical-Historical Sense
5. Allegory: The Christological Sense
6. Tropology: The Moral Sense
7. Anagogy: The Eschatological Sense
Part 3: The Four Senses and Problems
8. Responding to Exegetical Objections
9. Responding to Historical Objections
10. Responding to Allegorical Objections
Conclusion: How the Quadriga Differs from a Modern Reading
Appendix 1: Theses and Controls
Appendix 2: The Quadriga for the Church
Index
