Theology and Allegory: Origen and Gregory of Nyssa on the unity and diversity of Scripture

Origen and Gregory of Nyssa use allegorical exegesis to derive a unified meaning from the diversity of the scriptural text. However, they have different answers to the question of where, or in what, scripture’s unity lies, which lead to different styles of interpretation and which reveal their broader theological concerns. The question of the unity and diversity of scripture is thus not just a textual or hermeneutical one but is related to central theological issues. Furthermore, allegorical interpretation does not obfuscate the text, but aims to relate the salvation-history recounted in it to the history of its reader.