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Deals with topics of current appeal, such as early Christian attitudes to the body and sexuality, early Christian exegesis, readings of the Song of Songs
Shows that Origen's allegorical method is rooted in his epistemology and theological anthropology
Christian exegesis of the Song of Songs has long interacted creatively with - and, more recently, reacted critically against - the allegorical interpretation developed by Origen of Alexandria (c .185-c .254) in his Commentary and two Homilies on the Song of Songs. Interest in Origen's exegesis of the Song's narrative elements has dominated past scholarship, which has almost entirely ignored how Origen assesses the Song itself, in its unity as a revealed text. This study aims to show that the Commentary and Homilies - when read in light of Origen's hermeneutic, his nuptial theology, his understanding of the prophetic mediation of inspired texts, and his doctrine of last things - clearly portray the Song of Songs itself as the divine Bridegroom's perfect marriage-song. As such, it mediates Christ's eschatological presence, as the `spirit' of Scripture, in and through the intelligible structures of the text itself.
Contents
1. Introduction
2. Origen and the spiritual reading of the Song of Songs
3. Origen, the nuptial motif, and the Song of Songs
4. Origen's grounds for the wholly spiritual reading of the Song of Songs
5. Origen on the hermeneutical unity of the Song of Songs
6. Origen on the hermeneutical finality of the Song of Songs
7. Conclusion: the Song of Songs as the spirit of Scripture
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