who said"All Scripture is literal, and metaphor. The metaphor is more sophisticated"

[papakapp]

That is not an exact quote, but I could not fit the exact quote in the title. I believe the exact quote was something closer to:

"All Scripture has a literal, and a metaphorical interpretation, but the metaphor is more sophisticated."

I have never read the quote myself, but I remember on more than one occasion, a person has referenced it with the purpose of mocking whoever said it. I have no idea who the guy was, and what he said may have not been those exact words, (but it was that exact idea). I think the guy lived around 1000-1500 years ago, but may be off on that too.

Does anybody with a better memory than me remember anything like this?

 

[Donkick]

What a wild quote! I have looked all over (thanks to google) and can't seem to find anything like this that takes both the literal and the metaphor side 100% of the time. So basically they are saying that everything in the bible has two meanings? 1 literal meaning, and 1 metaphorical? That seems crazy.

 

[miamited]

That is not an exact quote, but I could not fit the exact quote in the title. I believe the exact quote was something closer to:

"All Scripture has a literal, and a metaphorical interpretation, but the metaphor is more sophisticated."

I have never read the quote myself, but I remember on more than one occasion, a person has referenced it with the purpose of mocking whoever said it. I have no idea who the guy was, and what he said may have not been those exact words, (but it was that exact idea). I think the guy lived around 1000-1500 years ago, but may be off on that too.

Does anybody with a better memory than me remember anything like this?

Hi pappakapp,

I have no idea either, but of course, the question I always ask of all the cute little sayings that come from the mouths of men is: Is it the truth?

We are enamored, as a society, when someone that we look up to or admire or who seems to be well versed in a subject comes up with some homily that just seems to roll off the tongue and titillate the mind, but quite frankly, often times when I take the time to dissect and mull over just exactly what's being said, I find myself not really agreeing that the point of the cute homily is really true.

Even here on CF many post such homilies as tag lines with their profile and when I read them I'm often amazed at what some people believe is true or support in such a way as to make such homilies a general part of their identity.

Personally, as previously mentioned, I find it very, very difficult to understand most of the Scriptures as having some metaphorical meaning, although I do understand that there are many who say so. But, again, the question is: Is it true?

God bless you.
In Christ, Ted

 

[DanielGarneau]

That is not an exact quote, but I could not fit the exact quote in the title. I believe the exact quote was something closer to:

"All Scripture has a literal, and a metaphorical interpretation, but the metaphor is more sophisticated."

I have never read the quote myself, but I remember on more than one occasion, a person has referenced it with the purpose of mocking whoever said it. I have no idea who the guy was, and what he said may have not been those exact words, (but it was that exact idea). I think the guy lived around 1000-1500 years ago, but may be off on that too.

Does anybody with a better memory than me remember anything like this?

Are you perhaps thinking of Origen? I believe he is the one who considered that there were various layers of meaning in every biblical text, one of them being literal, one of them being metaphorical.

 

[diychristian]

Are you perhaps thinking of Origen? I believe he is the one who considered that there were various layers of meaning in every biblical text, one of them being literal, one of them being metaphorical.

Pretty sure Augustine also believe the same thing.

 

[SkyWriting]

That is not an exact quote, but I could not fit the exact quote in the title. I believe the exact quote was something closer to:

"All Scripture has a literal, and a metaphorical interpretation, but the metaphor is more sophisticated."

I have never read the quote myself, but I remember on more than one occasion, a person has referenced it with the purpose of mocking whoever said it. I have no idea who the guy was, and what he said may have not been those exact words, (but it was that exact idea). I think the guy lived around 1000-1500 years ago, but may be off on that too.

Does anybody with a better memory than me remember anything like this?

That was me. I've said it a few times. I usually add that the
more sophisticated and deeper levels of understanding can
only be found after accepting the most literal interpretation
possible.

And there is good reason for this. This method assumes
that the most important message in any scripture is not
hidden. Your best benefits in reading God's Word are that
the Word is not in "Secret Spy Code" that requires years
of training. The best benefits are in plain sight and plain
reading. As you read more, you can discover deeper insights
as your spiritual muscles grow.

Likely others have written about this discovery before me though.

 

[Denys]

All Scripture has a literal, and a metaphorical interpretation, but the metaphor is more sophisticated.

I have no idea about the quote, but ...

According to tradition there are the 'Four Senses of Scripture' – The initial divide is the literal and the spiritual sense, and then the spiritual subdivides into three, the allegorical, the tropological (or moral), and the anagogical (eschatalogical).

An analogy is an extended metaphor, and whereas the analogical reading might seem 'more sophisticated' than the literal, it does not invalidate or devalue it. The literal sense stands, and no reading in any one sense undermine or contradict the reading of another.

It's worth noting that in common usage, 'metaphor' is generally regarded as a figure of speech (like a simile), whereas in the eyes of a philosopher or theologian, there's far more to it than that.

The fourfold sense was first spoken of (as far as we know) by Clement of Alexandria (Stromata I, 28), but his student Origen is perhaps the more famous exemplar of it.

Biblical exegesis in rabbinic Judaism follows roughly the same line:
Peshat: "surface" ("straight") or the literal meaning.
Remez: "hints" at an allegorical meaning beyond the literal sense.
Derash: the comparative (midrashic) meaning, no real equivalent to the senses as Christianiry saw it.
Sod "secret" ("mystery") the esoteric/mystical meaning.