Allegorical Hermeneutics

Blair, One of the best that I've seen is the book and study guide from Kevin J. Conner entitled "Interpreting the Scriptures." It's over at  http://www.citychristianpublishing.com/books/?isbn=0-914936-20-4 . He's an Australian from beautiful downtown Melbourne (if I'm not mistaken) and has his own website under his name.

He discusses methods of interpretation such as allegorical, mystical, devotional, rationalistic, literal, and others as a background. He then gets into principles of interpretation such as context, first mention, comparative, and others including those you listed.

I wish all of his materials were in Logos!

God bless

{charley}

Logos has a couple resources we used in my Hermeneutics class last fall that may be of help.

Stein http://www.logos.com/product/5323/a-basic-guide-to-interpreting-the-bible-playing-by-the-rules

Vickler http://www.logos.com/product/5326/hermeneutics-principles-and-processes-of-biblical-interpretation-2nd-ed

and you can find both of these resources in the bundle for Baker's Hermeneutics http://www.logos.com/product/4492/baker-hermeneutics-collection

I hope this helps.

Matt

I don't know of any hermeneutics books that could help you out, oh wait, you want COMMENTARIES! Isn't it funny how people don't read anymore just scan and assume?

Blair,

I have used the Ancient Christian Commentary and it does have  a lot of  allegorical interpretation, depending on the passage. It is a compilation of patristic sources discussing the various passages. Even the Antiochean school, is more figurative than the historical-critical methodology which dominates modern exegesis and the Alexandrian school (Origen and the Cappadocians are well represented). Another series is The Church's Bible edited by Robert Wilken http://www.eerdmans.com/series/cb.htm. It isn't in logos yet and there are only a few volumes at present. It looks like a promising series.

In terms of modern interpretation which is more figurative and allegorical, the Brazos Theological Commentary series is written by theologians not Biblical scholars, so they tend to make more figurative leaps in the name of theologizing. Though not every volume in the series would be allegorical, it is more allegorically friendly (Rusty Reno does the Genesis commentary). http://www.bestcommentaries.com/series/brazos-theological-commentary-btc/. While I and others have suggested it to Logos, thus far it hasn't shown up on Pre-Pub. I keep hoping for it.

Besides those, I can't think of anything, but I did a class on Spiritual Interpretation of the Bible in Seminary so may have more in a bibliography somewhere. I'll add something if I see anything interesting.

Of course! I can't believe I didn't think of this. I just picked it up, but haven't used it much yet. Aquinas is compiling patristic sources to reflect Medieval orthodoxy. Medieval hermeneutics reflects a more allegorical approach (as does patristics). 

As It is a commentary on the gospels, however, it is softer in its allegorical interpretation (the Fathers see tremendous significance in the literal sense in their reading of Jesus' life). Where traditional interpretation gets more 'allegorical' is it's interpretations of the Old Testament where everything is seen through a Christological lens.

As for theCatena Aurea, send me a passage you are interested in, and I can give you an example of what it does.

Vincent Setterholm said:

The Concordia Commentary has a massive volume on the Song of Songs that takes the novel approach of not just commenting on the text, but also treating the history of interpretation in some detail - which for many centuries frequently took an allegorical approach, especially for the Song. I don't know how much of that is found in the other Concordia volumes, but at least Song of Songs has a lot of examples of allegorical interpretation. Also of interest may be Biblical Exegesis in the Apostolic Period, which breaks down the NT use of the Hebrew Bible down by the interpretation methods used - interesting data regardless of whether or not you agree with the book's conclusions.

           Yes!  That's quite a fantastic commentary.  In the Concordia Commentary on the Song of Songs the author also has a major section on hymnody called, noting that hymns often have an allegorical "bent."  He is Lutheran; however he lists many hymns common to most denominations.  If anyone would like a sample, please reply to this post or start a new one.

Blair Laird said:

Is there a place that I can sample read it?

Amazon.com: Matthew (Brazos Theological Commentary on the Bible) (9781587430954): Stanley Hauerwas: Books

Coming from a theological perspective seems to be a fresh approach to producing commentaries and seems to hold promise.  Getting a wider perspective might be reason enough for them to be in Logos.  You can read a sample and also read some reviews at this site.

The broad purpose of the series as stated on the Brazos website says: 

Leading theologians read and interpret scripture for today's church, providing guidance for reading the Bible under the rule of faith. Each volume in the Brazos Theological Commentary on the Bible is designed to serve the church--through aid in preaching, teaching, study groups, and so forth--and demonstrate the continuing intellectual and practical viability of theological interpretation of the Bible.

Because the 'rule of faith' is their guiding principle, it allows for more allegorical interpretation. As to the reality of it, it is up to the individual commentators. Hauerwas'  volume is likely the  least allegorical. Where as R.R. Reno, Paul Griffiths (forthcoming), Matthew Levering are more so. It is an interesting series and a good idea. Before the division of disciplines (i.e. Systematic theology and Biblical studies), there was more interplay between exegesis and theological interpretation. I wish there was more stuff like this in logos. The commentaries here are generally by good scholars trained in a variety of critical exegetical methods or pastors who have more of an eye for application.