Normative, Natural, Historical-Grammatical Hermeneutic
- St Jerome
- Thomas Aquinas
- Nicholas of Lyra
- John Collet
- Martin Luther
- John Calvin
Moral
Allegorical
- Clement of Alexandria
- Origen
Anagogical, Mystical, or Prophetic
- Encyclopaedia Britannica - reference pending
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This method of interpretation asserts that biblical text is to be interpreted according to "plain meaning" conveyed by its grammatical construction and historical context. The literal meaning is held to correspond to the intentions of the authors.
This method was used and contended for by:
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This method seeks to establish exegetical principles by which ethical lessons may be draw from the various parts of the Bible. Allegorization was often employed in this endeavour. The Letter of Barnabas (c. 100 AD), for example, interprets the dietary laws prescribed in the book of Leviticus as forbidding not the flesh of certain animals but rather the vices imaginatively associated with those animals.
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This method interprets the biblical narratives as having a second level of reference beyond those person, things and events, explicitly mentioned in the text. A particular form of allegorical interpretation is the typological, according to to which the key figures, main events, and principal institutions of the Old Testament are seen as "types" or foreshadowings of person, event and objects in the New Testament. According to this theory, interpretations such as that of Noah' ark as a type of the Christian church have been intended by God from the beginning.
This method was used and contended for by:
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This method seeks to explain biblical events as they relate to or prefigure the life to come. Such an approach to the Bible is exemplified by the Jewish Kabbala, which sought to disclose the mystical significance of the numerical values of Hebrew letters and words... In Christianity, many of the interpretations associated with Mariology fall into the anagogical category.
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