Letter and the Spirit

Many aspects of the thought of the Fathers are strange to us, and as a result we tend to value their writings for their spiritual rather than their intellectual content. In particular, we find it difficult to follow them in their use of allegorical methods of biblical interpretation. Dr. Grant is concerned with understanding these methods, with special reference to those employed by Origen. For this purpose, he first traces the development of Greek theories of the interpretation of poetry and then examines the treatment of the Old Testament found in Hellenistic and other Jewish writers and in the New Testament. This is followed by an account of Patristic methods of exegesis, culminating in what he describes as "the climax of allegorization" in the writings of Clement of Alexandria and, even more significantly, of Origen. In conclusion, Dr. Grant suggests some parallels between these ancient methods of interpretation and certain modern developments. The result is a fascinating study of the exegesis of sacred writings, ranging from Xenophanes to Bultmann and from Pythagoras to Dibelius. Though it is not specifically a theological treatise, the book is dealing all the time with a basically theological question, the meaning of inspiration, and Dr. Grant's erudition over a wide field of scholarship will throw new light on his subject and will help toward a truer evaluation of the work of the Fathers.