9/15 Minute Paper

Today we discussed different reading techniques and how they developed over time. These techniques fluctuated between taking the text at face value and expanding the text to include allegories and typologies. Depending on historical context, sometimes multiple interpretations are allowed depending on individual understandings, and sometimes there is only one acceptable interpretation that must be accepted by all. In the reading the “plain sense” of the text, Christians did not read the text allegorically, but also left room for interpretation. In the “literal” style of reading the text, there was only one interpretation and no room for pluralism.