Heard this from [[Jonathan Pageau]]'s conversation with [[James Orr]] in their reflection about their time together at the Gospels seminar.[^1] Apparently, these four lens one could adopt in reading the scriptures was first formalized during the medieval period,[^2] and is affirmed by the Catechism as part of the church's interpretive tradition.[^3] 1. Literal and Historical (Traditional Anglo-American scholarship) 2. Allegorical 3. Tropological (moral) 4. Anagogical (eschatological) [^1]: James Orr, quoted in _The Symbolic World Podcast_, episode “Christianity Beyond Civilization,” hosted by Jonathan Pageau, YouTube video, 12:00, posted March 6, 2025, [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tjzhe-gbai8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tjzhe-gbai8). [^2]: Origen, _De Principiis_ (On First Principles), trans. G.W. Butterworth (New York: Harper & Row, 1966), Book 4, Ch. 2; Augustine, _On Christian Doctrine_, trans. R.P.H. Green (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995), Book 2, Ch. 6-7; Thomas Aquinas, _Summa Theologiae_, trans. Fathers of the English Dominican Province (New York: Benziger Bros., 1947), I, q. 1, a. 10; Karlfried Froehlich, _Biblical Interpretation in the Early Church_ (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1984), 81-85. [^3]: _Catechism of the Catholic Church_, 2nd ed. (Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1997), §115-118.