Augustine of Hippo: Advocate of Scriptural Metaphor

Abstract

This article investigates Augustine’s evolving views on metaphor in his commentaries on the creation narrative. He contends that certain metaphysical truths, including God and his creation, are ineffable and can only be understood metaphorically. Therefore, he thinks that metaphors are crucial in the interpretation of the Scriptures, and he spends a great deal of effort explaining this to his readers. In his early work De Genesi contra Manichaeos, he adheres to the classical view, in which metaphors have a fixed meaning that can easily be rendered using a literal expression. This is a useful method to refute the Manichean claims, but it stands at odds with the idea that the things that these metaphors describe are beyond words. Later, in De Genesi ad Litteram, he comes up with a novel approach to metaphor. Here, he leaves a great deal of interpretational freedom to the reader. He points out that certain expressions are metaphors, and that individual expressions are part of a larger metaphorical concept, without restricting their meaning. Augustine’s approach shares similarities with the modern metaphor theories laid out by Max Black, as well as by George Lakoff & Mark Johnson, which may not have been as innovative as once thought.