Literal Sense in Early Christian Exegesis and Hermeneutics
The "literal sense" in early Christian exegesis referred to the plain, historical meaning of Scripture as intended by the human author under divine inspiration, distinguished from allegorical or spiritual readings that sought hidden meanings beneath the text's surface. This interpretive category emerged as the church fathers wrestled with how to read the Old Testament in light of Christ while maintaining fidelity to the text's original context.
Biblical Foundation and Patristic Development
The New Testament itself models attention to the straightforward sense of Scripture. When Hebrews quotes Psalm 45:6-7, applying "O God" directly to Christ, the argument depends on the psalm's plain attribution of deity [2]. The apostolic witness to Christ as Messiah rested on observable events—the Spirit descending at baptism, the resurrection, the ascension—not merely on symbolic reinterpretation of prophecy [1]. Paul's preaching combined demonstration of the Spirit with reasoned argument from Scripture's evident meaning [1].
Early interpreters distinguished the literal sense from the "letter" that kills. The literal sense encompassed the author's intended meaning, including figures of speech, typology, and prophetic reference, whereas wooden literalism ignored literary form. Augustine, for instance, recognized that biblical language about God's "right hand" or "scepter of righteousness" conveyed real theological truth through metaphor [2]. The literal sense was not always the crudest reading but the one that honored authorial intent within genre.
Alexandrian and Antiochene Approaches
The Alexandrian school, influenced by Philo's allegorical method, often subordinated literal-historical reading to spiritual interpretation. Origen famously sought threefold meanings (bodily, psychical, spiritual) and sometimes dismissed the literal sense as unworthy of God. By contrast, the Antiochene school—represented by Theodore of Mopsuestia and John Chrysostom—insisted on the primacy of historical context and grammatical analysis. They distinguished theoria (insight into God's plan through history) from arbitrary allegory, grounding typology in the literal events themselves.
Reformation Recovery
The Reformers championed the literal sense as the foundation for all interpretation. Luther's sensus literalis meant the grammatical-historical meaning accessible to any careful reader, not esoteric knowledge reserved for the initiated. Calvin's commentaries exemplify this method: attending to Greek and Hebrew, historical setting, and the human author's argument before drawing theological conclusions. The Reformation principle of sola Scriptura depended on Scripture's clarity in its plain sense, against allegorical readings that multiplied meanings beyond textual control [3].
Sources
- Torrey's Topical Textbook “Torrey's Topical Textbook: Witness of the Holy Spirit — Is truth -- 1Jo 5:6. To be implicitly received -- 1Jo 5:6,9. Borne to Christ As Messiah. -- Lu 3:22; Joh 1:32,33. As coming to redeem and sanctify. -- 1Jo 5:6. As exalted to be a Prince and Saviour to give repentance, &c. -- Ac 5:31,32. As perfecting saints. -- Heb 10:14,15. As foretold by himself. -- Joh 15:26. In heaven. -- 1Jo 5:7,11. On earth. -- 1Jo 5:8. The first preaching of the gospel confirmed by -- Ac 14:3; Heb 2:4. The faithful preaching of the Apostles accompanied by -- 1Co 2:4; 1Th 1:5. Given to saints On believing. -- Ac 15:”
- Hebrews (Presbyterian) “Jamieson, Fausset & Brown on Hebrews 1:8: O God--the Greek has the article to mark emphasis (Psa 45:6-7). for ever . . . righteousness--Everlasting duration and righteousness go together (Psa 45:2; Psa 89:14). a sceptre of righteousness--literally, "a rod of rectitude," or "straightforwardness." The oldest manuscripts prefix "and" (compare Est 4:11).”
- John (Nonconformist/Puritan) “Matthew Henry on John 1:1: Austin says (de Civitate Dei, lib. 10, cap. 29) that his friend Simplicius told him he had heard a Platonic philosopher say that these first verses of St. John's gospel were worthy to be written in letters of gold. The learned Francis Junius, in the account he gives of his own life, tells how he was in his youth infected with loose notions in religion, and by the grace of God was wonderfully recovered by reading accidentally these verses in a bible which his father had designedly laid in his way. He says that he observed such a divinity in the argument, such an autho”