Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 07.djvu/403

* EXEGESIS. 3.55 EXEGESIS. comprehensive way with the New Testament. But in this group all the Gospels were treated, with the exception of Mark, and all the Epistles, excepting I. and II. Corinthians and I. and II. Timothy. No commentary is known on Acts, and it is uncertain whether he wrote on the Catholic Kpisllcs and the Apocrypha. The spirit "I this school's exegesis was, like that of the previous writers, dominantly dogmatic, while its method carried the use of allegory to a further extreme. Mure historical in both spirit and method was the North African school, represented by such men as Tertullian (c. 200) and Cyprian (died 258), though it has left us nothing in the way of specific expository or commentarial work. Antagonistic to the Alexandrian school stood the Syrian schools of Edessa and Ant inch. The former of these had as its leader Ephraem Syrus (died 378), who produced both homilies and com- mentaries, the latter extending over the whole Bible, the portion on the Epistles of Paul being preserved in an Armenian translation. The leader of the latter school was Theodore of Mop- suestia (350-429), a scholar of commanding in- fluence in his day, whose exegetical labors were extensive, though of his New Testament work only a Latin translation of his commentaries on Philippians, Colossians, and the Thessalonians, together with numerous Greek fragments from his treatment of other portions of the canon, have been preserved. The method of these schools, in distinction from the allegorical method of the Alexandrian school, was characteristically his- torical, having as its aim the discovery of the literal sense of Scripture ; at the same time their conception of the doctrinal purpose of Scripture study compelled them frequently to resort to the hidden sense of the passage when the literal sense did not suffice. The exegetical influence of these schools, especially of the Antiochian, was far- reaching among the scholars of that day. The most illustrious example perhaps is found in Chrysostom (died 407), who, though developing his work most conspicuously in the form of the Origen homily, in which he covered almost the entire New Testament, wrought it out under the historical principles laid down by Theodore. Under this same influence, to a larger or less ex- tent, stood also Athanasius (died 373), Basil (died 379), Gregory of Nazianzus (died c. 390), Ambrose (died 397), Gregory of Nyssa (died e. 395), Isidore of Pelusium (died 431), and The- odoret (died c. 457). Unfortunately, however, this influence, while to some extent it made itself felt with all scholars of the fifth century, did not re- main dominant with them. Theodore's doctrinal opposition to Origen raised against him the cry of heresy that finally hrought him and his exegesis into disfavor, allowing Origen's allegorical prin- ciples to secure for themselves again a position of power, from which they were not dislodged until the Renaissance brought a new learning to the aid of a scientific method. This reviving in- fluence of Origen is seen as early as Jerome (died c.420), whose exegetical labors, comprehending most of the New Testament, as well as of the Old, disclose a significant return to allegorizing; while it appears later in Augustine (died 430), who elaborated the threefold sense of Scripture suggested by Origen into a fourfold sense ; and in Cyril of Alexandria (died 444). who became one of the most pronounced opponents of the Anti- ochian school. I I omplete control of the allegorical c.v however, is seen in (In- mediaeval period, whii b ■ tended from the seventh to the fourteenth century, and which constituted throughout its larger por- tion lie dark age of all scholarship and learning. This portion "i tic period contributed practically nothing to exegesis, the only attempt in such direction being i he production either of excerpts from the exegetical writings of the Fathers, or of glosses upon them, tin' dominant purpose in all of which work was the supporf "i the doctrines of the Church, ami their sole method the elucida- tion of the hidden, allegorical Scripture sense. In the Ea tern Church Origen, Chrysostom, and Cyril of Alexandria formed the favorite souro for these compilations, while the chief compilers in the New Testament field were Xicctas .if [let acleon (eleventh century) and Macarios Cnryso- cephalos (fourteenth century). To these should be added CEcumenius (died 990), Enthymius Zi- gabenus (died 1118), and Theophylaci (died 1107), whose commentaries, while possessing considerable original material, were after all compilative in character. Jn the Western Church, where the material was drawn most- ly from Ambrose, Hilary, Aufjustine, and Jerome, this reproductive method was most extensively followed, its more prominent exam pies in the New Testament field being Cassio- dorus (died c. 580), Bede (died 735), Alcuin (died 804), Rabanus Maurus (died 850), Peter Lombard ( died e.1160), and Aquinas (died 1274) ; to whose more or less excerptive works should lie added the distinctive glossaries of Strabo (died 849), Anselm of Laon (died 1117). Hugo of Saint Caro (died 1263), and Nicolas of Lyra (died 1340). With the last-named writer, however, be- gan the dawn of a better exegesis. He had a knowledge of both Hebrew and Greek, which en- abled him to guard against the allegorical absurd- ities that had been perpetrated upon the Church by ignorant men. While, therefore, he retained Augustine's conception of a fourfold sense in Scripture, he gave such preference to the literal sense as to make his glossary the most important contribution to exegetical study before the Refor- mation. With Nicolas of Lyra should be placed Lorenzo Valla (140G-57), whose independent spirit and liberal views made his Annotations on the ew Testament a classic in the early Refor- mation times. The exegesis of this early Reformation period was characterized by the revival of learning which marked the age. This is clearly seen in the exegetical work of Erasmus (c. 1406-1536). the most conspicuous figure in this age. His publica- tion of Valla's Annotations (1505), his edition of the New Testament in Greek, with comments on bis emendations of the Vulgate text and ex- planations of different Scripture passages (1516), and even his more elaborate paraphrases of the Gospels and Epistles (1517-24). all of which had profound influence upon the growing Reformation thought, were conceived more in appreciation of the scholastic value of the orig- inal language of Scripture for doctrinal truth than in appreciation of the doctrine itself.. LTnder similar influence of humanism, but with more of the Reformation attitude toward the doctrinal truth, <t 1 Faber Stapulensis (c.1450-1536), who produced a new Latin translation of the Pauline Epistles, accompanied by a commentary (1512), a commentary on the Gospels (1522),