Beyond the actual words of God, and underneath the literal narrative of law, history, and even geography, Origen could discern timeless truths waiting to be pointed out and explained. This way of reading the Bible, called exegesis, would become standard during the Middle Ages. Indeed, the Middle Ages came to interpret just about everything morally, symbolically, or allegorically and sometimes all three.§36 It was a direct legacy from Origen. But it sprang ultimately from Plato’s insight that symbols and allegories can sometimes lead men to the highest truths more powerfully than
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Thus:
Plato ➡ Roman Catholicism
Aristotle ➡ Evangelical Protestantism
