Editing Hermeneutics (section)

=== Biblical hermeneutics ===
{{Main|Biblical hermeneutics}}
Biblical hermeneutics is the study of the principles of interpretation of the Bible. While Jewish and Christian biblical hermeneutics have some overlap, they have very different interpretive traditions.

The early [[Church Fathers|patristic]] traditions of biblical [[exegesis]] had few unifying characteristics in the beginning but tended toward unification in later schools of biblical hermeneutics.

[[Augustine of Hippo|Augustine]] offers hermeneutics and [[homiletics]] in his ''[[De doctrina christiana]]''. He stresses the importance of humility in the study of Scripture. He also regards the duplex commandment of love in Matthew 22 as the heart of Christian faith. In Augustine's hermeneutics, signs have an important role. God can communicate with the believer through the signs of the Scriptures. Thus, humility, love, and the knowledge of signs are an essential hermeneutical presupposition for a sound interpretation of the Scriptures. Although Augustine endorses some teaching of the [[Platonism]] of his time, he recasts it according to a theocentric doctrine of the Bible. Similarly, in a practical discipline, he modifies the classical theory of oratory in a Christian way. He underscores the meaning of diligent study of the Bible and prayer as more than mere human knowledge and oratory skills. As a concluding remark, Augustine encourages the interpreter and preacher of the Bible to seek a good manner of life and, most of all, to love God and neighbor.<ref>{{cite journal | last=Woo | first=B. Hoon | title=Augustine's Hermeneutics and Homiletics in De doctrina christianae | journal= Journal of Christian Philosophy | year=2013 | volume=17 | url=https://www.academia.edu/5228314 |pages=97–117}}</ref>

There is traditionally a fourfold sense of biblical hermeneutics: literal, moral, allegorical (spiritual), and anagogical.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/hermeneutics-principles-of-biblical-interpretation|title=hermeneutics &#124; Definition & Facts|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|date=7 July 2023 }}</ref>

==== Literal ====
{{See also|Biblical literalism}}
Encyclopædia Britannica states that literal analysis means "a biblical text is to be deciphered according to the 'plain meaning' expressed by its linguistic construction and historical context." The intention of the authors is believed to correspond to the literal meaning. Literal hermeneutics is often associated with the verbal inspiration of the Bible.<ref name="Hermeneutics 2014">'Hermeneutics' 2014, Encyclopædia Britannica, Research Starters, EBSCOhost, viewed 17 March 2015</ref>

==== Moral ====
Moral interpretation searches for moral lessons which can be understood from writings within the Bible. Allegories are often placed in this category.<ref name="Hermeneutics 2014"/>

==== Allegorical ====
Allegorical interpretation states that biblical narratives have a second level of reference that is more than the people, events and things that are explicitly mentioned. One type of allegorical interpretation is known as [[typology (theology)|typological]], where the key figures, events, and establishments of the Old Testament are viewed as "types" (patterns). In the New Testament this can also include foreshadowing of people, objects, and events. According to this theory, readings like Noah's Ark could be understood by using the Ark as a "type" of the Christian church that God designed from the start.<ref name="Hermeneutics 2014"/>

==== Anagogical ====
This type of interpretation is more often known as mystical interpretation. It claims to explain the events of the Bible and how they relate to or predict what the future holds. This is evident in the [[Kabbalah|Jewish Kabbalah]], which attempts to reveal the mystical significance of the numerical values of [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] words and letters.

In Judaism, [[Anagoge|anagogical interpretation]] is also evident in the medieval [[Zohar]]. In Christianity, it can be seen in [[Mariology]].<ref name="Hermeneutics 2014"/>