Lecture Question Module #3

I would define Allegorism as underlying meaning, or having two meanings. I really enjoy the way C.S. Lewis uses it and I believe J.R.R. Tolkien in His “Lord of the Rings”. When studying the American, Greek, and English poets in school, lots of times we had to find the places where the author was implying two meanings. Many of the poets and epic writers use this allegory and I enjoy picking it out.
As far as looking an underlying meaning in everything, or to elevate allegory findings above the literal when it comes to scripture, I don’t think is very wise and can be misleading. That was one thing that caught my attention in the reading, “It was more spiritual to be allegorical than literal.” That is what many of the Christian and Parasitical allegorists thought. It was interesting to see how the Jews were influenced by this method of study and how so much of the Greek mindset influences our thoughts.
In the lecture it was stated that the, “problem is determining if the passage is even an allegory at all.” I thought this was a very good point. I believe that has a lot to do with modern biblical interpretation. Seeing everything as having the possibility of having two meanings seems to make interpreting scripture harder. In Theology, there was an idea called the Perspricuity of Scripture, that stated that the Bible is clear and understandable to all true seekers. Scripture is usually pretty straight forward, but when you apply allegory to everything it seems to become confusing.