There are two main schools of interpretation. One is call “Allegorical” while the other is “Exegetical”.
What’s the difference between the two???
Allegorical Interpretation is – “Giving” meaning to the passages of the Bible.
Exegetical Interpretation is – Extracting, or getting the “original” intended meaning of the author of the passages in the Bible.
I have read some works of Catholic writers who uses “Allegorical Interpretation”. I believe I have lost one copy of my document written by St. Francis of Assisi that interprets the passage in the book of Matthew about the good Samaritan. Anyway, I just want to point out that it is almost totally different from Exegetical point of view.
Today, what most Bible interpreters do is Exegesis, since this is more conservative in approach, clearer and sound.
Talking about Exegesis, there are underlying rules, these are the two main rules:
1.All passages in the Bible has “only one” intended meaning. This means that in each passages, there should be only one interpretations. Different Bible Study lessons then only differs with their “application” of the passage in their lives but not in the interpretation of the passage (hope this is clear enough)
2.There are “certain” (not all, but some) passages in the Bible that are simply vague and beyond interpretation. In this case, we should not add nor give an interpretation out of it, just leave it as it is. Time will come that God will just reveal its meaning. This means that we should not add, assume or subtract something from these passages. For it will not only lead to false teachings and false doctrinal stands, worst, a cultic movement.
I do hope that this note has given you a clearer idea why reading the Bible should not be a big problem. Furthermore, the Bible itself encourages us to meditate on it day and night.
FROM: http://catholicdogmarefuted.com/
1. Scripture interprets scripture.
2. All scriptures must be taken in their context and
applied as they apply in context
3. Where a device of literature or oratory such as parallelism, inverse, reciprocal or an appositive or other device of grammar is used to define a term, clause or meaning, it must be applied as stated and is not open to any other interpretation.
4. If Jesus states it more than once in the same paragraph, it means what He says. He meant it the way He said it or He would have said something else!!! (ad infinitem)
5. A single verse or passage of scripture cannot have a true interpretation that contradicts any other scripture
6. No single verse should be the basis of a doctrine, dogma, or major teaching. There must be at least one other scripture affirming it, though there should be at least three other scriptures that can be cited in support
7. No true interpretation of a passage can contradict other scriptures
8. All support scriptures must be contextually validating the supported text
9. We use the Authorized English translation only (AKA the King James Version)
10. No variant in English readings or translations is the basis for another interpretation. Please, use the same translation we use in email to keep clarity and meaning equal.
11. Any further revelation of God to be such must agree with His first revelation. (i.e. the New Testament agrees with the Old Testament 100% of the time.) Any other revelation that disagrees with what God has said is false and probably comes from the father of lies.
12. Appeals to Greek or Hebrew definitions that disagree with the English word used in the quotes from the Authorized English translation most be corroborated by multiple lexicons and scholars, not one source. (WE ARE NOT GREEK AND HEBREW SCHOLARS and you do not need to be scholars to understand the direct statements of the Word of God. Truth transcends linguistics.)
There can be an infinite number of subjective allegorical interpretations, but there is only one objective exegetical interpretation given by God’s Holy Spirit which would not contradict related verses or passages.
I Timothy 6:20-21
O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called: Which some professing have erred concerning the faith. Grace be with thee. Amen.
from: http://watch.pair.com/zodiac.html
Were Christians to understand the anatomy of deception, they would be more apt to recognize deceivers. The Scriptures tell us that Satan and his ministers actually “transform themselves” into angels of light, apostles of Christ and ministers of righteousness…
For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works. II Cor. 11:13-15
How does this transformation happen? Occult sources state that “transformation” is the outcome of a series of processes called initiation into the Eastern or Western Mysteries, which Scripture terms “the depths of Satan” (Rev. 2:24). As the born-again Christian becomes a new creation in Christ (Acts 7:42-3) and is indwelt by the Holy Spirit (John 14:17), the person who experiences occult initiation is transformed into a new creature in Satan and is indwelt by one or more devils. We are told that the adepts and masters—the chosen few who have gone beyond the Lesser Mysteries and enter the Greater Mysteries—ascend to the very Throne of God and are “deified”. Deification, of course, is only an illusion; however, these high level initiates, having experienced the ‘depths of Satan’, are indwelt by a personality that is not their own. And a certain number of these “deified” men and women have been incarnated by devils who are capable of impersonating a born-again Christian. Thus possessed by highly intelligent supernatural entities, we find many ‘wolves in sheep’s clothing’ on the Christian scene who exhibit a “born-again” personality.
Because evil spirits can persuasively masquerade as ministers of righteousness, the elect must look beyond outward appearances and exercise their spiritual senses to discern between good and evil. This requires a spiritual perceptivity beyond the low standard exhibited by nominal Christianity, for Satan creates first-class images for his most valuable ministers, who often become prominent personalities through image campaigns that are designed expressly to deceive the Christian masses. The wise Christian will disregard outward appearances and become impersonally objective, putting a man or woman’s doctrine the acid test of Scripture. Moreover, teachings must be analyzed with careful attention to details and nuances since false doctrines are often framed in an artifice of truths and half-truths designed to fool and entrap the masses of shallow Christians.
from: http://watch.pair.com/mystery-babylon.html
Two centuries later, Philo’s method of allegorical interpretation of Scripture was taught by Clement and Origen in their catechetical school of Alexandria where they synthesized Neo-Platonism with Christianity to produce a Christianized version of Gnosticism. These misnamed “Church fathers” were ascetics, whose harsh treatment of the body is rejected by Scripture: “Which things have indeed a shew of wisdom in will worship, and humility, and neglecting of the body; not in any honour to the satisfying of the flesh.” (Col. 2:23) In his History of the Christian Church, Philip Schaff described the basis of the false doctrine of asceticism as spiritual elitism akin to Gnosticism:
“The Alexandrian fathers furnished a theoretical basis for this asceticism in the distinction of a lower and higher morality, which corresponds to the Platonic or Pythagorean distinction between the life according to nature and the life above nature or the practical and contemplative life. It was previously suggested by Hermas about the middle of the second century. Tertullian made a corresponding opposite distinction of mortal and venial sins. Here was a source of serious practical errors, and an encouragement both to moral laxity and ascetic extravagance. The ascetics, and afterwards the monks, formed or claimed to be a moral nobility, a spiritual aristocracy, above the common Christian people; as the clergy stood in a separate caste of inviolable dignity above the laity, who were content with a lower grade of virtue. Clement of Alexandria, otherwise remarkable for his elevated ethical views, requires of the sage or gnostic, that he excel the plain Christian not only by higher knowledge, but also by higher, emotionless virtue, and stoical superiority to all bodily conditions; and he inclines to regard the body, with Plato, as the grave and fetter of the soul. How little he understood the Pauline doctrine of justification by faith, may be inferred from a passage in the Stromata, where be explains the word of Christ: ‘Thy faith hath saved thee,’ as referring, not to faith simply, but to the Jews only, who lived according to the law; as if faith was something to be added to the good works, instead of being the source and principle of the holy life. Origen goes still further, and propounds quite distinctly the catholic doctrine of two kinds of morality and piety, a lower for all Christians, and a higher for saints or the select few. He includes in the higher morality works of supererogation, i.e. works not enjoined indeed in the gospel, yet recommended as counsels of perfection, which were supposed to establish a peculiar merit and secure a higher degree of blessedness. He who does only what is required of all is an unprofitable servant; but he who does more, who performs, for example, what Paul, in 1 Cor. 7:25, merely recommends, concerning the single state, or like him, resigns his just claim to temporal remuneration for spiritual service, is called a good and faithful servant. Among these works were reckoned martyrdom, voluntary poverty, and voluntary celibacy.” (“Heretical and Catholic Asceticism”)
FROM: http://watch.pair.com/mystery-babylon.html
Contemporary with Jesus Christ was Philo Judaeus (c. 30 BC-45 AD), a Hellenized Jew of Alexandria who is credited with first allegorizing Scripture and applying the mystical method to the Mosaic writings. Unrivaled in esoteric knowledge, according to Blavatsky, Philo was a member of the elitist Alexandrian society called the Therapeutae, also called “an esoteric circle of ‘illuminati’ of ‘wise men’.”
“Therapeutae. (Gr.) or Therapeutes. A school of Esotericists, which was an inner group within Alexandrian Judaism… They were ‘healers’ in the sense that some ‘Christian’ and ‘Mental’ Scientists, members of the [Theosophical Society], are healers, while they are at the same time good Theosophists and students of the esoteric sciences. Philo Judeaus calls them ‘servants of god’…‘an esoteric circle of illuminati,’ of ‘wise men’… They were contemplative Hellenistic Jews.’” (Theosophical Glossary, p.329)
The Jewish Encyclopedia states concerning the Therapeutae, “The members of the sect seem to have branched off from the Essene brotherhood.” Both of these Gnostic orders were Jewish ascetics who practiced celibacy based on the Gnostic belief that, since the material world is was created by an evil Demiurge, to reproduce is to merely to populate and perpetuate Satan’s evil world system. Professor Constantine Scouteris of the University of Athens describes the differences between the strict celibacy of the Therapeutae and less rigid Essene community:
“In his De Vita Contemplativa the Alexandrian Philo makes an extremely remarkable description of an ascetic community with which he was familiar and which was settled not far from Alexandria, namely above Lake Mareotis. Philo’s intention in this treatise is…to sketch the way of life of a specific monastic community of Egyptian Jewish ascetics. At the very beginning of his treatise, Philo notes the substantial contrast between the Therapeutae and another Jewish ascetic sect, the Essenes. The Essenes led a more practical and active life, while the Therapeutae were dedicated to contemplative life. One could observe also other differences between the two ascetic traditions. The Essenes were exclusively male communities while women participated in the communal gatherings of the Therapeutae communities. Although the Essene’s highly organized communal life involved great frugality, there is no conclusive evidence that it denied the lawfulness of marriage. The ascetic tradition of the Therapeutae, on the other hand, insisted on absolute sexual abstinence. The Therapeutae did not practice the Essene communistic way of life but lived separately as anchorites. They practiced renunciation of property, living a life of severe discipline, fasting and praying daily according to an established horarium.” (The Therapeutae of Philo)
Also
from: http://watch.pair.com/mystery-babylon.html
The dictionary defines the Medieval Latin cabala as derived from the Hebrew word “qabblâ” which means “received doctrine, tradition, from qibbl, to receive.” According to the Jewish Encyclopedia, Cabalists claimed to have received these oral traditions, not from ancient Chaldeans, but from the Patriarchs and Prophets “by the power of the Holy Spirit.”
“Cabala comprised originally the entire traditional lore, in contradistinction to the written law (Torah), and therefore included the prophetic and hagiographic books of the Bible, which were supposed to have been ‘received’ by the power of the Holy Spirit rather than as writings from God’s hand… Each ‘received’ doctrine was claimed as tradition from the Fathers…to be traced back to the Prophets or to Moses on Sinai… The chief characteristic of the Cabala is that, unlike the Scriptures, it was entrusted only to the few elect ones;…’”
Because of its heretical nature, the Cabala was not generally promulgated among the Jews but remained the “secret doctrine” of “elect” Jews. That is to say, certain Jews who were deemed worthy could comprehend hidden teachings in the written Torah and, through mystical techniques, make direct contact with “God.” Among these practices are rapid recitation of the “Holy Name of God” (YHVH, or Tetragrammaton), meditation on the 11 Sephiroth of the Tree of Life which are believed to be emanations of God, learning to use the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet as force-carrying energy patterns which serve as the building blocks of the cosmos, and, finally, transcending the space/time limitations of the physical world to realize one’s “inner divinity.” This “secret doctrine” has been preserved throughout the ages to the present time by a spiritual brotherhood who progress individually to various stages of enlightenment and proficiency in the hidden wisdom—from “elect” to “adepts” to “wise men” to “adepts in grace”:
“Cabala… The specific term for the esoteric or mystic doctrine concerning God and the universe, asserted to have come down as a revelation to elect saints from a remote past, and preserved only by a privileged few. At first consisting only of empirical lore, it assumed, under the influence of Neoplatonic and Neopythagorean philosophy, a speculative character. In the geonic period it is connected with a Mishnah-like text-book, the ‘Sefer Yetzirah,’ and forms the object of the systematic study of the elect, called ‘mekubbalim’ or ‘ba’ale ha-kabbalah’ (possessors of, or adepts in, the Cabala). These receive afterward the name of ‘maskilim’ (the wise), after Dan. xii. 10; and because the Cabala is called (‘Hokmah nistarah’ = the hidden wisdom), the initials of which are , they receive also the name of (‘adepts in grace’) (Eccl. ix. 11, Hebr.).” (Ibid.)
The source of the allegorizing of the RCC can be traced from its paganic roots as can be read at:
from: http://watch.pair.com/mystery-babylon.html
The Chaldean religious tradition that was embraced by apostate Jews during their captivity in Babylon was delivered to subsequent generations by word of mouth. According to Blavatsky, these disseminators of the Chaldean tradition in the few centuries before Christ were known as Tanaim:
“Kabalist. From Q B L H, Kabala, an unwritten or oral tradition. The kabalist is a student of ‘secret science’, one who interprets the hidden meaning of the Scriptures with the help of the symbolical Kabala… The Tanaim were the first kabalists among the Jews; they appeared at Jerusalem about the beginning of the third century before the Christian era… This secret doctrine is identical with the Persian wisdom, or ‘magic’.” (Ibid. p.167)
Just a small correction in exegesis brother Oggie. We do not “give” meaning in this form of interpretation whether objective or subjective. We “EXTRACT” the “ORIGINAL” intended meaning of the passages that we interpret.
allegorical means to give a subjective meaning, while
exegetical means to give an objective meaning!