Patristic-Philokalic Hermeneia

Abstract

Orthodox exegetes’ concern with identifying a hermeneia that is specific to the Christian East is apparent, one of the reasons being the fact that, in the Orthodox Church, there is no synodal resolution specifying the relationship that biblical scholars should have with the historical-critical method, the instruments of which cannot be overlooked by the academic world. It is out of such considerations that we have sought to provide exegetes with the opportunity to familiarise themselves with a particular kind of hermeneutics, one that is specific to the Desert Fathers and especially to the Fathers of the Philokalia. Thus, what we aim for in the present study is to highlight the manner in which ascetics approached the Holy Scriptures and identify the interpretation methods and principles they employed to access the mysteries of the holy text. Spiritual interpretation, allegory, praxis, the power of words, behavioural paradigms, and the ethical dimension are but a few of the elements we will dwell on in this research, which we would like to be an invitation to acquire more detailed knowledge of ascetic hermeneutics.