Il rischio irresistibile dell’allegoria
This paper analyzes from an historical point of view, the use and value of allegorical reading in ancient Christianity. In most cases, allegory is not expressly required by the text, but results necessary because of a discrepancy between what is written and what is meant. It stems from a general pre...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | Italian |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
2014
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| In: |
Annali di scienze religiose
Year: 2014, Volume: 7, Pages: 35-62 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | This paper analyzes from an historical point of view, the use and value of allegorical reading in ancient Christianity. In most cases, allegory is not expressly required by the text, but results necessary because of a discrepancy between what is written and what is meant. It stems from a general pre-comprehension of the whole sense of the sacred text, of which every aspect is strictly tied to the others. At times, such an approach could appear a result of a too free imagination; it is, instead, the historical result of a long cultural and ideological task, thanks to which Christianity gained its own identity in front of Judaism (about Christ’s messianicity) and Gnosis (about the unity of Ancient and New Testament). Although allegorical reading has been programmatically challenged by typological reading, the former lasted as an attempt to find out in the text the perennial cosmological and anthropological meanings of reality. In this way, it arrived to build up the inner structure of the lectio divina. As the divine gift of the word of God to humanity, allegory has to proceed in an infinity way, checking out the soundness of its own hermeneutical principles and results, firstly and foremost. Allegorical reading pertains often to the search for a temporary meaning, which is destined to fall when the “real” historical-critical sense appears. But allegory is still living en attendant Godot, because the “definitive” meaning of the sacred text results unattainable, since it moves always a step further from human comprehension. So, any critical or authoritative intervention can only falsify or redefine allegorical reading, but not stop it. The risk implied in allegory must therefore be coupled with the modesty of the hypothesis, because of its exposure to falsifiability. |
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| ISSN: | 2294-8775 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Annali di scienze religiose
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1484/J.ASR.5.107495 |