The Christian tradition is a wide and in-depth tradition. It ranges from Mesopotamia to the Pillars of Hercules. In recent times a nominalist school whose influence takes root in Ockham and Spinoza nominalism and historicity have become the normative interpreted look at scripture in academia. This normative take on academia interprets scripture as a simple base of historical human occurrences that move from a pantheon of human-Esque gods (such as the Greek pantheon) moving toward a singular idea of a god represented in a matter of a theophany (a visible manifestation of an uncreated god). Thus, this form of scholarship gathers the mind of many secularists such as atheists or modernist Christians. This presented interpretation allows for a deconstruction of doctrine and dogma in the light of historical intent and archeological findings allowing thus for the removal of what some might refer to as “traditional Christianity” from the pulpit. This, however, does not represent a problem for Catholics since our faith contains a multi-dimensional spectrum of interpretation and narrative regarding the meaning of scripture which expanded from multiple schools of theology and has created an ocean of knowledge and life.
Levels
Out of the many writers, Origen, the teacher of many great Saints (both directly and indirectly) presented an in-depth version of layers of scriptural interpretation. It is important to note that the many Saints who Origen has influenced have been St Gregory of Nyssa, St Gregory the Theologian, St Basil the Great, St Ambrose, St Augustine, St Thomas Aquinas, St John Henry Newman, and more. Origen has been a key theologian for the Christian tradition across time and geography. For Origen, the interpretation of the biblical texts contains a threefold dimension: surface history, mystical interpretation, and what he calls the third explanation. Each of these layers explores a different pragmatic meaning of scripture and its absoluteness. Modern academics often display a sensation that Origen and other church fathers did not care about history and often adventured into the realm of pure analogy, however, this is simply false. While we must indeed emphasize that history was not as important as a metaphysical reading of Scripture for the Fathers, history remained a key component of their Christian formation. Thus, a multi-level Christian interpretation drawing across multiple schools of theology and philosophy marks a concrete understanding of the exploration of thought and truth for the Christian reader.
Surface History
Modern scholars often see scripture as the simple cause and causation of events. They often diminish the traditional reading of events as unlikely, or outright ahistorical. Yet, at the same level, they insert often a narrative of their own choice as the authoritative interpretation. The reality of many early events of the biblical texts is that there is a lack of concrete archeological findings, thus in a positive, and contemporary mindset, all of the historical readings are simply a form of theories, all equally presented on both an academic and spiritual fields. The most remarked authors from a modern interpretative field Dr. Francesca Stavrakopoulou and Dr. James Kugel, both have presented a Zeus-esque theory of the early modern god of the Hebrews; this, in short, is a human-made characterization of a deity. For the common evangelical or protestant church that lacks an in-depth tradition, such presentation it’s a danger to its faith. Nevertheless, for the Catholic, even if such a modern presentation might be true, does not affect the in-depth dogmatic and doctrinal fundamental readings of scriptures. Let us first then begin, as the first layer it’s presented, the surface history interpretation it’s solely the surface reading of the story. The surface historical narrative focuses on the environmental factors which influence the human author towards the writing of the interpretative factors.
Even the existence of an early human-esque view of the Hebrew deity would not represent a problem for the Catholic mindset. Within the frameworks of Newman’s theory of doctrinal development, there is an implication of the existence of the development of revelation. This development of revelation presents a framework of God using the language and culture known to the people that He reveals to prepare them for a continuous manifestation of the essence of God. In this form of speaking the surface historical marks just the environmental explanation behind the motivation which led the human authors to take the “pen and the paper” to describe events that led to the motivation of God into the pen-stroke.
Mystical Interpretation
The mystical or spiritual interpretation refers not to an esoteric form of reading but rather a moral one. It focuses on the morality involved in the education necessary to interpret scripture as well as the ethical and moral narrative for the church. A necessary reading before metaphysics, following the formulation presented by Plato and Aristotle, Origen serves as a base on the reading. This reading focuses then on the necessary things a Christian must do to live a good life. Furthermore, there are levels of necessity on education that prepares the single unit individually to prepare for a life of education and prayer. This of all the layers, the most direct, leads to the simple understanding of the good Christian.
The Third One
The third and most interesting position it’s that of a metaphysical and hermeneutical reading. Origen often refers to this reading as well as the hidden one, since in his belief, it requires training in both the oral and written traditions to understand them. It takes the notion of a Christological reading of the Old Testament to draw toward a sense of understanding regarding the presence of Christ since the beginning within the Father. Origen marks such Triune hermeneutic commentary in many places from the angels that appear to Abraham, to even the connection of the Church and Christ in Songs of Songs. This, a theological reading that employs methods of the other two levels becomes the key interpretation of the church in which we focus on the supernatural consequences and causes of the fall and redemption of humankind.
To comprehend this notion, we can touch a bit on another neo-platonic influenced tradition. In the Rabbinic Judaic tradition of the Kabbalah, we encounter a neo-platonic preposition of the position of the laws and commandments as a way to redeem humankind. Through the laws and the commandments of human nature, it’s driven towards the transformation of its nature and redemption which by the knowledge and living off the Torah adopts an angelic-like nature. Following such practices, which Origen also held in many regards. Origen takes the transformative process of the view of grace and love via the teaching of theosis. Theosis- remarks as the transformative effect of the essence which through the mysteries (which the west refers to as both sacraments and sacramental) redeems the fallen nature by the sacrifice of Christ. In a good matter, this is well presented when the liturgy occurs for we are taken from Earth to heaven. The liturgy always occurs in the eternal time-Kairos rather than the temporal time-Chronos. In this matter the third reading it’s a sacramental and hidden one in which the transformative essence of God exists among the texts, but cannot be seen by the surface reader.
Conclusion
Overall, the matter of understanding for the church fathers it’s that tradition truly is a stumbling rock against the contemporary reading of scripture. Tradition allows us to have an ocean of drinkable water that allows us to challenge and compete against the nominalist spectrum of historical accounts that negate any possibility of a theophany existing. In this matter, the notions take the possibility of interpreting the texts through a spectrum of historical, ethical, and metaphysical narratives. In this sense, God can reveal across cultures and traditions. It transforms paganism and the people. For God saw everything, and He saw it as good, thus the nature of humankind it’s one of goodness that God can continue to see even among our sins. In this sense, the surface historical accounts simply narrate the environmental controls which allowed the authors to experience the interpretation to narrate and write down a multitude of historical, fictional, and romantic texts.