Bible Interpretation

I just started a seminary class on hermeneutics (the science of interpretation) through Provident Bible Fellowship. This is not for credit, but is a video of an actual class from Masters' Seminary taught by Dr. James Rosscup. Hermeneutics is kind of like algebra. It's not that exciting when you take the class, but you find you'll need it later if you want to go any further in mathematics. Actually, the class is pretty interesting. Dr. Rosscup teaches the need for humble prayer to get wisdom from God in correctly understanding his word. I like the emphasis on the personal relation to Christ in order to get wisdom to interpret the scriptures as intended. This is not some philosophical debate or dry intellectualism, though you are encouraged to use the intelligence God gave you. Our final paper is to find 35 observations on ephesians 5:18. It sounds impossible right now, but I've heard most who go through the class tend to find many more after dilligent study and prayer. We are now learning the history of interpretation, different schools of thought and how they came to be. I did not realize how early biblical allegorization to get around difficult passages started. As early as the second century, some of the church fathers favored allegories as opposed to literal interpretations to deal with anthropromorphisms in the old testament. I had always thought allegorical interpretations were a result of the age of enlightenment and scientific advances. But an early departure from a literal reading as Jesus, the prophets, and the apostles presented it, would suggest this be a result of adhering to the Greek philosophy of the day, or simple lack of faith in the ultimate authority of scripture.