BI SQ # 3 (Chapter 9)

Compare and contrast the hermeneutics of Alexandria and Antioch.

Hermeneutics mean the science and art of Biblical Interpretation.

But many scholars and the interpreters take to mean in different ways. And also the Alexandria and Antioch are dissimilar each other. The Greek philosophy and Hebrew religion discussed about the interpretation of the Bible in Alexandria. According to their ideas, the Scripture was not to be understood literally. The speech of God implies only an influence on the soul of man. Some are based on the Moses’ writings which had an appearance to the Greek philosophers. Farrar affirms that Philo considered the Mosaic Law to be holy and everlasting, and he found Greek philosophy to be inspiring, noble, and irresistible. The extreme allegorical interpretation of Philo has caused Christians to recoil from using allegory and deny that Paul employed a different and moderate form of allegory. The scripture can be interpreted either literally or allegorically.

The Antioch hermeneutics were influenced by the Origen. They emphasized a literal interpretation of the scripture. Allegory was unwanted the Antioch interpretation of the Bible. The interpreter of Alexandria demanded to Paul’s used of the word allegory in Galatians 4. And Antioch claimed that even though he used the word he did not really interpret allegorically. Also Paul believed in the historical reality of the event and used it as an example. The Alexandria deprived the Bible of historical reality. The Antiochene insisted on the historical reality of the biblical revelation. They saw a deeper meaning to Scripture than the literal and historical meaning, but they based the deeper meaning on the literal and historical. They rejected hidden meanings which only Gnostics could comprehend. Antiochene interpreters believed that the prophet himself foresaw both the immediate event which was to come in the history of ancient Israel and the future coming of Christ.

According to their interpretation, I agree more on the Alexandria interpretation of the Bible. We cannot interpret scripture literally. Because the Word of God is so deep and high for human thinking.