Patristic Interpretation (Part 3)

Questions to think about during this lesson…

  • In relation to biblical interpretation, what is akoloutheia or “sequence”?
  • In relation to biblical interpretation, what is context?
  • How did the Fathers use their study of literary style and other details related to the literary aspects of the Bible to argue against Arianism?
  • How did St. John Chrysostom use a literary technique to refute the claims that the Theotokos was not “ever virgin?” (Hint: It has to do with how the word “until” can be interpreted in passages like Matthew 1:25, Mark 12:36, Luke 20:43 and Acts 2: 34-35)
  • In relation to biblical interpretation, what does it mean to make a comparison to other accounts?
  • In relation to biblical interpretation, what is skopos?
  • In relation to biblical interpretation, what is theoria?
  • In relation to biblical interpretation, what is tropology?
  • In relation to biblical interpretation, what is anagoge?
  • Origen said there were three senses of Scripture — three levels of interpretation for every passage. What are they?
  • Who was John Cassian?
  • Cassian, Agustin and Gregory the Great identified four levels of meaning in every passage of Scripture. What were they?

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