04-2 Hermeneutics.pdf

Luther’s Approach to Allegory in GalatiansThe Authority of ScriptureTIMOTHY H. MASCHKEmedieval hermeneutic he inherited. 3Luther’s biblical scholarship and respect for scripturalauthority have long been recognized and cherished amongLutheran theologians. As a Renaissance man, Luther relishedthe opportunities to return ad fontes (to the sources) of theauthoritative biblical texts in the original Hebrew and Greek. Hisbreak with the Roman Catholic Church’s tradition-bound interpretationsprovided refreshing and liberating insights from Scripture’sauthor himself.Luther had a high regard for Scripture as the ultimateauthority for his teaching and life. Yet one of the interesting andoften misunderstood aspects of Luther’s biblical hermeneutics ishis understanding and use of allegory. Because allegory hadbecome an abused method that led people away from the clearwords of Scripture, Luther spoke some harsh words against it. YetLuther found himself in a quandary when he did his own exegeticalstudies and lecturing on the epistle of St. Paul to the Galatians,for there in the very text of Scripture is allegory. It is in the contextof these lectures, covering a period of almost twenty years ofLuther’s life, that we can see clearly Luther’s complete, careful,and profoundly humble respect for Scripture’s authority.ANTI-ALLEGORY RHETORIC REVIEWEDLuther scholarship in the nineteenth and early twentieth centurieshas argued that Luther gave up the allegorical method ofinterpreting Scripture for a purely literal approach. This view heldsway for much of this century largely as a result of Gerhard Ebeling’sinfluential and monumental study. 1 In his analysis, basedupon an evolutionary view of Luther’s theological development,Ebeling argued that Luther completely abandoned his medievalmonastic hermeneutics for a radically reformed literalism.Many Luther scholars have accepted this point of view at theend of this century. 2 While some discussion occurs among Lutherspecialists, little has actually been done to substantiate or refutehis thesis since Ebeling’s “definitive” conclusions were submitted.Some recent studies in Luther refer casually to Luther’s continuinguse of allegory, but nothing has been done to show that in factLuther retained a biblical understanding of allegory, whollyproper to the text of Scripture, and only modified the misdirectedTIMOTHY MASCHKE is managing editor of Luther Digest for the LutherAcademy.25In his 1965 work on Luther’s theology, Ebeling restated hisastonishment that, as Luther began to study the Bible, heexpressly affirmed the traditional fourfold meaning of Scripture.Yet Ebeling is quick to explain that this was only a preliminarystep by Luther, or a transitional stage towards a more correct,Reformation, and literal understanding. 4 Luther’s continuing useof allegory after his “Reformation breakthrough” is therebydenied, and Luther’s respect for Scripture as his ultimate authorityis devalued for biblical studies.A study of Luther’s Galatians lectures shows that Luther usednot only the concept of allegory but the practice of allegoresis(interpreting through allegory) between 1516 and 1538. Even Ebeling’sresearch supports this argument against his own thesis thatLuther abandoned allegory at an early date. 5 Further study inLuther’s other commentaries only confirms the view that indeedLuther had rejected the medieval tradition of allegory, butretained the biblical, and especially the Pauline, understanding ofthe term because it was in Scripture, his ultimate authority. 6The argument that Luther gave up allegory holds true onlywhen the concept of allegory is separated from its authoritativebiblical use. From a nineteenth century liberal perspective thatequated allegory with fiction, Ebeling is correct in showing thatLuther rejected a fictional view of Scripture. 7 Such a view is similarto modern and post-modern approaches to the Bible thatview many sections of Scripture as “myth.” 8ALLEGORY IN TRANSITIONWhile allegory was used from earliest times among Christians,various understandings of this figure of speech exist. Origen, oftenidentified as the father of Christian allegorical interpretation, 9 usedallegory to reveal hidden meanings in every text, especially as hesought to discover Christ in the Old Testament. 10 The deepestmeaning, allegory, was for the spiritually elite, he suggested. Thisemphasis led to a distorted use of allegory by later proponents ofbiblical hermeneutics, as Luther repeatedly recognized. 11Most common among biblical interpreters during the followingcentury, the time of Jerome and Augustine, was a search for afourfold sense of Scripture. This fourfold sense was based upon St.Paul’s distinction between letter and spirit in 2 Corinthians. Augustinetried to clarify this distinction by introducing levels of meaningfor a biblical text. Subsequent biblical scholarship followed hisarguments, claiming that Scripture provided not only a grammati-