Anagoges

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Interpretations of spiritual or mystical significance applied to texts or events ; symbolic readings that transcend literal meanings ; allegorical explanations revealing hidden divine truths
2. Explanatory approaches emphasizing transcendent or esoteric meanings beyond the surface ; spiritualized interpretations conveying deeper metaphysical insights ; figurative analyses uncovering sacred or mystical significance
3. Methods of understanding based on elevated or divine symbolism ; conceptual readings invoking supernatural or mystical dimensions ; interpretative frameworks focusing on higher, often religious or spiritual, significance

Etymology: "Anagoges" is the plural of "anagoge," a noun meaning a mystical interpretation of scripture that lifts the reader's mind toward heavenly or spiritual truths. The word comes to English from Latin "anagoge," which was itself taken from Ancient Greek "anagōgē," meaning "elevation" or "a leading up." The Greek noun is built from "ana," meaning "up," and "agein," meaning "to lead," so the core idea is literally a leading upward. That upward movement was the point of the method. Medieval interpreters of the Bible often described four levels of scriptural meaning, and the anagogical sense was the highest of them, concerned with heavenly glory and the life to come. A reading of a passage about Jerusalem, for example, could be taken literally as a city, morally as the soul, allegorically as the Church, and anagogically as the heavenly Jerusalem.

Synonyms: spiritual interpretations